One thing I would like non-Christians to know....Though there are many

As I walked down the street in Old Town to go get some lunch, the Lord spoke to me about a young guy waiting for the bus. So I went to talk with Him. I shared the word I got for Him, which was semi hard to do because of the nature of the word. I then shared that their is hope in Jesus. He mentioned that he was not Christian but that His parents were religious. When I asked him what religion, he said Christian. He also said he was glad I shared that with him because felt hopeless. After talking, he said that in time he may just be a Christian. I asked to pray for him, and he said ok, however would not disclose his real name, as he was afraid to share his identity.

This conversation struck something in my mind: his worldview of Christianity came from his home. So what did he see in his home that made him think of Christianity as a religion, as something he didn't want to be a part of now? What from our conversation made him think about coming around later?

Ever since I have been a Christian, I always felt uncomfortable with calling Christianity a religion and Christians religious people. This may go along with my misconception of the word religion and what it means. Because of this misconception, people undermine  what Christian life really is about.

So what is the misconception? What do you think of when you think of the word "RELIGION"?

I feel that for many people, the word religion is associated with the word church. What they have seen church looks like, or even what church goers look like, is what they view as religion. For me, when I think of the word "religion," I get a sense of stiff and rigid. The word gives me a distant feel and reminds me of rituals and systematic events. I also think of a gathering of people in a building where there is music and no one saying anything, just sitting there quietly with nice clothes on. Where do I get this viewpoint from? It is really hard to say. Perhaps my view of the anti-social gathering comes from childhood. But the other things that I think of when I think of religion, it is really hard for me to say where I get that idea. I can only assume it came from a series of things that I have been exposed to throughout my life that were "religious." All of these things I experienced before actually meeting Jesus personally. That is actually how I viewed what Christians were doing. But when I went to a Christian gathering after meeting Jesus, I did not get the same feeling at all. 

If we look to the Bible we can see from Apostle Paul's example that he had the wrong view of Christianity before he encountered the true and living God. He hated Christians and thought they were actually going against God. For more on this, read the Bible in Acts starting at the end of chapter 7 to the end of chapter 9. Most people don't have this particular perspective on Christianity. Instead, they view it a religion of do's, don'ts and restrictions--something that will take away their freedom or make them have a boring life. But this is the wrong view too, at least in my experience and every Christian that I have even met, which is a good number of them.

So, what is it about meeting Jesus that makes the difference in the way I view Christianity? After I had an encounter with the Living God, going to a gathering wasn't about the social event itself, but rather it was about getting to spend time with, talk to and know God. Encountering Jesus made God real and personal to me, not distant. I could no longer view Christianity as a religion, though it is according to the real denotation of the word. I could no longer connote Christianity with religion in the same way that I did. And that is because there hasn't been a day that has gone by that my life as a Christian has been uninteresting, dry, rigid, anti-social, systematic, etc. Instead, it has been alive, fresh, exciting, adventurous, suspenseful, invigorating, peaceful and free. 

Most importantly Christian life has been a life of learning. I have been way more open to be taught and to learn than ever before. Furthermore, I cannot say that I know everything. There are some things I can say I know for sure, such as God is real, His Son Jesus is real, Jesus came to save and not condemn, He saved me from the power and penalty of sin, He loves me, He is faithful, His Holy Spirit is living in me and works on the earth through His people and His word is truth. These are the only things I can think of at the moment that I can say for certain that I know. Outside of this, there are many grey areas that I am learning more and more about each day. I know the things that I know not only because they are written about in the Bible, but because they have been confirmed to me in my real life through experience and because of this, I believe that anyone else can have the same opportunity to know these same things for certain. 

BUT, as for the other things in the grey areas, like what church should look like, what actions we should take in our day to day lives to confirm our faith and give identify ourselves as Christians, those I say I don't know everything about. I can learn some things from the Bible about these things, but because the church exists among people, I can expect for either misinterpretation, or varied interpretation thus leading to varied expressions of faith. 

Because of this, the thing I would love a non-Christian to know through this blog post is that Christians don't know everything and what you see from an outside perspective that may make it seem religious, there is way more to it than that. Though sometimes out of our immaturity, a Christian may say things with absoluteness in their tone of voice, we still do not know everything. Therefore, one person should not just get their view of a whole "religion" without doing 2 things: 1. looking into it themselves by going to events, talking with people, allowing others to pray for them, reading the Bible, etc. and 2. seeking to encounter the true and living God personally by asking Him to do so.