"Friendship Evangelism"

Who wants a friend with a hidden agenda? The ironic thing is that "friendship evangelism" is a welcome alternative to "flasher evangelism," a term coined to describe the unwanted exposure at a premature moment, as if to say, our courtship is over--let me show you why we're having coffee here--you need to be saved! Yikes.

But is "friendship evangelism" any better? I guess the idea is that evangelism has to happen lovingly and in the context of a relationship. But who in their right mind ever sets out to make friends? What an unnatural thing to do. Isn't friendship something that just happens? Sure, you can nurture relationships, but you can't really choose who your friends are, can you? Would you even want to be friends with someone who intentionally tries to make friends so as to change the other's world and life view or religion or beliefs?

Are evangelists called to be friends? I don't know. One thing is for sure. We're called to care, and we're called to love people. But at least right now, making friends for the express purpose of creating a context in which evangelism can happen seems dishonest and artificial. I know that in many situations, it works. But I have a hard time comprehending who would want to be friends with someone who went through life acting in this way.