A Longtime Christian »
I mentioned last night that I wanted to talk about my faith, and I will. But first, some more introduction. I think where I have the biggest problem is that I don't understand why there isn't more positive dicussion about religion. Don't get me wrong - I know people take their beliefs very seriously, and if someone questions them or even proposes an alternative, it might be taken badly. But what I don't get is that people just don't have those conversations at all.
There is a certain subset of our society that doesn't want to talk about anything that could be seen as remotely controversial, and that's okay. But every time I hear about someone who is talking about their beliefs, they are either doing so in a way that denigrates other faiths, or in such a way that it seems they don't do anything else. The latter is certainly a great testament to faith, but most of us have real lives - or reasonable facsimiles thereof - and need help with the daily grind.
That's where I am now.
By any account, I have been a Christian for most of my life. I can't put a specific date on it, but I was confirmed into the United Methodist Church at around age 12. I remember taking some sort of class, probably with the pastor, and going over some particulars, but I have no idea now why I went through the process.
I have said the words over and over. I have been both a churchgoer and not a churchgoer. I have done things that even those aforementioned non-religious people may discourage. In fact, very rarely have I ever regularly undertaken actions that anyone would consider Christian-like. While I'm certain that it's too early to tell, and by nature I am pretty cynical about this sort of thing, I think that's changing. I think that I'm actually feeling it, and it's exciting. I'm going to try to delve deeper.
As I mentioned previously, I don't know where this is going. I just feel the need to get it out. If it helps you in any way, or if you even just enjoy reading, then you're certainly welcome. Even if you want to encourage particular subjects or discuss the finer points of something I might bring up, you're welcome too. But this isn't about hatred, and it isn't about rubbing anyone's nose in it. It's purely about my own process of discovery.
You're welcome to join in, as either an observer or a participant, but please do us all a favor and don't be an ass about it. I've attended church most of my life, and yet I still question my beliefs. There really isn't much chance of everything suddenly being revealed in an angry, fight-provoking comment. So why bother?
Comments (5)
As someone who (a) still questions my own beliefs, (b) has been becoming more active in my church community, (c) has done a lot of discussion of my faith life on my blog without it becoming the sole or even primary focus of what I discuss there, I am certainly looking forward to your "getting it out." :-)
Posted by *** Dave on November 9, 2004 4:03 PM
Great to hear, Chad. Many (or maybe all) of the links in the 'Friends' list on my own blog are to fellow Christian bloggers, at different places in life, with different personalities, beliefs, and views.
Posted by Peter on November 9, 2004 4:27 PM
Thanks for stopping by, guys. I've also found myself becoming much more active in my church community, and I'm certain that this is where it all started (at least, this time around). Hopefully it will play out in an interesting manner.
Posted by Chad Everett on November 10, 2004 8:20 AM
I appreciate the honest evaluation of yourself. One wonders at times how well you've followed the concepts that you, yourself, espouse. I think it's a very spiritually healthy thing to do. Before Jesus went to the cross...He was very candid with God saying "If you've got another plan, now's the time to present it...is there some other way to resolve this issue." Then concludes with, "Not my will but thine."
God already knows the quirks of our life and appreciates us addressing where we are at. Afterall this whole thing is about our relationship with God. Religion is only how we, as mortals, grapple with establishing and maintaining that relationship. God is always forward looking...as we should be in our relationship with Him. We can't change the past, only learn from it...and God accepts us where we are at, right now, as we are and loves the deepening of the relationship that we have with Him. This is where the reality is!
Posted by Jerry Turner on February 2, 2005 1:01 PM
You know, for sometime I've enjoyed reading your blog, and I've made good use of MT-Notifier... and I suppose that because our society is becoming increasingly secular I was taken aback to find out you are a follower of Christ.
But then Lewis' words came to mind: "What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects--with their Christianity latent." You could easily replace books with blogs.
I had a similar experience the other day when I visited johnny.ihackstuff.com and discovered what seemed to be the most unlikely pair: hacking and God-following. But is it all that unreasonable or unlikely? It reminds me of the days of yore when being a great scientific mind was virtually synonymous with being a disciple of Christ.
All this rambling to say, thanks for a witness in blog-form.
Posted by Jesse on February 22, 2005 3:53 PM