Ever meet someone new and discovered they were Christian? Remember the instant kinship you both felt? It’s a marvelous thing that transcends race, age, sex, health, wealth and every other category that typically separates us. Christians from all walks of life are brothers and sisters because we’re bonded by a faith we know to be rich and true.
But unbelievers see our faith as foolish, naive and even childish. One guy actually said “God is like Santa Claus – you give it up when you grow up.” Uneasy about encountering attitudes like this, it’s no wonder Christians can be shy about sharing their faith with others.
But unbelievers see our faith as foolish, naive and even childish. One guy actually said “God is like Santa Claus – you give it up when you grow up.” Uneasy about encountering attitudes like this, it’s no wonder Christians can be shy about sharing their faith with others.
Let’s look at some reasons non-Christians think this way. We’ve had at least two generations of parents who don’t attend church and don’t send their kids, either. Millions of people have minimal knowledge of faith and little contact with a church community.
Life can be hard, and with no spiritual guidance it’s easy to disbelieve in a “good” God who, as far as they’re concerned, should be providing for them but isn’t.Others have been “educated” and buy into Karl Marx’s notion that “religion is the opiate of the masses.” In fact, the quotation itself is an opiate that endows “sophisticated” people with a misguided sense of superiority.
Child abuse scandals, hateful “Christians” picketing military funerals, pastors threatening to burn Qur’ans, and headlines proclaiming apocalyptic deadlines have all tainted Christianity’s image.
TV shows, movies, edited news stories, comedy routines, contemporary music and other biased influences permeate the culture. Skepticism is understandably rampant.
It’s a hostile environment for American Christians but it’s easy compared to much of the modern world. We're free to share our faith and should relish the opportunity to do so. We can succeed by proceeding in a sensible, biblical way.
Our first job is to open minds. In the parable of the four soils Jesus taught that only seed sowed on good soil would produce a crop. People tend to be rocky, thorny and shallow regarding faith, just like the unproductive soils. We need to find good soils and improve the condition of the others so the things we say will take root instead of being ignored.
We can do this in part by addressing the individual’s reasons for skepticism, showing the shallowness of disbelief and then sharing the sensible answers provided by faith.
The first step is to open a dialogue. We know the ultimate truth is in the Bible but others don't, so we should speak in everyday terms in order to find out why the person is skeptical. Then we should address the issues. The process is biblical. For example, when Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman at the well he told her, “you Samaritans worship what you do not know.” He knew her wrong-headed beliefs were barriers to her understanding the truth. We need to understand this, too.
This takes time and patience, but if we can awaken people one at a time we may be able to change the momentum.
The next Christian Standpoint article will discuss finding opportunities to share faith and how to open the conversation.
Image credit: sundaymorningcontemplation.blogspot
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