I have a professor who made some very good points in class today - TopicsExpress



          

I have a professor who made some very good points in class today about people of faith. We are learning about a particular writer who had a tough time dealing with Christians because of their attitudes towards tough questions. He found Christians very controlling, very manipulative. Our professor explained that the reason people of no faith never walk into a church, is because there are not many leaders in a church who are open to discussions about disagreements. He says they act as if every word they say, or every interpretation theyve ever made about God, the Bible, or Heaven is absolute truth. Though not always, in most cases, I have found I agree with my professor. Sometimes I want to look at people who find it hard to go to church and say ME TOO. SOMETIMES I HATE CHURCH. --because it is very difficult for me and some of my closest friends to go some Sundays when some of the best gossip, some of the fakest smiles, some of the most racism, some of the most cowardice goes on between those walls. People like to call it hypocrisy, but it really boils down to pride. Its fear that people will figure out we really arent as smart as we act like we are. Its statements like You should believe this because its what the Bible says instead of explaining to us why we can actually trust these letters written by men to men. My professor makes a very good point in saying that religion is so popular because it can be so controlling, so manipulative. We can stand up there and literally make people feel however we want them to feel through emotional tools like music and preaching, and back it up by translating the Bible however we prefer to back it up. If our new basketball gym needs to be paid for, we preach about tithing. If kids get caught kissing on a mission trip, we teach our next Sunday School lesson about purity. We make our own rules by what will make the members the most comfortable. I rarely hear pastors/teachers/elders/deacons/kids directors/youth pastors tell us that if we seek, we will find. That its ok to doubt, that faith isnt knowing, its trusting and believing despite the doubt, that if you dont believe in Christ, then search it with everything you have, and God will reveal it to you. We dont tell people this because it takes us away from comfort. It gives people freedom to choose what they believe. The God we follow isnt afraid of tough questions, we are. The God we follow isnt afraid of science or logic. He created them. So we shouldnt be either. We turn more people away by the questions we pretend to know the answer to, because we answer them so confidently and never give the other side a chance. The answers I dont know and Im not sure are some of the best evangelism we can ever practice. Why? Because its honest, and no one is going to truly be changed by our words, until they know we are being real with them.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Aug 2014 05:15:51 +0000

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