witnessing
Hey everyone!
My aunt and I have been e-mailing back and forth about this for a couple of days, and here is one of her replies. If it seems like it's been pulled out of the middle of something, it's because it is. Anyway, I think she has a lot of good stuff here, and I just wanted to share it. (Yes, I did get her permission.) By the way, Ian is a guy in our intro to creative writing class, and he wrote a poem that expresses his dislike of at least hypocritical Christians, if not all. It's what started the conversation. Well, I hope you as blessed by the message that my aunt has to say as me. Take care and God bless!
Crystal
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Yes, I agree with you, and I was just thinking about it and about all of us Christians and about people like Ian....
I was wondering what religion he is - did he ever say?
I do think he seems like a pretty mild-mannered, polite fellow, as a general rule, and I get upset with the church today - including myself - for making people feel the way he does. I know that not everyone is a hypocrite in the church - I just wish we could really love people the way Jesus did and the way He wants us to love them. I think we'd get a lot farther in winning them - but who am I to talk? I don't know if I've ever really influenced anyone to become a Christian (except, of course, my own children - not to minimize the importance of that), but I do want to be a good witness. I want to care more - and I want to show it.
I think I have 2 problems: First, I'm just plain scared, sometimes, to say anything. Secondly, I get so distracted with "life" that I'm not hearing God's voice well enough to know what to say and when to say it. I think everyone needs to be witnessed to in different ways because different approaches and different words reach different kinds of people. God can show me what to do in each situation if I'm in tune with Him on that day or at that moment, but sometimes (actually, much or most of the time) I'm too busy with my own agenda to hear what He might tell me to say to someone (or what He might be telling me about my behavior and my attitude). This is where I want to do better.
I think we Christians don't realize the urgency of the situation. We don't think about what is at stake. The devil doesn't want us to realize it but wants to distract us from witnessing. Do we Christians realize, even a little bit, how bad hell is going to be, and do we look at each person with an urgent, pleading love that says, "Please don't go there! I'll do or say whatever it takes to get you to see the truth and to want to know my Saviour!!"? I don't think we do - I don't think we care nearly enough that we are here in this life for only a moment, and the majority of these people we pass or speak with or see everyday are headed straight for eternity without God; without His prescence ever again. We're too busy with our earthly stuff and fighting among ourselves, and on and on and on........
So...there are people like Ian, and it is so sad. God loves him so much - but will he ever realize it? And what would it take for us Christians to get him to realize it? What have we Christians done to drive him so far away from our Saviour? Ian was basically saying, "Well, from what I've seen from you Christians, if that's Christianity, then I want NO part of it. NO, THANKS!" And that is really sad.
Well, lol, this was my sermon for today, and it's definitely directed at myself as much as it is toward the rest of the body of Christ!
I just get so disgusted with the way we goody goody Christians are sometimes, and I think it makes God sick. Guess I just had to get that off my chest. What I really need, is to do something about it. I need to change.
Hey everyone!
My aunt and I have been e-mailing back and forth about this for a couple of days, and here is one of her replies. If it seems like it's been pulled out of the middle of something, it's because it is. Anyway, I think she has a lot of good stuff here, and I just wanted to share it. (Yes, I did get her permission.) By the way, Ian is a guy in our intro to creative writing class, and he wrote a poem that expresses his dislike of at least hypocritical Christians, if not all. It's what started the conversation. Well, I hope you as blessed by the message that my aunt has to say as me. Take care and God bless!
Crystal
**********
Yes, I agree with you, and I was just thinking about it and about all of us Christians and about people like Ian....
I was wondering what religion he is - did he ever say?
I do think he seems like a pretty mild-mannered, polite fellow, as a general rule, and I get upset with the church today - including myself - for making people feel the way he does. I know that not everyone is a hypocrite in the church - I just wish we could really love people the way Jesus did and the way He wants us to love them. I think we'd get a lot farther in winning them - but who am I to talk? I don't know if I've ever really influenced anyone to become a Christian (except, of course, my own children - not to minimize the importance of that), but I do want to be a good witness. I want to care more - and I want to show it.
I think I have 2 problems: First, I'm just plain scared, sometimes, to say anything. Secondly, I get so distracted with "life" that I'm not hearing God's voice well enough to know what to say and when to say it. I think everyone needs to be witnessed to in different ways because different approaches and different words reach different kinds of people. God can show me what to do in each situation if I'm in tune with Him on that day or at that moment, but sometimes (actually, much or most of the time) I'm too busy with my own agenda to hear what He might tell me to say to someone (or what He might be telling me about my behavior and my attitude). This is where I want to do better.
I think we Christians don't realize the urgency of the situation. We don't think about what is at stake. The devil doesn't want us to realize it but wants to distract us from witnessing. Do we Christians realize, even a little bit, how bad hell is going to be, and do we look at each person with an urgent, pleading love that says, "Please don't go there! I'll do or say whatever it takes to get you to see the truth and to want to know my Saviour!!"? I don't think we do - I don't think we care nearly enough that we are here in this life for only a moment, and the majority of these people we pass or speak with or see everyday are headed straight for eternity without God; without His prescence ever again. We're too busy with our earthly stuff and fighting among ourselves, and on and on and on........
So...there are people like Ian, and it is so sad. God loves him so much - but will he ever realize it? And what would it take for us Christians to get him to realize it? What have we Christians done to drive him so far away from our Saviour? Ian was basically saying, "Well, from what I've seen from you Christians, if that's Christianity, then I want NO part of it. NO, THANKS!" And that is really sad.
Well, lol, this was my sermon for today, and it's definitely directed at myself as much as it is toward the rest of the body of Christ!
I just get so disgusted with the way we goody goody Christians are sometimes, and I think it makes God sick. Guess I just had to get that off my chest. What I really need, is to do something about it. I need to change.