I am a teacher and I often talk to students in what could be termed a teachable moment. It's that time when the discussion turns to a subject that is often not a part of the curriculum but is something the students want and need to discuss.
A few days ago the conversation led to religion and being a Christian you would think I could contribute to that discourse. However, pickings were slim because I was not talking to someone who needed to know something. I was talking to some people who knew quite a lot about many things but who didn't understand the quality of the information they had. A veritable famine in the midst of a feast.
The conversation ranged over Christianity, the Crusades, Buddhism, Paganism, the responsibility of Christianity for Wars; If there was a God how could he let there be famine, disease and pestilence.
All that I could say was that I am a Christian and I believe in the Almighty and that He is a just God. I also said that God allows these things to happen because He doesn't have a choice. Satan usurped humanities birthright in the Garden of Eden and God has no choice but to allow this state of affairs to persist because the devil is the Prince of this World. However it will not stay this way forever.
It rapidly became apparent in this conversation that the Wikipedia, Yahoo, Google network of information allows us access to a huge amount of information. The problem is that we tend to accept that knowledge as absolute truth. However as many intellectuals in the educational institutions are keen to point out it is hard to separate fact from hearsay.
This whole mess of a conversation gave me pause to think about how we can effectively share the truth of the gospel with people who know so much and so little at the same time and I came back to the beginning of my Christian walk. Firstly, you pray that God will bring the people He needs you to speak with to you. Secondly, base your conversation on verses of scripture, for instance:
Matthew 7 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Share scriptures and lead them back to the truth. As the intellectuals point out the Internet has a huge amount of information but to truly know the facts you need to go to more accurate and acceptable sources. For the Christian this means searching the bible for the real facts and trusting the Holy Spirit of God to apply to the hearts of the lost. God reaches out to those who seek him and those who seek Him shall be found of him.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
A few days ago the conversation led to religion and being a Christian you would think I could contribute to that discourse. However, pickings were slim because I was not talking to someone who needed to know something. I was talking to some people who knew quite a lot about many things but who didn't understand the quality of the information they had. A veritable famine in the midst of a feast.The conversation ranged over Christianity, the Crusades, Buddhism, Paganism, the responsibility of Christianity for Wars; If there was a God how could he let there be famine, disease and pestilence.
All that I could say was that I am a Christian and I believe in the Almighty and that He is a just God. I also said that God allows these things to happen because He doesn't have a choice. Satan usurped humanities birthright in the Garden of Eden and God has no choice but to allow this state of affairs to persist because the devil is the Prince of this World. However it will not stay this way forever.
It rapidly became apparent in this conversation that the Wikipedia, Yahoo, Google network of information allows us access to a huge amount of information. The problem is that we tend to accept that knowledge as absolute truth. However as many intellectuals in the educational institutions are keen to point out it is hard to separate fact from hearsay.
This whole mess of a conversation gave me pause to think about how we can effectively share the truth of the gospel with people who know so much and so little at the same time and I came back to the beginning of my Christian walk. Firstly, you pray that God will bring the people He needs you to speak with to you. Secondly, base your conversation on verses of scripture, for instance:Matthew 7 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Share scriptures and lead them back to the truth. As the intellectuals point out the Internet has a huge amount of information but to truly know the facts you need to go to more accurate and acceptable sources. For the Christian this means searching the bible for the real facts and trusting the Holy Spirit of God to apply to the hearts of the lost. God reaches out to those who seek him and those who seek Him shall be found of him.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
