Post by stormiel on Dec 9, 2012 22:11:34 GMT -5
This is in response to the 5 reasons given in the first post.
1. I believe people base their logic and beliefs on their own world views. In the same way that you and I were brought up with a Christian world view. They were brought up with a counter world view. Satan has authored many counter world views to the truth. They exist in any fashion that would pull people away from God. It generally comes down to three things; Atheism, false religions, or purposefully choosing to reject God when someone already knows the truth. In today’s predominantly atheistic culture many children grow up being told that there is no God, they are led to believe that humans are our own highest power and that morality is only relative to the individual. This may sound weird to say but people treat themselves as if they are their own god. When you hold yourself (wrongly )in such high esteem and your own selfish and sinful nature is given free reign it’s hard to give up that power and to acknowledge that there is a power higher than yourself that says your behavior is not acceptable and that you will never measure up to His standards. It’s hard for them to make the choice to give up their world view and way of life. I think it is especially hard for people to humble themselves and to acknowledge that they have sinned and need a Savior because they can’t measure up to God’s standards. In today’s culture we are led to believe that our self-worth comes from meeting and exceeding standards. I think that is part of the reason that people have such a hard time with this.
2. People who have an atheistic world view often times believe in science as the highest logic. Unfortunately today’s most common science is flawed. The science has been warped to fit the worldview. Carbon dating is a good example but you are probably familiar so I won’t go into detail here. There are some things that science will never be able to measure. That’s when theories begin. Theories are generally made on the assumption of the theorists’ own understanding and concept or worldview. Exposing circular reasoning and holes in theories and illogical science are sometimes helpful but we always need to remember to do these things in love because the point isn’t as much to prove a fact as it is to win a soul.
3. This is the saddest one of all. There are a lot of phony Christians out there and a lot of well-meaning but misguided Christians as well. When someone says that Religion does only harm its good to ask them for specific cases and if it was a Christian that caused them harm sometimes we can comfort them and show them that not all Christians are that way. This is where the rubber meets the road. You may be the only Christian they know. When I worked at a Christian camp my boss put it to me this way, “You may be the only Christ that person ever sees.”
4. Christianity has stood the test of time and is just as relevant today as it always has been. I think this comes down to a person wanting to participate in today’s culture apart from God’s standards. Although I think they also get a wrong picture of Christians and Christianity that makes them think that it’s boring. One thing for me is music. People think that all we listen to is hymns I love hymns but I also love Christian hard rock and metal. Music that glorifies God. Some of my favorites are Flyleaf, TFK, the News Boys, Josh Garrels and Skillet (everything but their last cd). Getting back off of that rabbit trail, Christ gives us purpose and life as a Christian is hard, meaningful and exciting. It only appears as old fashioned to those who don’t understand it.
5. The confused crowd is probably the most frustrating but also the dearest to my heart. These people are usually the ones who realize that they need something more but tend to look in all the wrong places. The confused people need our prayers, love and attention. They are hard to work with but in my experience respond well to love. Just be careful to point to Jesus, that He loves them and cares for them. In my teens I had an awkward experience with this. There was this girl that used to come to our youth group and she always stood away from the crowd and always looked sad. So I started hanging out with her when she came. She had family problems, she was a cutter, she had boy problems and there were other things going on too. So I tried to always tell her that God loved her and I prayed for her and I paid a lot of attention to her. Well, one day she let me pray with her to accept Christ. Then about two weeks later she said that it wasn’t for real and she only said that to make me happy and that she was starting to have feelings towards other girls. Which I think she meant me. I didn’t really know what to do. I think she didn’t know the difference between feelings of friendship and emotional attraction. I think she liked having someone who accepted her and acted like a friend, but she didn’t know how to respond. I took a step back because I wasn’t sure how to handle it and I tried to tell her that she was probably confusing her emotions. Our friendship faded away after that. I think she thought I rejected her. I was really only rejecting those wrong feelings. So my point is be clear in what you mean and try to find other people to help you show that person the love of Christ.
Those are just my thoughts
1. I believe people base their logic and beliefs on their own world views. In the same way that you and I were brought up with a Christian world view. They were brought up with a counter world view. Satan has authored many counter world views to the truth. They exist in any fashion that would pull people away from God. It generally comes down to three things; Atheism, false religions, or purposefully choosing to reject God when someone already knows the truth. In today’s predominantly atheistic culture many children grow up being told that there is no God, they are led to believe that humans are our own highest power and that morality is only relative to the individual. This may sound weird to say but people treat themselves as if they are their own god. When you hold yourself (wrongly )in such high esteem and your own selfish and sinful nature is given free reign it’s hard to give up that power and to acknowledge that there is a power higher than yourself that says your behavior is not acceptable and that you will never measure up to His standards. It’s hard for them to make the choice to give up their world view and way of life. I think it is especially hard for people to humble themselves and to acknowledge that they have sinned and need a Savior because they can’t measure up to God’s standards. In today’s culture we are led to believe that our self-worth comes from meeting and exceeding standards. I think that is part of the reason that people have such a hard time with this.
2. People who have an atheistic world view often times believe in science as the highest logic. Unfortunately today’s most common science is flawed. The science has been warped to fit the worldview. Carbon dating is a good example but you are probably familiar so I won’t go into detail here. There are some things that science will never be able to measure. That’s when theories begin. Theories are generally made on the assumption of the theorists’ own understanding and concept or worldview. Exposing circular reasoning and holes in theories and illogical science are sometimes helpful but we always need to remember to do these things in love because the point isn’t as much to prove a fact as it is to win a soul.
3. This is the saddest one of all. There are a lot of phony Christians out there and a lot of well-meaning but misguided Christians as well. When someone says that Religion does only harm its good to ask them for specific cases and if it was a Christian that caused them harm sometimes we can comfort them and show them that not all Christians are that way. This is where the rubber meets the road. You may be the only Christian they know. When I worked at a Christian camp my boss put it to me this way, “You may be the only Christ that person ever sees.”
4. Christianity has stood the test of time and is just as relevant today as it always has been. I think this comes down to a person wanting to participate in today’s culture apart from God’s standards. Although I think they also get a wrong picture of Christians and Christianity that makes them think that it’s boring. One thing for me is music. People think that all we listen to is hymns I love hymns but I also love Christian hard rock and metal. Music that glorifies God. Some of my favorites are Flyleaf, TFK, the News Boys, Josh Garrels and Skillet (everything but their last cd). Getting back off of that rabbit trail, Christ gives us purpose and life as a Christian is hard, meaningful and exciting. It only appears as old fashioned to those who don’t understand it.
5. The confused crowd is probably the most frustrating but also the dearest to my heart. These people are usually the ones who realize that they need something more but tend to look in all the wrong places. The confused people need our prayers, love and attention. They are hard to work with but in my experience respond well to love. Just be careful to point to Jesus, that He loves them and cares for them. In my teens I had an awkward experience with this. There was this girl that used to come to our youth group and she always stood away from the crowd and always looked sad. So I started hanging out with her when she came. She had family problems, she was a cutter, she had boy problems and there were other things going on too. So I tried to always tell her that God loved her and I prayed for her and I paid a lot of attention to her. Well, one day she let me pray with her to accept Christ. Then about two weeks later she said that it wasn’t for real and she only said that to make me happy and that she was starting to have feelings towards other girls. Which I think she meant me. I didn’t really know what to do. I think she didn’t know the difference between feelings of friendship and emotional attraction. I think she liked having someone who accepted her and acted like a friend, but she didn’t know how to respond. I took a step back because I wasn’t sure how to handle it and I tried to tell her that she was probably confusing her emotions. Our friendship faded away after that. I think she thought I rejected her. I was really only rejecting those wrong feelings. So my point is be clear in what you mean and try to find other people to help you show that person the love of Christ.
Those are just my thoughts