Posted 11:16 pm Saturday, February 23, 2013
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Different ways of sharing faith OK
A man stands on a patch of grass at the University of North Texas, preaching to students passing by, week after week.
A teacher in Tyler never mentions her love for Christ to her public school students, but is always ready to share her beliefs with them outside of the classroom when they ask.
Others open fair trade shops, motivated by their faith to try a different business model.
Some attend church regularly. Some use their Sunday mornings to work with the poor and the sick.
One of the great things about faith is how everyone expresses it in a different way. Granted, there are some basic tenets that are not negotiable, but by and large there is a lot of freedom of expression.
So why do we sometimes act like our way is best?
A teacher in Tyler never mentions her love for Christ to her public school students, but is always ready to share her beliefs with them outside of the classroom when they ask.
Others open fair trade shops, motivated by their faith to try a different business model.
Some attend church regularly. Some use their Sunday mornings to work with the poor and the sick.
One of the great things about faith is how everyone expresses it in a different way. Granted, there are some basic tenets that are not negotiable, but by and large there is a lot of freedom of expression.
So why do we sometimes act like our way is best?
It does seem that the religious culture is moving away from this mindset. I have noticed more diversity even among evangelicals alone (although this is hardly solid evidence — it may be that I am noticing diversity simply because I am growing older). Instead of preaching on mission trips, some are choosing to reach out to the hurting in their own community. Instead of inviting someone to church who they know would be uncomfortable in that setting, they are hanging out on their turf on Saturday night.
Still, some who have been people of faith for a long time are convinced there is only one way to do things. They see those who don’t express their faith in the way they do in a negative light.
“Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions,” wrote Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest. “We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.
Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens — if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give.”
As long as people are expressing the love of God, let them do it their way. As Paul said in Philippians, what does it matter, as long as the Gospel is preached?
Still, some who have been people of faith for a long time are convinced there is only one way to do things. They see those who don’t express their faith in the way they do in a negative light.
“Many of the things in life that inflict the greatest injury, grief, or pain, stem from the fact that we suffer from illusions,” wrote Oswald Chambers in “My Utmost for His Highest. “We are not true to one another as facts, seeing each other as we really are; we are only true to our misconceived ideas of one another. According to our thinking, everything is either delightful and good, or it is evil, malicious, and cowardly.
Refusing to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering of human life. And this is how that suffering happens — if we love someone, but do not love God, we demand total perfection and righteousness from that person, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; yet we are demanding of a human being something which he or she cannot possibly give.”
As long as people are expressing the love of God, let them do it their way. As Paul said in Philippians, what does it matter, as long as the Gospel is preached?
