On a recent Facebook Christian group post, I read a very good article refuting the statement that 'Seeing is believing'. I thought the article was very well written, theologically sound and would have made for a very good sermon. It was clearly written by a Christian for Christians and there is nothing wrong with that, but after following some of the theological comments on FB, I decided to comment from a different perspective - that of a non Christian.
I have not seen any more of the post and unfortunately I have forgotten the name of the group.
There were a few things which 'bothered' me about the article, the main one being that the limited FB discussion centered around the theology of the article, all of which was only relevant to a Christian audience, yet the article was written about why many people choose not to believe in Jesus because they can't see him. The subject of the article was non Christians, yet all the discussion took place around the Christian perspective. My (unanswered) question was are Christians presenting the Gospel in such a way as to be irrelevant to non Christians? - those who want to 'see to believe.'
I have always found Christianity to be a very practical religion and very relevant to every day life, more so since I stopped going to church here on a regular basis. The Christian groups which meet here - and there is no shortage of them - are not visible in the general community - they are not interested in mission, and that has two dangerous consequences. The groups become inward thinking and cut off from the general public, and become irrelevant to those not associated with Christianity. As a Christian I have been treated appallingly by some Christians here ( they have probably since left the area) as I possibly think differently to the majority and that can be seen as a threat, instead of being able to accept a different point of view. I am not a conformist for the sake of conforming - I prefer to think things through.
Meeting with other Christians once or more during the week is great - Paul recommended that many times - but unless a Christian mixes with 'outsiders', loves them and can relate to them, then their Christianity is of little practical use and that is NOT recommended by Paul in his writings. If we are to live the Gospel, - we don't necessarily have to preach it - we need to see things from other people's point of view, and that is not always easy nor comfortable, but that is just what Jesus did, over and over again.
So, what is your perspective?
I have not seen any more of the post and unfortunately I have forgotten the name of the group.
There were a few things which 'bothered' me about the article, the main one being that the limited FB discussion centered around the theology of the article, all of which was only relevant to a Christian audience, yet the article was written about why many people choose not to believe in Jesus because they can't see him. The subject of the article was non Christians, yet all the discussion took place around the Christian perspective. My (unanswered) question was are Christians presenting the Gospel in such a way as to be irrelevant to non Christians? - those who want to 'see to believe.'
I have always found Christianity to be a very practical religion and very relevant to every day life, more so since I stopped going to church here on a regular basis. The Christian groups which meet here - and there is no shortage of them - are not visible in the general community - they are not interested in mission, and that has two dangerous consequences. The groups become inward thinking and cut off from the general public, and become irrelevant to those not associated with Christianity. As a Christian I have been treated appallingly by some Christians here ( they have probably since left the area) as I possibly think differently to the majority and that can be seen as a threat, instead of being able to accept a different point of view. I am not a conformist for the sake of conforming - I prefer to think things through.
Meeting with other Christians once or more during the week is great - Paul recommended that many times - but unless a Christian mixes with 'outsiders', loves them and can relate to them, then their Christianity is of little practical use and that is NOT recommended by Paul in his writings. If we are to live the Gospel, - we don't necessarily have to preach it - we need to see things from other people's point of view, and that is not always easy nor comfortable, but that is just what Jesus did, over and over again.
So, what is your perspective?
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