Lent Update: I thought most of the people I hung out with liked to eat healthy, how is it that they always end up offering me candy? Perhaps the candy has become an obstacle to their health so they’re pawning it off on me? I will say however, Kelly a.k.a. mom two, scared me half to death when I, failing again, reached for a red vine in the huge tub they had at their house. “NO!!!!” She screamed lunging at me while I defiantly pulled my hand away and took a large bite. I’m so mature. She then exclaimed “Well don’t blame this on me in your next blog,” to which I spit out the red vine and walked away defeated. Thanks for respecting my lent mom two!
Lately in our youth ministry we’ve been going through a series on World Religions. This series has involved four key elements (1) What is the history of the religion (2) What are their core beliefs (3) How do they differ from Christianity (4) What are some effective ways to share Christ with someone of this faith. It has been a great series. We are all learning a lot of great information and we have had the opportunity to hear from several excellent guest speakers. Because of this talking to people about Christ has been on my mind a lot. More specifically the obstacles to sharing Christ with others.
I think we can all admit there are several obstacles people must overcome before coming to faith. Our History with the church, our upbringing, being raised by non-Christian or Christian parents, Difficult faith questions and many more. Look back to your life surely one of these hindered you for awhile. By God’s grace we have overcome them through various resources. Today I want to make two suggestions on how you can NOT become an obstacle in someone else’s faith journey.
Before I give my two suggestions I do want to clarify something. You will fail, you will become part of an obstacle for someone, that’s okay. We are human, we will strive to be Christ-like in all things but we will fail. Luckily the weight of people’s salvation does not fall solely on our fragile shoulders. God watches over us and those we encounter and can work even those things that satan intended for bad out for good (Genesis 50:19-20).
[highlight color=”yellow”]History with the Church[/highlight] One of the biggest obstacles people have with Jesus is Christians. Even Gandhi said “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” The majority of people do not take much issue with Jesus they take issue with how his followers misconstrue, use and abuse His teachings for self-righteous, hateful ends. The “God Hates Fags” movement comes to mind. If you look at Jesus, they way He lived, the way He interacted with prostitutes, tax collectors, thieves there is no way you can logically follow His actions to hate of this kind. If we look at Christ a lot of “church history” doesn’t line up the Crusades and the salem witch trials to name two.What does line up is speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), accepting people where they are at (Romans 5:8), and being His witnesses to those you meet (Acts 1:8). Sure, Christ ruffled some feathers, people don’t like being confronted with the truth, but they dislike people spewing judgement and hatred more. When you have discussions with a non-Christian be civil, honest and loving. Admit mistakes, empathize and show understanding. We have all been where they are to some degree, remember that, pray and engage with love.
[highlight color=”yellow”](2) Deep faith questions[/highlight] I am of the belief that real faith asks real questions. That’s not Biblical, that’s just my opinion. A lot of people are turned off by how little Christian seem to know about this faith they so openly express. To most people this looks like ignorance, to some degree I believe they are right. But before you get to down on yourself, remember that God has created all of us uniquely (1 Corinthians 12:27-30). Some people God has gifted with an amazing amount of child like faith and that is to be respected and admired perhaps even desired (Matthew 18:3). Some people though, have used this as a tool to end any deep faith based discussion, dismissing legitimate questions with the off used “you just have to have more faith.”In the past, when faced with deep theological or philosophical questions the answer “just have faith” has never really cut it for me. My God, the God of the Bible, is the God of truth. God invented logic and reason. It stands to reason then that Christianity is a faith of reason. See the term “faith” as it’s generally used means confidence. I believe confidence comes from recognition of patterns, evidence and God’s character. I have faith a chair holds me because I’ve sat in chairs all my life. I believe in God because … fill in the blank. We have reasons, we have wrestled with these concepts and seen God come through. This is what we should share this with those we encounter.
The Christian faith is not a faith of half-wits. We serve a God that is huge, the creator of all things. We should strive to know Him in every possible way. It should be our desire to understand His Word to us and seek out His truth in practical ways. We can be used to answer some of these deep faith questions for people and remove one more obstacle between them and a relationship with God.
Have you ever been an obstacle to someones faith? Probably, I know I have. Pray with me that God will reveal the parts of your life that are an obstacle and would give you wisdom on how to overcome them.
In Christ,
Bryce
