Looking in the Mirror
14 August 2008
Looking in the Mirror
image:
It was while getting my hair cut last week that I was reminded again of how we Christians sometimes come across to our non-Christian counterparts.
I was there to get my hair cut. That’s it. Sometimes the conversation is great, sometimes not. My “salon” of choice is called Rudy’s Barbershop. Rudy’s is a unique place, even though there are more than a dozen locations around Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland. The one I go to is in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, very near to my apartment. There are more stickers and images cut from magazines pasted to the walls than I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s one huge collage of humanity. The whole place has an air of hipster coolness that some people despise and some people love. Either way, it’s, as we like to say, “So L.A.!” It seems every hair stylist has tattoos. I’m beginning to wonder whether it’s part of the job description. I’ve never really had a bad haircut there. But truth be told, I go there for the people.
On this particular occasion my stylist was a young girl in her mid-20s with, you guessed it, tattoos. Though in this case I could still see most of the natural pigment of the skin on her arms. We began to talk about the weather, how the summer is going, how it’s been unseasonably mild this summer. The conversation always seems to turn to how much we love L.A. Most of these stylists, like most people in L.A., are from somewhere else. So, we got to talking about where we’re from.
“I’m from the Midwest,” I offered. “Cleveland, Ohio. But I mostly grew up in the IE (Inland Empire). What about you?”
“I’m from Santa Clarita,” she said.
“Oh, wow, my dad and brother live in Santa Clarita. Canyon Country, actually.”
“Yeah, me too! Canyon Country is so different from the rest of Santa Clarita, isn’t it?”
We spent the better part of the next 10 minutes parsing the uniqueness of the different communities around the Santa Clarita Valley, all incorporated into the City of Santa Clarita in the late-1980s. My stylist expressed disdain for Santa Clarita and a sense of freedom being in Los Angeles. If you don’t live in the Los Angeles area, you need to know that the Santa Clarita Valley is only 35 miles north of Los Angeles and still a part of Los Angeles County. We’re not talking about massive distances here. But that’s how Los Angeles is. Each community, even within the city limits, has a unique character. It’s all part of the wonder of Los Angeles.
Anyway, she has been cutting hair since she graduated from high school eight years ago, she tells me. For a while she cut hair in Santa Clarita. It was at this point that the conversation took a very interesting turn.
“You know what I hated about Santa Clarita?” she said. I was pretty sure she was going to tell me. “It’s so Christian!”
“Really?”
“Yeah, there are just so many Christians. It’s kinda scary. Do you know what they would say to me as I cut their hair?” Now this mild-mannered, quiet girl was getting animated. She stopped cutting my hair so she could focus on what she was saying.
“Almost everyday someone would say to me—and this was, like, the first thing they would say after they sat down—‘Do you go to church?’”
“Wow!” I said, “that’s quite an opening line.”
“Yeah! Sometimes if it was a really old person and I thought I might give them a heart attack I would just lie and be like, ‘Yeah.’ But most of the time I would just say, ‘No.”
“Then you know what they would say?” She wasn’t going to wait for me this time. “They would say, ‘I’ll pray for you!’ It was so creepy. I just had to get out of there. One time someone even told me that if I didn’t go to church that I was going to hell!”
All this time I’m thinking, ‘She’s going to ask me what I do for a living.’ I found myself kind of hoping she would. But she didn’t. So, I asked more questions. I said that I, too, found Santa Clarita to be a much more conservative place in almost every way and that I wasn’t really surprised by her stories. Sad, but not surprised.
Then I decided to just dive in. I said something like, “I really appreciate your stories about the Christians you encountered in Santa Clarita. I especially appreciate them because I’m the pastor of a Christian church here in Hollywood.”
“Oh wow,” she said. “I hope I didn’t offend you.”
“Not at all,” I quickly reassured her. “In fact, I agree with you completely that some Christians can be very pushy and overbearing. I wish you could tell your story to my church members because I sense that about 95% of them would feel exactly as you do, even though they’re Christians. Maybe even because they’re Christian.”
I reassured her that there are Christians out there who aren’t like that.
“Yeah, I know that,” she said. “My mom is like that. She’s a Christian but she, like…accepts gays. That’s really cool. And she’s never pushing her religion on other people. I really respect that.”
“Right,” I said. “There are lots and lots of Christians who would be just as embarrassed as you about the things you heard in those hair salons.”
The conversation took one more twist.
“Okay, so…I’m totally not into politics, but…”
Here it comes, I thought to myself.
“As a Christian,” she continued, “and someone that obviously cares about the church and stuff, how do you feel about George Bush and how he claims to be a Christian?”
We talked briefly about my sense that George W. Bush is completely sincere about his faith, but that I sincerely disagree with the way he expresses his faith in public life. Fortunately she was about done with my hair, which turned about really great, by the way. I thanked her for the great conversation, gave her a nice tip and went about the rest of my day.
I’ve been thinking about that conversation from then until now. It occurred to me again how little we Christians sometimes understand the way we are perceived by non-Christian in our neighborhoods. That conversation was a very helpful look in the mirror for me. I told the story to my church board that same night and we reflected again on what it means to be the people of God in the city. How can we be salt and light? What does it mean to reflect Christ to our neighbors?
It struck me that she was complaining to me, a pastor, about how people always brought up religion in her chair. I smiled inside and thought, “You brought this up, not me!” It never occurred to me to put my hands on the conversation to force it in a direction I wanted it to go. It was just a natural, human conversation. I wasn’t there to convert her and she knew it. If she, for one second, thought I was there to preach to her or condescend to her by saying something insensitive like, “I’ll pray for you” she would have shut down in an instant. Instead, I received a gift from her that day—the gift of a look in the mirror. Hopefully she also received something through the humor of revealing her disdain for “Christians” to a Christian pastor. I hope she’s writing her version of this story somewhere.
Search
- Elaine Nelson on Metaphors of Salvation
- Gail Taraschuk on Revisiting Ellen White on Masturbation
- Tom Zwemer on Metaphors of Salvation
- Elaine Nelson on Pacific Press® publishes “Character of God Controversy”
- Elaine Nelson on Happy Birthday and Thank You, Ellen!
- Elaine Nelson on Metaphors of Salvation
- rc on Pacific Press® publishes “Character of God Controversy”
- frank7 on Happy Birthday and Thank You, Ellen!
- Tom Zwemer on Metaphors of Salvation
- Joselito Coo on Gay Rights and the Discretion of Doctors: The Guadalupe T. Benitez Case
User login
© Copyright 2008 Adventist Forums 
Comments
That comes close to a near stranger who asks if your are saved.
The idea that many Christians have that unless you are also one, even a member of their particular church, you are risking eternal life, is seen more as a threat than a promise.
What is it about so many Christians who are eager to convert the non-Christians that they can almost be repulsive in their attitutde? Is it possible that there is an increasing number of agnostics today because of such attitudes? Seriously, I do believe if a poll were taken it might reveal something we don't want to discover:
Christians have way oversold their "goods" and have little to show for it. Christians are not happier, do not have more stable marriages, and often are quite offensive in their "selling."
Still waiting for someone to tell me why it is of ultimate importance to believe in a god. Every idea must have a selling point or good reason for a customer to "buy" but what is it? What advantage is there for being a Christian compared to an agnostic?
Thanks Ryan, for a beautiful human story! Yeah...it's about relating, empathizing and listening to the stories of others, even when those stories may be about "us."
Thankfully, she has had some good experiences with Christians as well, like with her mother, and with the guy sitting in her chair that day!
Thanks...
Frank
I was interested in her comment about her mother accepting gays. I think a lot of young people judge the Christians in their lives by this simple standard. I wonder if God does, too.
Carol, I too was intrigued that this was the standard she used. "Pure religion and undefiled before God is this..."
Great story, Ryan! These sorts of real human interactions are really where we show who we really are. It's funny you should post this today because I just had a somewhat related incident. We went downtown to hear one of the free lunchtime concerts at Yerba Buena Gardens--it was a lovely, sunny day in San Francisco, and many folks were out picnicking and enjoying the music. Someone approached us with a cheap-looking flyer and asked if we wanted to learn more about the end times. We took one, and he moved on, going methodically to every blanket in the park.
It only took a quick glance at the "news" headlines--"famine," "tornadoes," "wars," "Pope calls for world peace," to think this had a distinctly Adventist feel. The quotes spread throughout confirmed my suspicion, and then when I saw unattributed Ellen G. White quotes (about getting out of large cities, mainly), I was sure I had just witnessed "witnessing." It was interesting to look around and see what the other picnickers/music lovers were doing with their pamphlets. Almost universally, they took a quick glance, saw that this was clearly fringe/apocalyptic/end times literature, and then they tossed it.
You're right that it really was a gift that this hair stylist gave you--to get a chance to know how our actions are perceived by others without them knowing who we are. I think one of the biggest concerns I have about how Christians come across to others (whether it be evangelistic campaigns or barbershop encounters) is our attitude of sureness that we only have something to offer others, not that we might have something to learn. We seem to assume a superior position very quickly and comfortably, and that's not a real human interaction (well, it is, but it's not one the other party ever takes kindly to). I wonder what we could do, what I could do, to foster humility?
This reminded me of a piece of religious satire I read today.
http://nakedpastor.com/archives/2206
Usually people are able to read between the lines.
I like that story. That's a good story. It's good because when people talk about things that they care about in unforced, natural ways, the result is always meaningful and good.
I like about Ryan and the Hollywood church what would probably be best described as evangelism even though it's certainly not evangelism in the traditional Adventist revelation seminar sense.
It's the kind of evangelism that Ellen White described talking about Jesus: "mingling with people as one who desired their good."
Working in the neighborhood to provide affordable housing. Working to end human trafficking. Working to meet the needs of the community and exchanging stories with people like the tattooed hairstylist.
Sign me up for that kind of an evangelistic campaign, the kind that is focused on getting to know people and their needs and working to meet those needs.
If only we (including me) could learn to listen more and talk less! Asking questions is far superior to answering questions people aren't asking: how many people do you know who are dying to find out about the world's "end times"?
Elaine, I think quite a lot of people are concerned about the "future." If we were to frame the "good news" in the context of many people's concerns, we might have better success.
Very interesting conversation but I dont think the title of looking in the mirror is a perfect metaphor unless we add distorted to it.
The stylist made some major sweeping generalizations.
I have often heard quoted incounters suchas where someone was to supposed to have said, Do you go church? No. I'll pray for you. Why? Because your going to hell.
And all in a barbers chair while the person who was cutting their hair was the one they told they were going to hell. Not the best way to insure a good haircut.
I really cant imagine that happening as she discribed. Is it just because I have never been the victim of that or witnessed that? I dont know.
Have any of you actually witnessed a conversation like that?
I realize genX has some issues with reasoning from cause to effect like having to leave town because someone asked her religious questions in her barbers chair, but really? Thats the solution to that percieved problem?
Its a good thing she wasnt a waitress. She'd have to leave town every time someone left a bad tip.
She actually thinks George Bush's christianity is fully portrayed in the soundbites and reporting done on TV?
On other threads we discuss and consider why we are so reluctant to put ourselves out there and risk participating in a religious conversation with someone, then in this one we are made to feel that if we dont spend months with a person and develop a friendship, we should steer far away from any religious talk because they will take it all wrong.
Which is it?
I dont see Jesus doing waiting for months before speaking of eternal things with the Samaritan woman.
I know things are how they are and the stylists perceptions were absolute fact to her and so they are real to us. It just seems a more difficult problem that we shouldnt nessisarily play into.
Conceding that Santa Clarita is full of "overzelous christians" may not be the best way to improve her mindset or perceptions.
It's far to simplistic to say from the information in the artical that her mother modeled great Christianity just because of her support of Gays. Her perceptions of her mother not pushing her religion on people may be the same as saying, no one would ever know my mom was a christian because she never goes to church or talks about it to anyone. Probably not even her daughter or she might have a better grasp of at least the intent of Christians.
It is not only possible but true, that a group of people (Christians) can be interested in you and still be either socially trajic, conversationally challenged or worse.
I suppose we could say, on one side of the coin we could train ourselves to be better communicators with great sensitivity. The other side of the coin with peoples perceptions is a very tough nut to crack.
"I suppose we could say, on one side of the coin we could train ourselves to be better communicators with great sensitivity."
That supports the premise that we should all better listeners before opening our mouths. We can then begin to discern the other person's perception and go from there.
Why stop with how non-Christians perceive Christians. How about how non-Adventists perceive Adventists?
This week I had a special moment. I was greeting library customers attending a free basic PC skills class when one of the customers asked if I remembered her. It turned out she had attended Wednesday night prayer meetings with one of the regulars more than once. She was so surprised to see me in an out-of-church situation that she felt that in itself was a reason she should attend prayer meeting that night, which she did.
Now this is what I wonder if she found strange. The topic was how Adventists need to be ready for the time of trouble, persecution, the plagues, etc. Even though the subjects were presented in a deeply spiritual and kind manner--as kind as you can be with these subjects--I kept on thinking how this occasional visitor to Wednesday night prayer meeting was taking all of this in. Was she being impressed with the great light that this inferred? Was she thinking that she also had to be ready for these dire moments that were going to happen very soon? Or was she wondering how strange and unappealing all of this was.
If ever she returns to the libary PC classes which I teach what will she think of me and the Wednesday night group she attends from time to time?
You really have to be a special person to want to come back and hear topics such as these end-of-time scenarios.
Since the church seems to be doing over and over what has been the usual method, are there studies showing how successful they are (other than new baptisms, and after five years) in reaching all classes of people? IOW, what are the chances of reaching the better educated, as well as more affluent (after all, $$ is what is needed to continue any evangelistic endeavors)?
A recent visit from my nephew, who lives in the Netherlands, and is a physicist, raised SDA, convinces me that he represents academia, especially the scienctists, who would be a likely as a snowball in Hell to attend meetings with the implausible claims, including numerology, that are still being used. A few colleagues, he says, can compartmentalize their faith from scientific evidence, but the usual sentiments are thoroughly agnostic. Few, if any, accept that there is a god, as defined by most Christians.
While Paul (Rom. 2:14-16) tells us that those who have not the Law, are a law unto themselves and that their consciences bears witness. There is no way that an agnostic, or Gentile, could discover on his own about the Virgin Birth, the concept of a Trinity, a Resurrection, nor a literal 6-day creation from observing nature. Only if someone has faith in a particular belief, will he be convinced that all its dogma is demanded. Such beliefs are part and parcel of Christianity, but surely, a beneficient God would not demand knowledge and belief in these man-made doctrines. Doing good has never been a sole province of any religion and is practiced, without limitation, of all peoples in all places.
Why, then, is Christianity promoted as the only way to God? And more particularly, the SDA system?
Michael, you precede you remarks with what I would guess you thought was a conversation conveyed by Ryan. Unfortunately your supposed conversation doesn't follow Ryan's. "I'll pray for you. Why? Because your going to hell." isn't the way the blog read.
Great story Ryan! Thanks for sharing.
Along with both you and Carol, I was interested in the standard she used to judge Christians -- our response to homosexuals. I agree with Carol's insinuation that God judges us on this simple standard as well.
Who are the least of these today? Hang out in any break room, locker room, or even church parking lot and listen to who receives the brunt of the jokes. In my experience, homosexuals invariably get the worst end of the deal. Jokes about ethnicities, gender, and other groups at least tend to come along with a wince or apology -- recognizing the political incorrectness. Not so with coarse jesting about people who are GLBT.
In What Would Jesus Deconstruct? John Caputo writes, "Jesus systematically took the side of the outsider, of those who are excluded and marginalized and made to suffer for their marginalization by the powers that be, those whose names are blackened by their difference from the mainstream. Based on the gospel of love by which he was driven, he would today have found love in homosexual love and a mission among the advocates of gay and lesbian rights."
Elaine, to me the example of Jesus life and teaching and the way he deconstructed the hypocritical "church" of his day, emphasizing love over legalism, is the reason to become a Christ follower (Christian if you like) and in the process continue to faithfully deconstruct the church we thereby inherit.
Happy Sabbath!
Excellent comments, Brenton! Thank you. It's been fun to share this story with all of you.
Sabbath Peace!
Elaine,
You're right about alot of Christians not having any "goods" to show. Often Christians try to "sell" church or scare people about what will happen if they don't go to church. I see this as unattractive as well. What we as Christians should be selling is Jesus. I challenge you to find a Bible and Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. They are 4 people who knew Jesus and tell their story about Him. See if you like this Jesus guy. He's the One Christians should be "selling" because He was God and was the perfect representaion of what God is like.
"and Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John. They are 4 people who knew Jesus and tell their story about Him."
First, show the certainty that any of them actually knew Jesus. They were reporters, not eyewitnesses, and even Paul and Mark, the first NT writers, never claimed to have seen Jesus. They are telling things they heard, many contradictory and ahistorical.
Elaine: I know you don't hold scripture in the same regard as many on this site, but please remember that this is a site for Christians! Thinking Christians, yes, but still, there is that assumption that we all share. I sometimes wonder what you find here? Is it your mission to make us all view the scripture as you do? You seem like a very open-minded person--can you be tolerant of those of us who do still regard scripture as inspired, even though we're aware of the complications of translation history and how we got the canon that we call the Bible today? I guess I'm asking for a little more charity and gentleness on your part and less combativeness to constantly reveal your issues with scripture. Maybe we can focus on common ground?
Vanessa's point that we should be focusing on Jesus is much appreciated. I'm sure that's why denominations sometimes have a hard time attracting people--we focus on particular, distinctive doctrines. Even Ghandi said that the life of Jesus inspired him. Surely we can agree that Jesus represented a life lived with full, self-sacrificing love, someone who loved the outcasts and tried to show us a vision of God's kingdom. You can have different views of inspiration and the atonement and still find that common area of agreement. At least, I'd fervently like to hope that's true.
Elaine...
I agree with Stephanie. The tone starts to get acidy and combative...sometimes even mean-spirited. The openess you have to many progressive views does not seem to extend to those who hold more traditional biblical stances than yourself. Why fight so hard against those who hold different views than you?
Thanks...
Frank
Yes, I am aware that I too soon hear opposing questions when anyone makes emphatic or assertive statements as though they were accepted by everyone. True, religions have liked to think they had a common ground in the Bible, but much of that assumption began to lose its hold when the common people began to read and Scripture was made available.
All the great thinkers, at least in the western world, were questioners, yes, even doubters: Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Spinoza, Pascal, Voltaire, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin in the U.S. What do we do with their questions and concepts? Ignore them?
Their contribution to philosophy and western concepts is immeasureable. Is it heretical to doubt? Or, should religious people simply accept everything on faith, no questions asked?
How much should be accepted? Everything taught by all religions? Some?
Children believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy; medieval folk believed in demons and ghosts and witches. What caused the change? Maturity of age or maturity of thinking? There was never faith without doubt. However, it seems that once faith comes in, doubt should fly out the window. Faith demands no evidence; yet most people today want SOME evidence, just not too much, as it is faith-destroying. Is it possible for people to converse on religious subjects without being shunned because of questions? Do questions deserve answers or ?
For those who are bothered by questions, it would seem that if that is the case, answers should be forthcoming rather than dismissal.
I pulled out of this forum a few months ago (after a brief visit that lasted much longer than I had anticipated) precisely because I didn't want to be given the treatment some of you are giving Elaine.
This is a forum that is about as open as anything I've seen in the world of faith, but it is still apparent (and very understandable)that many participants are more interested in making sense of their Faith than engaging in an open-ended pursuit of truth.
Stephanie and Frank, what you're telling Elaine is basically that knowledge that challenges the very Faith itself are not welcome on this Forum. I may misread you, but the message I get is that you don't want to deal with that part of scholarship which cannot be baptized by the mainstream Christian faith.
I remember a class in Research Methods (Nancy Wymeister) at AU in the fall of 1978. Robert Olsen, the then secretary of the White Estate, addressed our class on doing research in the writings of EGW. The first thing we had to remember, he argued, obviously with Ron Numbers in mind, was that her writings were inspired. Hence, they could not be approached like any other text. I remember raising my hand and asking him how then an honest outsider would ever come to have faith in her, if faith was required to recognize the inspired qualities of her writings.
On this Forum Elaine seems to me to be that honest outsider (albeit with long insider credentials). I wish you would do the unexpected thing and address her concerns, instead of faulting her for bringing up facts that your interpretation of the Christian faith cannot accommodate.
But don't get me wrong, running the Forum as a club for non-traditional, exploring Adventists, is ok. Every Forum has to establish boundaries to maintain its focus.
The research provides good evidence that this young woman's experience is typical of the perceptions of many, if not most of those who are not active participants in the Christian religion. It is possible to nit-pick the story and disbelieve it, but that does not take away from the fact that it clearly represents a typical perspective. (See the book Un-Christian from the new director of the Barna Research Group.) Clearly what some Christians have said to this young woman has been unhelpful in terms of helping her to see and hear the message that Christ wants her to receive. The saving grace in this story is that, in the long run, her mother's witness is very likely going to be more powerful than all those witnessers who did such an unChristlike job of witnessing to her. All followers of Jesus need to learn what not to say as well as what might be said. In mission, like medicine, the first rule is "Do no harm." Unfortunately, many Christian witnessers don't get this rule and have done more harm than good over the years.
Aage, thanks for stopping by and supporting questions. A wag said years ago: Prospective convert's questions are always welcomed. Once they're dunked, the questions should never be raised or asked."
The certitude of the faithful is baffling in that they attribute their belief to unsubstantiated evidence, and accept on faith; yet when questions are raised they attempt to either refute or, lacking evidence, fall back on the mantra that "you're lacking in faith." Faith needs no evidence, and evidence kills faith.
Just watched Lee Strobel's "Case for Christ" last night, and in response to Elaine's comments, I think any belief (even a belief in no God) demands faith. No matter how much evidence any worldview may have in its favor, I have yet to find one that can be proved 100%. I've chosen to believe in Biblical Christianity--the widespread evidence is backed by the genuine (though sometimes hard to find) Christ-followers I've met. Changed lives speak volumes. I know what Jesus has meant to me.
And thanks for the article. How often do we speak truth without thinking? Truth without Grace is Judgment--sometimes mean and lacking compassion. Thankfully God's character perfectly joins the two together!
Paul experienced this when he saw the Law combined with Mercy in Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 22). He saw Jesus' glory and was forever changed.
Great thoughts and comments.
Elaine (and Aage), I don't hear Stephanie and Frank saying that they don't want questions--indeed, that is very much the mission of the site. I know I appreciate Elaine's vigorous participation here very much. However, we can all sometimes be so vigorous in our particular worldview that we deny others their own genuine faith journeys. I was sensing Stephanie asking if she's allowed to believe in the inspiration of the Bible even if she understands that there are all sorts of difficulties with Biblical translation, how we got the Bible, etc. without being written off as a crazy literalist. I think we need to treat each other gently and remember that we're all trying to sort things out. Elaine and others who are more firmly entrenched in one viewpoint---be that an open, questioning viewpoint or a traditional Adventist viewpoint--need to let others work things out. These processes are not quick ones.
Great point Monte about Christians needing to remember the rule to "first do no harm"--it seems simple, but can be hard to live out.
Daneen, I agree that " we're all trying to sort things out." If one's ideas or concepts are never challenged, will there eventually be an end to "sorting out"?
As in all disciplines of study, one must be able to defend her positions, which is a part of developing knowledge. Positions unchallenged, are only subjective opinions, aren't they? Every course of study I've pursued has both challenged previous concepts and I've learned things unknown before as long as I'm willing to "unlearn," as well.
I'm willing to have my positions challenged, which they are on a regular basis. In searching for evidence or answers, I learn what I hadn't known before. Is that a naive assumption about
what education should involve? Please correct, if I'm wrong.
Perhaps the part that some find disturbing is that no one is charged with the duty of making people prove their beliefs.
Quote: "If one's ideas or concepts are never challenged, will there eventually be an end to "sorting out"?
Elaine has worked out whatever her own beliefs are, but she doesnt allow that others have done the same thing.
Hence her challenging others to continually prove things.
Perhaps a thread can be started where her issues can be addressed where those wanting to discuss that can while allowing others to bypass it altogether.
Michael, you precede you remarks with what I would guess you thought was a conversation conveyed by Ryan. Unfortunately your supposed conversation doesn't follow Ryan's. "I'll pray for you. Why? Because your going to hell." isn't the way the blog read.
Posted by: Dick Larsen | 15 August 2008 at 3:32
Dick,
It was an amalgum of the stated responses Ryan related. Each element was there however the artical never said all the statements came to the stylist from the same person at the same time. I contextualized the given responses as if they were in one conversation to unitize the complaint list the sylist gave. From her perspective I dont think it made a great difference if the statments she found unattractive came from one person or several since she blamed all christians in general either way.
The issue I was contemplating is the "horror" stories we have heard about what some Christians have said or done.
I've heard a god many but never have witnessed any.
Elaine,
I really appreciate your willingness to "learn" which is why I believe you are even discussing this topic. I learn something more about God everyday. Mostly He's teaching me that I have very little faith. None of my own. It seems that God is growing a little plant of faith in me since I've decided to start seeking it. It's still pretty small, but growing never-the-less. I believe that is the most difficult thing for Christians to share with others because it is so personal and grows almost imperceptibly. I once heard someone suggest saying something like this everyday for a month. "God, I don't believe in you, but if you can hear me... change my life."
Post new comment