Remember the story of E Stanley Jones, the day after he became a Christian? Someone said “E Stanley, you ain’t no Christian”, to which he responded “The Hell I ain’t”.
This is in response to a recent question of Diane’s “How do we share the invitation to faith in a religiously paranoid age?” (my wording).
I asked some of you what people said to you when you were considering church or before you were. The answers varied. I didn’t ask permission to share names, so you’re safe!
I told Diane I often say to atheists that I am glad we’re at least partly on the same page. They must have rejected much of the religion of judgementalism and closed mindedness that I, too, have had enough of.
One friend told me someone said nothing of their faith other than to listen to her story of wandering, and then said they were really glad she had embarked on a spiritual journey and would love to share it with her if she didn’t yet have a spiritual family.
Another said that someone just conveyed that they genuinely appreciated him. That made him ask questions of their faith and hope.
I guess the joy of it is that we are never in a place where we have to sell anything. We can admit to our friends we are in love, with God and life and all the creation. We can admit easily to those who are deeply pondering that we don’t have all the answers. And we can deeply listen to people’s stories and hopes and tell them our spiritual story as well, in mutual hearing. And it really matters to be able to tell friends that we go to a church where love is all we need to belong, trusting God to figure out the rest in us.
But don’t forget: most all of the people you know are wounded by their histories with bitter, hateful people who claim to represent Christ. My sense is that they are nervous only until we show them that we are ready to hear them and love them as they are. When they see faith as the power behind whatever loving we know, it tells them something more important than words.
I am wondering how [or if] you share your faith with others? If you’d like, find “comments” at the bottom of this page, click it, log in and share your thoughts [if you’re shy, send me an email].
Do well.
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2 comments:
Unfortuneatly, there are some things that i often don't talk about with friends or family: politics and faith. I find that I can talk these things with people once I know what their views are. I have a friend who is Mormon, and she and I can talk faith to eachother all we want. We both know that it's oke to talk about our faiths to eachother non-judgementally. however, i've found I can't talk that way with other people, once I find out that they are anti-christian or anti-religion in general. I don't really feel comfortable with letting people know this part of my life if i'm going to be rejected. Many people know i go to church, and I leave it at that. i don't push my faith at all, and i try real hard to let my actions show my views more then anything.
I share my faith with anyone that asks. I'm in love with my church and i'm not afraid to tell people what I do on the weekends. Before I started with Curch of the Joyful Healer and we went to a few other churches I was shy about saying what we did. I think once you reach the point that you love church and God it doesn't matter who knows. I don't know when that change took place I think once our church family became like a family to Annlouise and myself I was proud of who we are and what we have becom. I know I'm a better person for believing in God and i know I'm not perfect but who is
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