A saw an article the other day titled, "Young Conservative and Atheist." The main point of the article from what a gathered although I must admit I really only gave it a glance, was that there was a bit of shock that someone can conservative and not be a Christian. This made me reflect upon how the American church is communicating with culture, and feel that sometimes we are prone to quote scripture as our argumentation at the expense of also making reasonable arguments. So when a Christian is asked, "Why do you think that?" The Christian just quotes scripture as their only reason. The problem with this, is that it gives an immediate out for anyone to ignore a Christian and what they think, because their opinion on this issue is based solely on the Bible. I don't want anyone to misunderstand what I am saying. The Bible is our authority, it is true, and it is God inspired, however if it is true then Christians should be able to communicate the truth that is in scripture and the wisdom that is in scripture by more than just quoting biblical passages. If God's word is true, which I believe that it is, then we should be able to understand how the worldview that comes from the Bible is ultimately best for humanity, and just the belief of Christians, and we believe it only because the Bible says so. This is a claim that is often given to Christians, and while it is unfair, you only need to go to comment section of a video or an article and you will that person who posts 50 Bible verses to support their point, but nothing else. This along with other things leads people to believe that Christians are guilty of what is called blind faith. Now as I have said in other blogs, we do walk by faith, and not by sight, however this does not mean that we have blind faith. What blind faith is, is a faith that does not look at any evidence, it asks no questions, it does not examine anything and just keeps believing. This is not the faith that Christianity has. Christianity is based on faith that is supported by real histrionic evidence. It is a faith that has been well thought out and written on, it is also a faith that is real, because the God we serve is real. For example I can say that everyone in the world are sinners because the Bible tells me so, and yet I can also provide a vast amount of evidence to show that everyone in the world is sinner because at some point that have done something that they are shamed of, something that knew was wrong, and yet they did it anyway. As America becomes more of a secular culture, this does not mean that Christians can simply no longer talk with and must shout at culture from our churches quoting our Bibles, but we are able to engage in it, and show how the destructive aspects that celebrated in culture. There is evidence and reason to support the idea that having stable relationships are best not only for the individual, but also for society. It is important for Christians to communicate in a way that does not rely upon only quoting scripture, because there are those who wish to marginalize the church, and claim that while what Christians say may work for Christians, that does not mean that is will work for non-Christians. This just isn't the case. To be sure there are aspects of Christianity that only a Christian can appreciate. However when it comes to moral and social issues, Christians should understand that the ways of God are the ways of life not just for Christians, but for everyone, and thus we should be able to communicate with the culture in a way that reflects this understanding. Yes it is grounded in scripture, but it is communicated in way that even a secular person can understand where we coming from, without the cliche, "They just think because their Christian." What are your thoughts about this? Do you agree or disagree? Comment below and let me know, I'd love to hear from you.
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OverviewHere you can read various thoughts and discussions that come from the mind of our Pastor Archives
February 2023
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