Many people in India, especially Christians, are often jailed on charges of “religious conversion,” mostly in Uttar Pradesh. But my question is: who is actually converting anyone?
I cannot convert a person to a religion. If I had the power to convert people to Christianity, then surely I would have converted all Indians by now! But that is not possible, because conversion is not something a human being can force upon another.
What I can do is share the goodness of Christianity and tell people about Jesus Christ—how He came into this world, died for the sins of humanity, and how God opened a path for mankind to be reconciled to Him through Jesus. This message I can share, but whether a person believes and acts on it lies entirely with the individual.
For example, if someone—let’s call him X—hears the Gospel and feels in his heart that he wants a new life, to follow the teachings of Jesus and live righteously, he makes that decision personally. He chooses to follow Christ and becomes a Christian. Now, can you say that the person who simply shared the message “converted” X? Of course not! That would be ridiculous. X made the choice in his own heart and mind. He converted himself—it was his decision, not the preacher’s.
Think about it: the Hindu-majority party is ruling India today. If conversion were something people could do to others, wouldn’t it be possible to convert all Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs into Hindus? Clearly, that is impossible. Belief is a matter of the heart and mind. Mass conversion simply cannot be done.
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