Today we started talking about the "worldly" general view of Christians. Here are some questions I had found regarding this topic:
How are Christians viewed or thought of by society in general?
Why?
If you came to know Christ later in life, what was your view of Christians or what used to pop in your head when someone told you they were a Christian?
Why?
How have others acted or what was their attitude around those who claimed to be Christian?
Or if you have experienced a "change" in behavior/attitude in someone once they found out you attempt to follow Christ, elaborate.
What was your reaction?
Internally:
Externally:
Here are a few passages in scripture that I think present an answer to some of these questions and may help us as we deal with our week to come as well as hopefully inspire us to share our faith with others by serving them:
Biblical truth of how "this world" naturally views Christians:
John 15:18-19
John 7:7;12
John 16:33
Acts 17:6
How followers of Christ should view their treatment from the world and what their conduct should be:
Mat 5:1-16
1 Cor 9:19-23
2 Cor 5 16a; 20
Ro 11:20b
Ro 5:3
James 1:2;12;19
1 John 2:15-16
I mentioned a couple of videos in class as the topic of athiests came up. Firstly, I had found a clip of Dr. Erwin Lutzer doing some "open air preaching": http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=7753
This then lead me to a discussion dialogue between Dr. Lutzer and a "friend" of his by the name of Rob Sherman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mew9KEBged0&list=FLqBANYSdB5zsfix-ieSs7Xg&index=2&feature=plpp_video
Also, I had mentioned a video/film called "180". This is a 30+ minute film that really surprised me with the direction it took. There is a warning regarding the graphic content: images from the holocaust.
http://www.180movie.com/
I also want to challenge each one of you to find at least one person you interact with almost daily that seems to persecute you for no apparent reason (or does so because of your identification with Christ) and try to do one thing nice for that person daily. One thing I heard about doing was getting that person a treat and writing them a note that you were thinking they would like it and hope they are having a good day.
It seems natural for us "young in Christ" to want to be ambassadors of Christ by "telling" others about His love and the gospel, but it is all the more effective if we actually live our lives for Christ and "show" Christ's love to others.
I know this is going to be challenging for me because I fail so much at the relational part of life. I have a hard time making time for simply listening to others, especially when I ask how someone is doing as a "greeting".
How are Christians viewed or thought of by society in general?
Why?
If you came to know Christ later in life, what was your view of Christians or what used to pop in your head when someone told you they were a Christian?
Why?
How have others acted or what was their attitude around those who claimed to be Christian?
Or if you have experienced a "change" in behavior/attitude in someone once they found out you attempt to follow Christ, elaborate.
What was your reaction?
Internally:
Externally:
Here are a few passages in scripture that I think present an answer to some of these questions and may help us as we deal with our week to come as well as hopefully inspire us to share our faith with others by serving them:
Biblical truth of how "this world" naturally views Christians:
John 15:18-19
John 7:7;12
John 16:33
Acts 17:6
How followers of Christ should view their treatment from the world and what their conduct should be:
Mat 5:1-16
1 Cor 9:19-23
2 Cor 5 16a; 20
Ro 11:20b
Ro 5:3
James 1:2;12;19
1 John 2:15-16
I mentioned a couple of videos in class as the topic of athiests came up. Firstly, I had found a clip of Dr. Erwin Lutzer doing some "open air preaching": http://www.worldviewweekend.com/worldview-times/article.php?articleid=7753
This then lead me to a discussion dialogue between Dr. Lutzer and a "friend" of his by the name of Rob Sherman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mew9KEBged0&list=FLqBANYSdB5zsfix-ieSs7Xg&index=2&feature=plpp_video
Also, I had mentioned a video/film called "180". This is a 30+ minute film that really surprised me with the direction it took. There is a warning regarding the graphic content: images from the holocaust.
http://www.180movie.com/
I also want to challenge each one of you to find at least one person you interact with almost daily that seems to persecute you for no apparent reason (or does so because of your identification with Christ) and try to do one thing nice for that person daily. One thing I heard about doing was getting that person a treat and writing them a note that you were thinking they would like it and hope they are having a good day.
It seems natural for us "young in Christ" to want to be ambassadors of Christ by "telling" others about His love and the gospel, but it is all the more effective if we actually live our lives for Christ and "show" Christ's love to others.
I know this is going to be challenging for me because I fail so much at the relational part of life. I have a hard time making time for simply listening to others, especially when I ask how someone is doing as a "greeting".
1 comment:
"Hypocrite" seems to be the popular consensus when people think of Christians. Probably because the "loudest" self-proclaimed Christians seem to be the ones that get the attention of the world, such as Fred Phelps. Another reason may be that Christians are supposed to be spreading the truth and when "Christians" do not do so with love, patience and kindness, they may come across as judgmental. Even when Christians are presenting the truth in a loving and caring manner, "the world" hates the truth and takes offense when their sins are exposed. We all hate the truth when our motives are exposed to as being wrong.
I used to think of Christians as mentioned above as well as "goodie-goodie", only because my exposure to Christianity was minimal to what few "Christians" I knew or knew of.
Some tend to act different around Christians because they either don't want to offend them or give them a chance to "judge" their actions. Some may act even more "obnoxious" to see if they can offend or "get a rise" out of the Christian.
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