Sharing Your Faith

As Christians the way we act either leads people to Christ or away from Him. In today's society, people are hostile to belief systems that condemn them of their actions. Therefore, our message is offensive and as ambassadors to Christ we must learn how to lead others to Christ in a manner reflecting Christ. Three main areas that will aide us in our evangelizing.                                                                                                      
            First of all, we need to gain knowledge; as Christians we must know what we believe in order to share it. For example, Colossians 2:8 states "Do not be taken captive by philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, and not according to Christ."God calls us to understand other worldviews and to see the flaws in them. In the spiritual warfare that consumes Christians, we must be able to defend our beliefs with the truth. Christians need to know the answers and be prepared for the questions people will ask. Also, when answering their questions we must not mock or just spit out bible verses. In order to answer their questions, we must understand their reasoning and how to kindly share the gospel with them. Christians that merely quote bible verses without first forming a relationship are not correctly representing the gospel. To correctly share you faith, I believe you must first have a relationship with that person and thus have your actions speak for your beliefs. Specifically, our lives are a better testimony than bible verses.
            Christians must be wise in the way we communicate with others. If we flounder around and are not clear in our reasoning we have misrepresented the name of Christ. Asking questions about why they believe what they believe can help us prove the legitimacy of the gospel. Avoiding 'verse-bites' about hell and damnation, and instead speaking about the saving love of God is a better approach to ministering. As Christians we often speak to others with a certain 'lingo', referencing ideas and passages that nonbelievers have never heard of. This 'lingo' will only discourage and distance nonbelievers. Proclaiming damnation on street corners is not effective, Christians should change their message in accordance with the specific circumstances they are in.
           One quality that everyone struggles with is how to relate to the people around us, or possessing a righteous character. This righteous comes about mainly through growing in our relationship with God, but is especially evident when witnessing to others. We have to struggle to find the medium between being superficially nice in order to not offend anyone and being indifferent to others and their feelings. I Peter 3:15 expresses that in presenting the gospel we must be 'gentle and reverent'. Also, one of the greatest tools in evangelizing is being real with nonbelievers, not using stereotypical Christian actions and words to minister. Christians must also be ready to say I do not know, it is ok to not know all the answers, just look for them together.
       Most importantly, you are not alone in ministering, God is working in you to share His story of love.

Worldviews Intro #1

Your worldview is never directly mentioned in conservation, but it influences everything you say. Often times, people do not even know the definition of a worldview or what it entails. To quote Norman Geisler and William Watkins, "A worldview is a way of viewing or interpreting all of reality. It is an interpretive framework through which or by which one makes sense of the data of life and the world." A rather complex sentence, but basically a worldview is how you see the world. Think of it as a pair of glasses, you literally see through them, in the same way, you look through your worldview and see the circumstances of the world. Other illustrations are a filter or a tree, the filter is rather explanatory; the tree however uses the fact that trees have unseeable roots. Each person's worldview is like the roots of tree, you cannot see them but you know for certain that they are there. Also, the illustration of roots describes that your worldview is shown through your actions or your fruits. Our textbook defines a worldview as "refer[ing] to any set of ideas, beliefs, convictions, or values that provides a framework or map to help you understand God, the world, and your relationship to God and the world."This is a definition specific to Christianity, but any worldview must answer questions such as- Is there a God? How were we created? Why were we created? Kevin Bywater states that every worldview answers the questions: "What is God? [and] What is Human?" Six predominant worldviews are Christianity, Islam, Secular Humanism, Marxism-Leninism, Cosmic Humanism, and Postmodernism (Found in UTT).  Others exist, but these six define our society and create many questions for the today's Christians. In response to these definitions, we, as Christians, must seek to develop a distinctly Christian worldview so as to reflect Christ in our thoughts and actions. But how do you think in an only-Christian way when society influences are constantly directing us? The solution is not a simple, cut and dry answer, merely a life spent attempting to emulate Christ and accepting grace when we fail. However, certain practices and disciplines can make this easy. For instance, understanding the Bible literally and studying it daily can help a Christian be discerning in a complicated world. Also, we need to be prepared to proclaim our beliefs and be courageous. To do this, we must understand others' worldviews and why Christianity denounces them- thus the reason for taking UTT. We have to be ready to stand up for Christ and answer the "greatest question of our time...[can] man live without God?" Here our a couple steps to create a consistent Christian worldview (taken from Kevin Bywater's video lectures) 1. Don't read your Bibles...Study them 2. Read other worldview materials 3. Put yourself in challenging situations 4. Stretch your intellectual boundaries 5. Engage in cultural analysis 6. Watch your time closely. Most of these practices entail getting to know God and learning how to be a disciple. We must not fear engaging in debates because God can use us in tremendous ways!
 These are not hard and fast steps; they will merely prepare you from confrontations from other views. By knowing God and His word, we will understand how to be witnesses to the world and bring light to them. 

Mere Christianity

C. S. Lewis is thought inspiring. He prompts us to the question what do I believe? After listening to the debates these past couple of weeks, I've realized that I do not fully comprehend God or His intentions. I continue to rest in His promises and assurances, but questions still arise. I could unpack a 'hot' topic, free will versus predestination, abortion, or the death penalty; but I love to talk about the absolute wonder of God, his grace, his love, and his transforming work in my life. Therefore, I chose to discuss the dramatic conclusion to Mere Christianity.  C. S. Lewis states "Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in" (226-227).

Basically C. S. Lewis is describing the Christian life and the essential components of living the life God planned for you. To clarify, C.S. Lewis is using the "real self" to describe the "self" God desires us to be. Lewis states we must throw away the delusions that a life filled with worldliness and selfishness will satisfy us. It is the classic Christian statement, that life can only be gained through loss, however Lewis twists this statement. He says that you will save it, do not misunderstand and think that Lewis is implying that you can personally earn your salvation. No, Lewis is saying to rid your life of selfishness and thus save yourself from being tempted by the world. Also, Lewis calls us to "submit to death" and not a mortal death, but a death of seeking to satisfy your self- to try and replace God. Lewis also reveals that the things we own are not really ours, and therefore that we should place no value in the materials of the world. The sentence "Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead" declares that the selfishness in us will be removed when we die. In light of this fact, we must not be afraid to remove selfishness from our lives. Lewis denounces the pursuit of self and instead reveals that God is the only one who can offer peace and joy. Not purely satisfaction either, but "everything else thrown in"; God will bless us with more than we can fathom. He will define us, and in His definition the world will pale. 

 I know its a long quote, but I couldn't resist removing one phrase from this statement. Not just the message, but his word choice and sentence structure create such an excellent conclusion to the book. The words "give up yourself, and you will find your real self" impact me strongly; that we, as Christians, are defined by God. We fruitlessly search for our identities in the people around us, asking them to fill the void within us. God calls us to "submit to death"; this death sounds excruciating and near impossible. This death is our lifestyle. Sometimes I wonder if its possible to wholly surrender ourselves to God, forgetting that God can do all things- regardless of my inadequacies. I like the line "death of your ambitions", because in a society where the slogan is 'DREAM BIG', this is a wake-up call. God did not want us to live out OUR dreams, he created completely separate dreams that are uniquely HIS. Lewis defines ownership as worthless; and that a life filled with the desires of our heart is like death. Often times I strive for happiness in this world, I hold on to the tiniest flicker of worldly joy and chase it. This chase is futile; I "look for [my]self" and in that struggle for self-grativication and empty joy I flee from God. Sometimes the "hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay" are all I can see, it is the pit of self, and it is impossible to climb out on our own. When the focus is on school work, grades, or how my hair looks that morning I neglect to see God. Thus comes the line to live by, if you "look for Christ...you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in". It is God's promise to his believers, that if we look for Him we will find Him. What a glorious, consuming love our Father has for us, that He is always ready to receive us!!! 

First Assignment

Favorite Poem