I read an interesting article the other day titled, "An Apology from a Remorseful Atheist to the Baby Jesus." Basically, the guy was ranting about how much he hates religion, specifically Christianity, but that he's sorry for everything he'd every said bad about Jesus. Because really, according to this guy, Jesus wasn't a bad dude. It's the people who follow Jesus that he had a problem with. You know, Christians.
It got me thinking. In today's world, faith isn't a problem. People want to have faith in something. In fact, I would argue that most people would say faith is necessary to survive. And it's certainly necessary to live.
Faith isn't the problem. Religion is. Or rather, the stigma that comes with religion because of years of abuse, misuse and misunderstanding. I have people very close to me who are turned off because of religion, not because of faith.
But think about this for a while. Your faith isn't a stumbling block to anyone coming to Christ. But how often do you look at someone who doesn't have your faith and think, "I don't want to alienate so-and-so by talking about my faith"? When in reality, your faith may be the one thing that attracts them.
Don't be afraid to talk about Jesus, the Church, God or any other aspect of your faith under the guise of not wanting to turn someone off. Instead, use your faith in Christ and your love for his Church to blow the doors off of the stereotypes and show people that being a Christian isn't about following a religion. It's about having a relationship with the true Savior of the world.
This is exactly what I'm working on. I want to be able to share my faith with ANYONE, without worrying how it will be received. I'm tired of holding back for fear of offending. The harvest is here!
ReplyDelete