I think a big dilemma Christians face is the principle of being in the world but not of the world. Every Christian seems to deal with this differently. Although I'm sure none of us think about it all the time, it effects so many decisions we make on a daily basis. I won't be the one to draw the line because its obviously something I struggle with all the time. But I do like to think about reaching other people for Christ like this: Church is our element, it tends to be comfortable for us but it is not that way for a non Christian. All of us tend to just invite our non Christian friends to church and let the church do the job of sharing who Jesus is. It also allows us to stay out of this person's world. I'm not saying church isn't a valuable place for you to bring people, but just like you don't want to go to a bar on a weekend, they don't want to go to church. So how can we be IN the world of the non Christian yet stay away from being OF the world...
1. Many of us Christians only listen to Christian music. On the radio this is Klove or the Fish or Air1. No this isn't bad and I think the quality and quantity of Christian music has expanded greatly in the past 5 to 10 years. But what do we have in common with a non Christian by only listening to this.........NOTHING. Can Christian music be used to reach a non Christian? well of course, but it certainly won't work for everyone. Give secular music a try without overdoing it and listening to Britney's new album (how is that crap #1 on iTunes?). There are tons of a great artists out there, use them to create a relationship with someone.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
In but Not Of .1
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5 comments:
Ty ... this has been something that has always been on my mind.
Coming from a conservative type church, my outward reflection was how I distinguished myself from the world (as if I needed to distinguish myself!). I had been told that I was a bit judgmental as I seemed to always expect people to live up to a certain standard (and as a pastor it sort of came even more natural!). Towards the end of my time at that church, I started seeing some of the grace and freedom God had given. I stopped listening to Christian music (and to be frank I was a bit discouraged with Christian music altogether and eventually stopped leading our worship team ... long-ish story) I started entering more conversations with non-believers with the hope of just being their friend, rather them be my "project" to lead to Christ. I was actually able to see even more clearly this freedom when we finally departed that church. now I try to enter into the friendships/lives of non-believers - with a purpose. A few years ago I had even started a poker night with the purpose of reaching out to men at work. It has been fun and quite a few solid conversations came out of it. I do always have this nagging feeling though that I should "step it up" in regards to sharing Jesus with people. I do wait for the right times ... but old habits die hard. Wow! Enough rambling for me ... feel free to edit down if the internet runs out of space or something. :)
haha britney? don't think i'll go that far off the deep end. i definitely see your point though. find common ground, and frankly don't be a nerd. sounds harsh, but i went to a religious christian school growing up, and the high water pants and social inepts were abundant. waaay too sheltered to be able to interact with society.
sadly, a lot of these kids fell off the deep end when they left this sheltered school and were thrust into the real world...
a sheltered christian is not a very productive one in my opinion. if you don't know what's going on in the world, be it current events or the heartbeat of what's currently popular, you can have a hard time relating to non believers in this extremely fast paced world. it can be hard to be the light of Christ in all of this mess of a world but i know i have that little tug on my heart if i've gone too far the other way. anyway, you've given me another topic to ponder... thanks.
It is ironic that when religious standards are in place people tend to rebel them. hence why most pastor's kids are known for being rebels. I wonder if a pastor never forced their child to church if they would desire to go to church more...
i LOVE Britney!!! She's a great mom!
ok... not really.
well babe.....whether or not you agree with me- i think you are a great writing- good "future pastor" giftings... :) I am glad you adressed this topic- it is something we will all be in battle over till He takes us home. The challenge will always be finding that fine line....without being too "worldly", but also not too "goody 2 shoes" either...i think about this all the time- "how can I reach them, and come to them from 'their language'"? I know sometimes I may cross that line and be either too worldly....or not quite "them"...but then I feel like I am almost acting....yes I am different and trying to be set apart- but yet we need to be in the world but not of.....that is quite a challenge. Something we should encourage other fellow believers to do more on a daily basis.
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