Why?
Have you noticed that every time something comes out in movie or book form that challenges what we believe as fully devoted followers of Christ, many rise up to tell us to stay away from it? I remember many years ago when people started a petition to ban MTV and get it off of the air so that it would not pollute the minds of our young people.
Perhaps I have been wired differently than these that seem to go off in a fenced in area and worship while the movement or movie infiltrates our culture. My idea was that rather than take the MTV network off the air, we should attempt to develop some good programming and use that existing network to get it to the kids. The problem at that time may have been that our music and our creativity was not maturing and developing as fast as theirs was.
Every day that we live our faith is not only challenged, it's confronted. Still the promise is the same..."no weapon formed against us will prosper". We should begin strengthening our faith so that we can take on these things issues and ideas that stand before us. Use these seasons as opportunities for learning and perhaps you will find a way to engage in dialogue and discussion with others that may cause them to seek why they believe like they do. We must always be ready to give a reason for why we are followers of Christ. Jesus didn't cause confrontation and combative discussions but he never ran away from them. Knowledge and understanding are valuable assets and a crucial part to evangelizing the lost. One such example of this lies in the release of the new movie, The Golden Compass. Already I have received multiple emails telling me to stay away from this because it is dark and atheistic undertones will be detrimental to my family. Right now, I am learning everything I can about why this is such an issue. Perhaps you are at the same place I am. My golden compass is God's Word so I will use it to expose what is right and what is wrong.
Let's make this personal for you. Why do you think Jesus is THE WAY and the THE TRUTH and THE LIFE? If your answer is simply because He said so, you will need a bit more to defend the faith that you have. Why not define and write out why you are a Christian and why you participate in the activities that you are involved in. Personal expereince cannot be negated because it happened to you. People will always argue with what you say. What you experience settles the issues. Confront your enemies, face your fears and don't just take on the enemy: take him out in the name of Jesus!
Perhaps I have been wired differently than these that seem to go off in a fenced in area and worship while the movement or movie infiltrates our culture. My idea was that rather than take the MTV network off the air, we should attempt to develop some good programming and use that existing network to get it to the kids. The problem at that time may have been that our music and our creativity was not maturing and developing as fast as theirs was.
Every day that we live our faith is not only challenged, it's confronted. Still the promise is the same..."no weapon formed against us will prosper". We should begin strengthening our faith so that we can take on these things issues and ideas that stand before us. Use these seasons as opportunities for learning and perhaps you will find a way to engage in dialogue and discussion with others that may cause them to seek why they believe like they do. We must always be ready to give a reason for why we are followers of Christ. Jesus didn't cause confrontation and combative discussions but he never ran away from them. Knowledge and understanding are valuable assets and a crucial part to evangelizing the lost. One such example of this lies in the release of the new movie, The Golden Compass. Already I have received multiple emails telling me to stay away from this because it is dark and atheistic undertones will be detrimental to my family. Right now, I am learning everything I can about why this is such an issue. Perhaps you are at the same place I am. My golden compass is God's Word so I will use it to expose what is right and what is wrong.
Let's make this personal for you. Why do you think Jesus is THE WAY and the THE TRUTH and THE LIFE? If your answer is simply because He said so, you will need a bit more to defend the faith that you have. Why not define and write out why you are a Christian and why you participate in the activities that you are involved in. Personal expereince cannot be negated because it happened to you. People will always argue with what you say. What you experience settles the issues. Confront your enemies, face your fears and don't just take on the enemy: take him out in the name of Jesus!
Comments