Tip #54 Complete Your Math
Mar. 13th, 2016 03:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastHere's a tip I should probably have put at the beginning of this series.
It's a classic cliche. "If I can impact even just one person, then it's all worth it." It can be a heartfelt statement of desire to positively impact. It can also be a horrible excuse, as it is often when I hear it.
On Youtube, repeated on a few channels, there's a video depicting an open letter, from Hell, of a teen that died in a car crash to the teen Christian who didn't tell him about Jesus or Hell. In the comments of one such video, I asked the likelihood of finding someone who hasn't heard any of the claims of Christianity before. The response came back quick and certain that, even if there's only one...
Statistically, everybody exists. I'm not going to say that the person does not exist who A. has never heard of Christianity or Jesus before and B. will believe the claims thereof if told. I will, however, say that you can have millions of people acting for generations and still not find that one person... which makes a strategy that is only geared towards that one person... lacking.
Still there's that phrase "Even if I only help one...". We can express that in algebraic terms. If X equals the number of believers or "saved souls" without your effort and T equals the impact of your effort, the only important factor in your efforts is that X+T>X.
T isn't guaranteed to be positive. You can hurt your own side. That's the basis of this series, not necessarily to give you greater success but to help you find a means that achieves less failure... and to help people like myself have a more productive conversation.
Sometimes, X + T < X.
That's not to say don't try. It is to say that not every opportunity to try is going to be one you should take. It is also to say that not every new apologetic or evangeism tool is good.
Mostly, it is to say that you can do wrong and it's on you to recognize that. It's not just that everybody is imperfect and a sinner. It's that specific actions you take cannot be passed off with "if even just one...".
It's a classic cliche. "If I can impact even just one person, then it's all worth it." It can be a heartfelt statement of desire to positively impact. It can also be a horrible excuse, as it is often when I hear it.
On Youtube, repeated on a few channels, there's a video depicting an open letter, from Hell, of a teen that died in a car crash to the teen Christian who didn't tell him about Jesus or Hell. In the comments of one such video, I asked the likelihood of finding someone who hasn't heard any of the claims of Christianity before. The response came back quick and certain that, even if there's only one...
Statistically, everybody exists. I'm not going to say that the person does not exist who A. has never heard of Christianity or Jesus before and B. will believe the claims thereof if told. I will, however, say that you can have millions of people acting for generations and still not find that one person... which makes a strategy that is only geared towards that one person... lacking.
Still there's that phrase "Even if I only help one...". We can express that in algebraic terms. If X equals the number of believers or "saved souls" without your effort and T equals the impact of your effort, the only important factor in your efforts is that X+T>X.
T isn't guaranteed to be positive. You can hurt your own side. That's the basis of this series, not necessarily to give you greater success but to help you find a means that achieves less failure... and to help people like myself have a more productive conversation.
Sometimes, X + T < X.
That's not to say don't try. It is to say that not every opportunity to try is going to be one you should take. It is also to say that not every new apologetic or evangeism tool is good.
Mostly, it is to say that you can do wrong and it's on you to recognize that. It's not just that everybody is imperfect and a sinner. It's that specific actions you take cannot be passed off with "if even just one...".
