Saturday, September 5, 2015
I Suck At Evangelism
I suck at evangelism. When people ask me questions like, "how does God speak to you?" or "why do you believe in that particular God rather than any of the other religions out there?" I never really know how to respond. Learning how to listen to the voice of God was a thing that happened over the course of years, and it still often doesn't come easy. As for why I believe in Jesus Christ as my savior, that to me is once again the tale of my life thus far. I don't think that the basics of it make sense, but I do think that it's more real and more important than all the things in my life that do "make sense". But the Bible says that we should be ready to give an answer to that question, the why of our faith in Christ. So I'm often at a loss.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
The Struggle, Mayhaps, Really Is Real
So, I'm in this weird phase of life now. I knew it was coming but it's still catching me off-guard, the realities of it. It's like I'm frozen in time (except that I age) while life passes by. I see my friends and family once in awhile, but mostly, I'm studying for medical school and also the Bible. I'm currently rereading the Old Testament, but with the addition of a study Bible, which means that I am also informed on social, cultural, historical, and various language connotations within a given passage. This leads to challenges, like the fact that the temple of the Hebrews that God instructed Moses to build (with very specific instructions) was very much like other temples of the same time period. This leads me to ask, naturally, whether it was the first of its kind. After all, it has become apparent to me that the creation story presented in Genesis (which is very similar to other texts like Gilgamesh that were written before Genesis was written) was most likely there for the purpose of distinguishing the qualities of the Hebrew, monotheistic God from the pagan, polytheistic gods of the surrounding cultures.
So it's with this in mind that I approach the Old Testament now. The temple and methods of worship may be similar to that of nearby cultures, and it may not be the first religion to have adopted such methods, and that's okay. Why? Because that was the understood way to worship at the time, and in order to properly give glory to God in a way that would be significant to the Hebrews at the time, it may have been necessary to adopt the systems of cultures who worshiped false gods. It's okay if that's the case, because it doesn't change the fact that Jesus was still the ultimate sacrifice who wiped out the need for any others. Jesus doesn't change just 'cause our historical understanding increases. If anything, I think it brings more glory to Him to reveal a world that makes historical and cultural sense.
It's tough to arrive at conclusions like this. It's always a struggle. But the struggling is healthy.
Whoops, back to that earlier point. I see my friends drifting from the faith. Even (and, let's face it, especially) the ones who just a few years ago were seen as sorta leading the next generation. The ones in charge of the youth camps that did so much in me in times past. We always had a reputation for being an amazing youth group, yet years later, I keep discovering all this other stuff that was and continues to go on behind the scenes. I sometimes feel like I was the only genuine one. I have some doubts sometimes, but mostly, I dealt with the major doubts when I was a young teenager, and then decided to trust God over those. I messed up a lot of course, but still, others just seem so resigned to where they are. Premarital sex hasn't become any less a big deal to me, but it seems to have done so for other friends. I mean, making the mistake and repenting is peachy, but when it becomes an okay, normal thing... It's just living in sin. And I hate noticing 'cause it makes me feel judgmental. It just feels like there's a better way, and I used to think that I was one of many living out that better way, but it often just seems like Christianity is dying out. My everything, Jesus, who defines my life, seems to be rapidly losing popularity, and I don't know how to deal with that.
So it's with this in mind that I approach the Old Testament now. The temple and methods of worship may be similar to that of nearby cultures, and it may not be the first religion to have adopted such methods, and that's okay. Why? Because that was the understood way to worship at the time, and in order to properly give glory to God in a way that would be significant to the Hebrews at the time, it may have been necessary to adopt the systems of cultures who worshiped false gods. It's okay if that's the case, because it doesn't change the fact that Jesus was still the ultimate sacrifice who wiped out the need for any others. Jesus doesn't change just 'cause our historical understanding increases. If anything, I think it brings more glory to Him to reveal a world that makes historical and cultural sense.
It's tough to arrive at conclusions like this. It's always a struggle. But the struggling is healthy.
Whoops, back to that earlier point. I see my friends drifting from the faith. Even (and, let's face it, especially) the ones who just a few years ago were seen as sorta leading the next generation. The ones in charge of the youth camps that did so much in me in times past. We always had a reputation for being an amazing youth group, yet years later, I keep discovering all this other stuff that was and continues to go on behind the scenes. I sometimes feel like I was the only genuine one. I have some doubts sometimes, but mostly, I dealt with the major doubts when I was a young teenager, and then decided to trust God over those. I messed up a lot of course, but still, others just seem so resigned to where they are. Premarital sex hasn't become any less a big deal to me, but it seems to have done so for other friends. I mean, making the mistake and repenting is peachy, but when it becomes an okay, normal thing... It's just living in sin. And I hate noticing 'cause it makes me feel judgmental. It just feels like there's a better way, and I used to think that I was one of many living out that better way, but it often just seems like Christianity is dying out. My everything, Jesus, who defines my life, seems to be rapidly losing popularity, and I don't know how to deal with that.
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