Spiritual Survival Guide
2: Read This If You’re Confused About Faith
“But have you accepted him?” “Yeah, I suppose I have.” “What day … what year … what happened when you decided?” “Decided? I’m not sure I ever really decided. I just kind of realized that I believed.” “How do you know for sure if you can’t say when? Did you say the sinner’s prayer? Did you ask Jesus to come into your heart?” “Did I do what now?” Sometimes talking about faith can be like going around in circles. It’s like we’re talking past each other or speaking different languages. Some- times, for whatever reason, our answers don’t seem to quite satisfy some of our Christian friends. After a while, it can just make us feel stubborn and annoyed, like it’s some kind of a competition or something. Sometimes we get resentful and argumentative, refusing to say the “magic formula” someone desperately hopes we’ll say. We won’t give them the satis- faction. Why should we? They’re not really listening to us! On the other hand, sometimes we honestly wish that we’d had such a clear spiritual decision day, or some amazing spiritual experience to go back to for strength. Maybe we don’t like to admit it, but deep down we feel that there’s probably something we’re missing out on. If we’re hon- est, and we stop being so annoyed, we can see that our Christian friends are trying to be helpful. Some Christians look at the Bible and their own lives, and what they see is believing before belonging . How can you honestly belong to something (like the church or Jesus), if you don’t first believe in it? And how can you believe unless you make a decision to believe? And how could you
Think About It. Talk About It.
1. Does the idea that the Christian message is less like an argument and more like a “map” make sense to you? Are you ready to give the map a try?
2. How would you answer the question, “Why Jesus?”
3. At this point in your life are you more drawn to karma (earning it) or to grace (getting a gift)? Why is that?
Belonging and Believing
Maybe somewhere along the way you’ve run into a preacher or another Christian, and the (uncomfortable) conversation went something like this: “So, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior?” “What do you mean, ‘as my personal Lord and Savior?’” “I mean have you, yourself, personally accepted him?” “Yeah, I guess so. I believe he’s the Lord of all.” “You guess? Okay, but…is he your personal Lord and savior?” “Umm sure, I guess. If he’s the Lord of all, then he’s the Lord of me, too.”
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