Whew, what an online week! I stumbled upon a predominantly atheist blog, made a crude attempt at "drive-by-evangelism," was appropriately called to task for making wrong assumptions about the blog host, and ended up in a long, civil (I hope) "discussion." Neither of us have changed each other's mind on the validity of the gospel (or the existence of any God, for that matter), but the exchange has forced me to clarify my beliefs, and resolve to do a better job presenting the good news. Of course, that won't get done on my own strength, but through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. So many athiests - so many opportunities for me to mess up in my own strength...
The entire exchange can be viewed here. My entries are under two names: first - praying4u, second - looking4truth. Fair warning - the language used is not always family-friendly.
Without being overly self-critical, I found myself pondering many sinful potential replies in this exchange. Assuredly, try as I might to NOT do so, some of my typing WAS sinful in it's pride, motivation, or laziness. Good intentions or not, how messed up are we when, even in our attempts to spread the word, we find ourself sinning in that very act. Not sinning by evangelizing, but in the social exchanges it requires? I won't even get in to the sins I fell to during the rest of the week, when I wasn't engaged in this effort.
It was a great relief then, to read this article sent to me by a dirty-rotten, sinning friend of mine. Great stuff to remind us just how quickly we are sanctified. Hint: Remember the joke about the snail and the turtle crashing in to each other?
Meantime, back to google image search for the next chapter of Ecclesiastes....
1 comment:
Hey, L4t. It's me, zilch, checking in from that atheist den of snakes SEB. I just wanted to say, that although I often make fun of religion, and of people I regard as bigoted or presumptious, I do respect anyone who is willing to examine their own preconceptions. You have shown your openness to looking at our way of thinking, and moreover, you have been unfailingly polite and honest. That counts for a lot in my book.
So I hope I, and we, haven't offended you. If you're ever in Vienna, look me up and we can have a nice chat over a coffee, or a beer. And I promise I won't curse you or anything- I'm really quite nice in person, as I suspect most of us at SEB are.
Breathe deep. Seek peace.
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