I've often wished that my own faith was as strong as that of my five year old daughter. She is so certain of her place with God and never hesitates to tell others or invite them to our church. As an adult, I know there are many non-believers out there and I avoided the topic of faith in an effort to avoid feeling judged or having to defend something I wasn't prepared to do.
Yesterday, that changed. I sat down for morning coffee with another school mom once the kids were in school. We're quite the unlikely pair but we've developed a good friendship over the past few months. In some ways, the devotion from last Friday on P31 made me think of her. On the surface, it seems like we'd have nothing in common and yet we get along quite well. She was a wonderful friend when I needed someone to drive my daughter to school, then we realized our children (with the masculine and feminine versions of the same name) were born exactly a year apart and started planning a joint birthday party.
I knew that she fell somewhere on the spectrum between "there is no God" and "I have no relationship with God" and that made the topic of faith a taboo in my mind for quite a while. Today, we got talking about Skillet and how you wouldn't necessarily know they are a Christian band by listening to their songs. For the first time, it seemed natural to get into a discussion about Jesus with someone I knew didn't share my beliefs. I told her that the "unconventional" Christian bands are some of the best because they transcend the boundaries of "Christian" music and allow their message to reach "mainstream" media outlets. This is their form of ministry.
From there, we talked about the road of life and my own feelings regarding the journey I am on. And before I knew it, I did something that I've only done one other time in my life... I invited her and her son to church. I won't push her to do it but I truly hope she will consider joining us some Sunday. Perhaps I can get her to attend the Thursday night service that will be offered beginning this month. I respect her feelings and don't want to push her away by trying to pull her to Christ but I pray that He will fill her heart and lead her to a closer relationship with Jesus.
How do you deal with discussing faith with others? Has it become easier over time? What would you say to someone who still feels their Christian legs wobbling under them?
I TOTALLY get all wobbly legged when it comes to sharing my faith. I hate to offend anyone - I am an eternal people pleaser. It is so hard to realize that ultimately, it's not people we need to please, but God. Way to go with stepping out!
ReplyDeleteEven now that it's done and over, I'm still shocked that I did it! Even more, I was shocked to hear that she wants her son to go to AWANA with my daughter tomorrow night. I'm hoping that will open the door to us inviting her son to Sunday School and them to church.
ReplyDeleteLike so many things, apparently talking about faith is something you have to just take the risk and jump.
Reading your post from Eisy Morgan's link party........
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and share the same feelings about sharing Christ. I have been in some situations where I was having to defend my beliefs....talk about uncomfortable! But how amazing is God that he opened the door for you!! And by a cool band at that! Thank God for bands like Skillet! God used you to plant a seed, that's all God needs is a seed planted...He'll water it and let the Son shine on it! Sorry! I'm excited now! You did wonderful.
Thanks! I'm happy to tell you that her son is going to AWANA with my daughter tomorrow evening AND she is planning to start going to church with us! She's even made plans for her son to stay with us on the weekends she's working so he won't miss Sunday School! That experience has reaffirmed that I am on the right path.
ReplyDeleteI'm praying that she will continue to make babysteps closer to a relationship with God and someday we will look back on this and think of how amazing He is!
Great job doing that! One of my biggest problems is really wanting to seem genuine. I don't want to sell anyone Jesus, He is not soap..but I know there is some form of rejection fear as well as people think "CRAZY Christian" or something they see on the news. I want people to know I love them first, like Jesus did, but I need to pray more for opportunity to open my mouth like you did! Thanks for linking this up at my party:)
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm Catholic, so honestly most people make fun of me and say that I am a fake Christian...I don't think its funny, but I just smile and like you said, usually avoid discussing any sort of religious issues with anyone... Like today, Ash Wednesday...happens to be my birthday...some friends were joking that their son got ashes on his head, even though he didn't....sort of odd to joke about, huh?
ReplyDeleteJessica, it makes me sad to hear that this has been your experience. While I am not Catholic and have some issues with certain practices, you are just as much a sister in Christ as anyone else is.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some people can be so insensitive that they will make jokes about things that are very meaningful to others.
Perhaps, if you wanted to start a dialogue about Jesus, you could leave out your specific religion. I know that I never bring up the fact that I'm a Methodist because the name of the church isn't important, it's who we worship that is. To me, that's not "lying" or "hiding" it's just leaving things simple so no one can form their own judgments based on what they think they know about a particular religion.
Thank you for commenting!