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 Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 9:24 pm
God is my strength... "Psalms 28:7"
Today while eating lunch my brother (who is not saved) asked my stance on homosexual people and them getting married in churches. He makes fun of God a lot and bashes the bible or people who believe. I don't know what brought this out of him to ask me but I answered him as simply as I could (which is a growth for me). My mom (who is saved) looks at me and says "The Bible also says you're not supposed to judge." in a rude way and I explained that I don't hate them, but I do hate their sin, just like I hate all sin.
My brother made some joke about sin and the bible and I still was able to hold myself in the conversation without arguing, become defensive, or being hypocritical.
It is completely God at work in my life that I was able to speak up for what I believe in. When people argue with me or come at me harshly when I speak my mind I tend to shut down and lose all facial expression and I don't speak, it's a natural reaction for me and can be quite crippling in many ways. So that's a BIG praise.
discussion:
Do you have people in your family who are against God and the Bible? How do you handle those situations when they come up? Do you find it more difficult to share your faith and beliefs with strangers rather than family?
...God is my joy "Psalms 96:11-13"
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 5:39 am
As a non-Christian religious person living in a secular society, I (like most people I've met) feel very uncomfortable discussing religion face to face. When it comes up it's usually a discussion about religious concepts as one's own religious beliefs are considered a personal matter, but if I am asked directly I usually say something very general and then change the subject.
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 6:11 am
The reason I don't agree with bashing another's believes is because those beliefs often have some form of foundation. The lack of understanding on behalf of a potential basher, does not constitute lack of reasoning on behalf of the bashed (if that makes sense).
Now I think it's a fine thing to ask about another's beliefs, but it must be done with consideration. If that person feels uncomfortable, or doesn't want to talk about it, that should be it. I am a deeply curious person and I like to ask questions. As an atheist, I'm not offended by any particular range of religious views. I can't much help living with people, so I try to understand them better. Our lives can be a lot like a portrait, and religion plays a very large role in many people's portraits. To say one color is any more or less valid than another color, based on personal preference, doesn't carry much weight.
As far as the OP, perhaps your brother is still young? I think he'll grow out of it, if that's the case. God can be a very confusing and difficult thing to grasp for some people, myself included. I can admit having that difficulty, but others may take a different approach towards it. People can be very inclined to think that if they do not grasp something, it must not be legitimate. But that often changes with maturity.
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Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:00 pm
Rosa the White Wizard As far as the OP, perhaps your brother is still young? I think he'll grow out of it, if that's the case. God can be a very confusing and difficult thing to grasp for some people, myself included. I can admit having that difficulty, but others may take a different approach towards it. People can be very inclined to think that if they do not grasp something, it must not be legitimate. But that often changes with maturity. God is my strength... "Psalms 28:7"
My brother is 27 years old. He is married and lives on his own. His wife used to be a wiccan for most of her life but now she just kinda hangs in limbo not really believing anything.
My whole family (before I came along) went to church for many years. But they stopped going shortly after my birth (when he was 4 years old) and my parents didn't read us the bible or anything so we kind of learned as we went. He has a hard time wrapping his mind around God and the fact that he is loving and caring not bitter and angry. Everyone else in our family (2 other siblings and our parents) are all saved though.
...God is my joy "Psalms 96:11-13"
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Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2012 12:50 am
I'm really happy for you (=^u^=)
We as followers of Christs sometimes have a hard time standing up for ourselves as the world judges us and bashes for things they don't understand.
I know I do sometimes.
But God is who gives us the strength and the conviction to stand up and speak.
He tells us that we don't have to fight any battles alone all we have to do is, "take up (our) positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give (us)..." (2 Chronicles 20:17).
Usually when people bring up subjects like that, is only to test the limits of what you are willing to stand up for. Sometimes people will ask me questions only for the sake of arguing, not really interested in what I have to say. Even then we have to show love , answer the question according to what the Bible says and let God do the work, it is no use arguing with them.
If somebody genuinely wants to know what God has to say about a certain subject, then you can explain and usually they'll have more follow up questions.
I have been able to join in certain conversations with family members who are not saved, as well as strangers.
Most of them time have been civilized conversations and they seem to become interested, which usually leads to them asking for more.
You cannot force an entry but can can always knock.
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Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 8:23 am
Most of my family is more devout, in the traditional Catholic sense, than I am, so our theological screaming matches usually revolve around how I'm going to hell and my mother doesn't know what happened to me because I used to be such a good little boy. wink
It's only been fairly recently that I feel she's become more comfortable with the idea that I still do believe, and indeed my faith is quite strong, but I've simply chosen to follow a different spiritual path than the one offered to me by the Catholic Church.
My siblings honestly don't much care if I'm a Catholic or a Satanist. They either ignore me, or just want me to be happy. Probably both in some cases. I'd like to think that the sisters that I'm not terribly close to do not wish ill upon me just because we've never been bestest friends.
It is hard to butt heads with your family over theology, though. It's always tough being the spiritual black sheep, having your family think that you either take your faith too seriously or not seriously enough. And nobody can be more infuriating to try to explain yourself to than family. But all we can do is love them, and at the very least slowly try to help them understand why we feel the way we feel. they may never agree with us (or maybe they will, who knows?), but generally your family loves you, and hopefully that at least if they can see something giving you peace and fulfilment, they can be happy for that, if nothing else.
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