A Non-Christian’s Attempt at Helping Christians Learn How to Convert

I am becoming increasingly perplexed at the concept of conversion, and man’s role in the matter. I know Jesus gave the great commission to “go and make disciples,” and I get that. I also know that when the day of Pentecost came, it was through the “Holy Spirit,” not the preaching of Peter, that people were converted. I also know that Paul spent a good amount of time evangelizing to the Greeks in the book of Romans. I also know that only God can soften hearts (or harden them in the case of Exodus) that people may come to him…for we are all dead in sin.

Do you see where I’m going with this? What is the role of the person in conversion? I wrote an earlier article on the point of apologetics, where I determined that apologetics is really for the believer, not the unbeliever. Intellectual arguments are not going to convert me back to Christianity, just as intellectual arguments are not likely to deconvert someone out of Christianity, or any other religion.

I have had several cases of people quoting scripture to me as comments on my blog, trying to show me the error of my ways. They are good-hearted, wanting to help, but also knowing I am headed straight to hell. Well, here’s the deal. QUOTING SCRIPTURE TO NON-CHRISTIANS IS NOT GOING TO WORK! Sorry to yell at the reader, but I think this needs to be clearly understood. Christians, please do not quote scripture to me as a means of trying to get me “saved” again. It won’t work. Why? Because my eyes are darkened, my heart is hardened, and unless the Holy Spirit moves in me, I don’t have a chance of escaping hell. (Not to mention the fact that I don’t accept the bible as divinely inspired…you might as well quote Homer to me).

I am being a little tongue and cheek here. I’m really not trying to be rude, but I do think it’s important for Christians to realize that you are not going to save people through comments on a blog. If you truly want to save someone, you have to play a significant role in that person’s life. You have to make sure that you are living the life appropriately, and that it’s attractive enough for the convert-to-be to want to accept that life. You, Christians, are not going to save anyone. The best you can do is listen, explain your position (apologetics), and then get out of the way. If you truly believe with all your heart that God is the one responsible for saving and changing lives, please let him do it.

I have nothing against the bible. I do not hold it to be divinely inspired, but I do think it serves a purpose. I don’t mind people quoting scripture in a comment on my blog as long as it’s relevant to our discussion. But please refrain from meaningless banter about my needing to read the bible and quoting the “truth” to me. There are more effective and loving ways to reach people.

How Does Your Religion Affect Your Daily Life?

Interesting question, I think. For me, I would have to say that my religion hardly impacts my daily life at all. Actually, I consider myself without religion, although I hold to a Deist philosophy. So what does this mean? It’s interesting really, at least for me, because I feel free from the constraints of any particular belief system. I am able to discover what appeals to my own reason, and pursue that which my reason dictates.

Here is why I consider myself without religion: I have no daily, weekly, or other actions that result from my beliefs in spirituality. Many will talk of themselves as having faith, but not religion. However, I see religion as the outward actions that take place as a result of one’s faith.

I suppose I would consider myself as having some sort of “faith,” as I do believe in some sort of creator. While I don’t possess any personal experience with this creator, or have any “proof” of its existence, I do still believe that the universe reflects creation of some sort. However, the difference with me vs. people of regular mainstream religions is that my “faith” is really more philosophical than practical. This means that I almost consider myself agnostic in the sense that I don’t think we can ever really know the creative force. However, I’m not a true agnostic in that I do think there is some sort of creative force.

It’s really a mixed up system, but I understand it quite well and it makes sense to me and appeals to my reasoning. This is why I consider myself a Deist. It is the one established form of belief that most closely aligns with my beliefs.

It is really a very great philosophy for me because I remain open to intellectual integrity. In other words, if I come across something that really changes my mode of thinking and truly appeals to my sense of reason, then I can make the necessary adjustments. So far, I’ve never come across anything with that amount of force behind it, but one never knows. I can engage in religious conversations (which I love) without feeling the need to be right. I like to play devil’s advocate just to keep the conversation moving. I am not trying to convince someone else that I’m right and therefore he or she is wrong. For me, it’s not about who is right and who is wrong. For me, it’s the discussion that I love, the possibility of finding new ways to think about things. One thing I’ve learned in my few years on this earth is that I don’t know! I can’t know! Therefore, I’m not going to devote my life to something that makes no sense, and I’m certainly not out to win people to my way of thinking. I get nothing from that.

So how does your religion affect your life? Do you enjoy the intellectual stimulation from a great conversation, or do you try to change minds? Is it about right and wrong for you? Do you know that you are right and therefore I am wrong? If so, how do you know? Are you open to new ideas and perspectives, or do you stay with what you “know?” How do you act differently because of your religion than you might if you didn’t have that religion? These are all great questions and can be a lot of fun to answer, not to mention, give you more insight into yourself.

Apologetics- What’s the Point?

I’ve been doing some reading lately on Christian apologetics. In the course of my latest readings, I have come to an interesting revelation: so far, I have not found one convincing argument for my belief in the Bible or the Christian God. I suppose the reason that this discovery stood out to me so much is that I am reading the same materials that were a buttress to my faith only 3+ years ago. William Lane Craig, Josh McDowell, Ron Rhodes, Lee Strobel, and many other websites as well have all had fair consultation by me.

Here’s the deal: I remember a former pastor of mine making the comment in a sermon that “you can’t prove or disprove the bible.” I still think that is a great statement fully ringing of truth. Why is it that the same arguments that formerly strengthened my faith only now seem to discourage it all the more. Is it that I have become an apostate and therefore my eyes are now blinded to the truth? Possibly, however, Paul performed apologetics to the Greek Pagans in Romans and changed many of their minds. Is the reason that apologetics are not working for me because God has “hardened my heart” and I have no ability to return to the fold? Possibly. Although, I have to admit, if that were the case, I want nothing to do with that god anyway.

Here is what I think is really going on. Christians, you need to read and consider this, because I think this could be helpful to you.

1. Apologetics solely should not be used to lead people into a relationship with Christ. A Christian can have all of the reasoning in the world why his or her belief is correct…but guess what, the non-believer can have all of the reasoning in the world why his or her non-belief is correct. To engage in debate is fun, however, in the long run, completely ineffective. Even if there is a definite winner, the loser is not likely to change his or her position. Read some of the transcripts of debates between Atheists and Christians that can be found online. In some of them, you can see a definite winner, but never did I hear of an Atheist becoming a Christian or a Christian becoming an atheist as a result of the debate.

2. Apologetics is primarily useful in strengthening the faith of the faithful. Peter exhorts the readers to “have a reason for the hope that lies in you.” I believe this scripture has been twisted over the years. I don’t believe that having the reason is for the hearer as much as it is for the sayer. If you as a Christian have a reason for the hope that lies in you, then that strengthens your faith in the wake of questions and doubts. This reason helps convince you that there is reasoning behind your faith, not just blind acceptance. But once again, this reasoning is not likely to bring anybody to faith in Christ.

3. No matter how many answers you have for why the claims of Christianity are true, there will always be non-believers that can counter those answers with answers of their own. This is not necessarily a battle over who is more intelligent, instead, its a battle of perspectives. At this point, I don’t think there is anybody on this earth that can convince me to return to Christianity. No man (or woman) can do that, nor should they have to. The only one that could do that would be God. Apologetics are great to show the world that there is logic and reasoning behind your faith, but this logic and faith really does nothing when it comes to the “heart” relationship espoused by Christianity.

I do believe that apologetics has its place in the public discourse. I love listening to and participating in good debate. It must be understood though, your religion, whatever that may be, is your perspective. Do you look at life through Jesus colored glasses? Or Jewish colored glasses? Or do you look at life through the glasses of a skeptic? In order for true conversion or “soul-winning” to happen, there has to be a change on a much deeper level. A level so deep that apologetics couldn’t begin to get there.

Is Your Concept of God a Crutch?

Jesse (The Body) Ventura, when he was Governor of Minnesota several years ago, came under fire for making a statement about religion being a crutch for weak-minded people. At the time I was a Christian, and I along with many other people of faith was appalled at such a statement. While I still don’t agree with his statement, I can see some nugget of rationality in it now.

What is your concept of God? I have stated in previous posts that I started to really have a hard time with prayer. I realized that I was using my concept of God as a crutch. When things weren’t going the way I wanted, or thought they should, I would offer prayers of “supplication” and “thanksgiving.” I knew I needed to be thankful first, and then I could ask for God to fix me and my life. That was fine for a while…a long while. However, I started to pray less and less, and began questioning my beliefs more and more, until I finally came to the realization that I could no longer continue down the Christian path, nor any religious path for that matter.

Call it pride, self-pity, whatever you like, but I came to the point that I couldn’t, in good conscience, ask God for anything. I realized that one of the problems I had with religion was that it seemed so self-serving. We can all have times of genuine love and admiration for the creator, and even praise it for its grandness. But let’s face it, it seems the vast majority of prayers going on out there are for personal requests. “Dear God, please let me get this job…you know that I have prepared well for the interview and have done my part…please give this job to me…according to your will.” I would always add that tag ending, just to make it seem unselfish.

I began to think, “what about that other job candidate that prepared just as much as I and is just as qualified as I, and has prayed the same prayer? Whom does God choose? As a Christian, I could always fall back on the “it wasn’t according to God’s plan for my life” excuse. It was always a great comfort to think that God had something better planned for me. But then I remembered, wait, I have free-will. How do God’s plans align with my free-will? Sure, I need to submit myself to God’s leading, but then how do I know what that leading is if I am praying according to my perceived needs? If, in my conscience, I feel a “prompting” to become a missionary in Abu Dhabi, does that mean that I need to pack up and go?

Here’s the deal, God became a great excuse for all sorts of things. If I was happy, I praised God for the happy experience. If I was sad or worried, I asked God to fix it. If I was unsure of what to do, I asked God for direction. If I was angry, I could blame God. Where is there any personal accountability in this? You may write comments to me remarking that my concept of God was skewed, but let’s be honest, how many people have that same skewed concept but don’t admit it?

I touched on some of the issues in my earlier posts regarding “American Christianity” parts one and two. I do believe that our concept of God is really going astray. We have taken the “personal relationship” portion of Christianity and turned it into a “personal genie” relationship. Instead of honestly looking at why we are in the situation we are in, whether good or bad, we tend to give God the credit for it, and then “pray” to it according to our desired outcomes. Is this what God is all about?

The standard line in Christianity is that God created us to honor Him. That is our purpose in life. Well, because we have a “personal” relationship with God, we can push the “honor Him” portion of our purpose aside, and focus on how we can bring honor to Him by Him using us to accomplish great things. Do you see what I’m getting at. We can be very clever beings. If I want God to use me for His glory, then I want His glory to be revealed in the things I want to pursue. If I mess up getting there, God will fix it. If it’s going great, then it’s because I am in tune with His leading. (read- when I screw up, God will bail me out, when I do well, it’s because of ME being a good follower.)

I really don’t want to criticize all religion. That’s not my point. My point is that I think we should re-examine our belief of who God is and who we are. If you come out with the same beliefs you’ve always had, more power to you (although I would question the depth of your analysis).

These are thoughts and feelings I’ve had for a long time. However, it wasn’t until recently that I was really able to identify them. As most of you know, I am no longer a Christian. I consider myself a Deist philosophically. In all honesty, the only “prayers” that I can utter are recognitions of beauty in nature. That’s it. I can’t pray about myself or my situations, whether good or bad. I believe that my fortunes and misfortunes are directly related to my action or inaction in life. I can’t see it any other way.

The Power of Self

No doubt, this particular post will rub many people the wrong way. However, I have become increasingly interested in the power of the individual to better their own lives. Living in the United States, there seems to be an almost innate belief in the ability of each person to improve their lives, no matter their circumstances, as long as they are granted equality of opportunity.

However, at the same time, we also grant allowances for ourselves by making excuses for our lot in life. “I was born into poverty,” “I come from a broken home,” etc… So my question is: What impact do our external circumstances have on our internal feeling of worth? What impact do external circumstances have on our own feelings of self-worth? Should they have as large or small of an impact as they do?

Over the past year and a half, I have been dealing with serious career problems. I decided to do a complete career change…not just a job, but completely change industries. This, it turns out, was not nearly as easy as I had expected. As a matter of fact, I admit I was downright naive about the difficulties I would run into. Now, I am in a career that I like better, but making approximately half of what I made in my previous career.

I have been through all the emotions and feelings I believe possible throughout this process- Excitement, depression, hope, despair, worthlessness, self-confidence… I find amazing the fact that I am so quick to look back on the original decision to change careers and wish I could have a do-over. “It was such a stupid decision; I should never have done it; If I knew then what I know now…” All of these phrases have had far too much time to play around in my head. It occurred to me that if I’m feeling this way, there are no doubt many out there feeling this way. Also, there are no doubt many of you who have felt this way at some point and have now made it to the other side of the fence. I certainly hope for you that the grass did turn out to be greener.

I have officially turned a corner in my inner thought processes. It occurred to me how self-defeating it truly is to focus on the mistakes (if in fact they truly are mistakes). I am no longer convinced that my decision was wrong. It may have been bad timing, but I have learned so many things about myself through this process that I am amazed.

1. I have a deep and abiding commitment to my family
2. I am a pretty intelligent person overall
3. Even when times are tough, I can handle the problems calmly and rationally
4. While I can’t reasonably pray to God about this, I have found that I don’t need to
5. What great life experience I have gained through this
6. I can make the necessary lifestyle changes to reflect my current income level
7. I don’t need a particular career or income level to feel worthy
8. There is not one person on this earth more valuable than I
9. I am a deep person
10. I don’t communicate well

There are many other things I’ve learned about myself, but mostly I’ve learned that I, along with every other person, don’t have to have my inner worth determined by my external circumstances. I have an honest belief that I will turn the corner soon, and find what I’m looking for.

In truth, I think I am a much stronger individual now than I was before. I am even more set in my beliefs. I can’t pray to a god about my situation, I actually tried, until I literally couldn’t anymore. Immediately, my philosophy kicked in…This is not God’s problem, it’s mine. I made the decision, I can’t ask it to bail me out from the consequences. Take the hits as they come, and keep getting back up. Never quit.

There is real value in your life. There is real value in your beliefs, whatever they are. There is real value in your talents, skills, knowledge, and experiences. These things make you who you are. Never let external circumstances make you lose sight of your value. Ever.