Why do some of us find it very difficult to share or talk about our faith with someone?

Neogaia777 said:

So, you believe all of the Bible to be taken literally and is literally true?, and is not meant to be interpreted in any other sort of way (other than literal)? When we are trying to operate in the Spirit, and are to interpret and discern things spiritually; are we interpreting literally?, or operating in some other sort of way, another kind of truth?

I don't know what what you mean by humanists? I don't know what a humanist is?

I found this: "

1. In the Renaissance, a scholar who studied the languages and cultures of ancient Greece and Rome; today, a scholar of the humanities. The term secular humanist is applied to someone who concentrates on human activities and possibilities, usually downplaying or denying the importance of God and a life after death.

I'm a "student of humanity or the humanities" but I don't downplay the importance of God, I magnify it/him...

God Bless!

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I don't give much thought to the literal interpretation of the Old Testament. It is what it is, but was scribed by inspired men who lived in the Bronze Age.

Do I take the New Testament literally? Yes, I do. I take the words of Jesus seriously, but in context. I take the words of the Epistles seriously, but in the context in which they were written and in the context of who they were written to. The Spirit helps me to interpret by making me aware of context, not by giving me new revelation of what scripture means. Discernment is about understanding, not about new revelation. There is no new revelation. That would be adding to scripture.

When I speak of humanists, I am talking about the modern secular humanist, not the Renaissance scholar. The definition of secular humanist that you provided is a good one. We can find them inside and outside of the church these days.

bigo1984 said:

I have a hard time sharing my faith with unbelievers. However if I am with someone who I know to be a believer I could talk about Christ with them for hours. I'm going to pray that God works on me with Sharing my faith to the heathen. They are the ones who need it most. I think part of my problem is I am worried about what they will think of me, which is terrible for me to admit. I just bought a few Christian shirts off of Amazon that have some bible verses and such. Could possibly work as an icebreaker. Hoping maybe people will see the shirt and ask me some questions and I can share my faith without even having to initiate the conversation.

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That's a start, definitely. I got shirts too. And baseball caps (also nice when having a bad hair day. Bad hair? Spread the gospel. lol)

BryanW92 said:

These days, its easier to admit to being gay or an adulterer or to describe the ordeal of your colonoscopy prep than it is to bring up the fact that you are a Christian to a stranger. People will listen to stories about diarrhea with interest, but ask you to kindly keep your religious views to yourself.

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I don't really start talking to a stranger about my being a Christian usually. I usually work God into a conversation and I usually relate how I feel about something, for instance I might say "I went through that a while back. I kept my faith and with the strength of Christ, I worked through it". I usually don't preach to people, per se I more share my own life through conversation and since God is part of my life, the listener's hearing about Jesus. I might later after we've talked for a little while ask them if they believe in God. If they say 'no' I may ask why not, but I rarely preach at people who do not want to hear about God. I usually just talk about the Lord as it relates to myself.

BryanW92 said:

I had a Humanist friend telling me what the bible says one day over a year ago. After I had heard enough Humanist propaganda, I stopped him and asked, "Do you want to know what the bible really says?" He said, "I already know what it says."

When I was Methodist, I would have taken that as a challenge to keep working on him. But, now I recognize the sovereignty of God and that my friend has scales over his eyes for a reason. I will discuss God, Jesus, and scripture with someone who wants to know or honestly doesn't know but I won't waste my time with people who know and gladly accept the lies that Humanists tell them about the bible.

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Patrick Bateman said:

No matter how comfortable a person is with discussing it, it's an incredibly personal thing.

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I only find it personal when talking with another Christian. A Christian will rip your faith apart much faster than a non-believer, imho. A Christian when they think that you have a concept wrong or are wrongly living, many feel very dignified and quite proud of themselves when they so call "set the record straight". What gets to me is that most do not have a respectful conversation about why they believe A and why you believe B, they come at it like they must correct your misconception a.s.a.p. and that they are doing you a favor to boot! When people believe that only they are right, the approach is not mutual respect in a two-way conversation, but rather them enlightening you.

An unbeliever may tell you your crazy or an idiot, but I can deal with that much easier than someone not respecting me enough to convince me, rather to preach at me like I'm a child. Ugh...

ToBeLoved said:

I


I only find it personal when talking with another Christian. A Christian will rip your faith apart much faster than a non-believer, imho. A Christian when they think that you have a concept wrong or are wrongly living, many feel very dignified and quite proud of themselves when they so call "set the record straight". What gets to me is that most do not have a respectful conversation about why they believe A and why you believe B, they come at it like they must correct your misconception a.s.a.p. and that they are doing you a favor to boot! When people believe that only they are right, the approach is not mutual respect in a two-way conversation, but rather them enlightening you to what you are doing wrong.

An unbeliever may tell you your crazy or an idiot, but I can deal with that much easier than someone not respecting me enough to convince me, rather to preach at me like I'm a child. Ugh...

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I feel it's often the other way around. Most Christians don't care if you're doing wrong or don't have the backbone to say it.

Non-Christians on the other hand typically have no point in pointing out what they see as hypocrisy or inconsistencies between what you preach and what you practice.

Neogaia777 said:

I blush sometimes when I think about our (me and Christ's) love/relationship for each other... We were (and I hope still are) rather "intimate", I have felt more love and a more true and real to me "relationship" and closer than any spouse or girlfriend or anybody else...

But I wouldn't call my blushing, "shame" Is it?, or not?

I can't explain my blushing, other than I am just so in love with and enamored with Jesus, we've shared "everything" together, he knows all of my most intimate details, my greatest temptations, my grossest sins, and when I think about someone who knows all of that about me, it makes me blush...

Does anyone else blush sometimes when they think of Christ, and should this cause shame? My blushing does interfere with me sharing my faith though...

God Bless!

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I think that that is the way it should be. People are never perfect, but the Lord is perfect. He will never leave you or forsake you and is there 24/7 to listen whenever you want to talk. He tells us to come to Him. He wants to hear it even when we are long winded. lol. What love.

That is one of the beautiful things about God with us. God actually wants to be with us!

I would just write your blushing off as your being very happy. You could say something like "God has been such a rock in my life, sometimes it's overwhelming to think about it". That could easily explain any blushing.

Patrick Bateman said:

I feel it's often the other way around. Most Christians don't care if you're doing wrong or don't have the backbone to say it.

Non-Christians on the other hand typically have no point in pointing out what they see as hypocrisy or inconsistencies between what you preach and what you practice.

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I can see what you're saying, but I see the non-Christian as an opportunity to plant 'seeds'. If they want to talk with me than I am going to talk how I talk, so say they say "Why are you always talking about Jesus. There is no God". I might say "I understand why many people who do not know God would say that, but I know God is real. I pray about things and ask God about things I've never shared with anyone else and it may take months or years, but he has always answered my prayers. And not with some wishy-washy answer that could be about anything, but with concise answers to the point where I'm amazed that it happened. God knows me and knows that I'll likely chalk it up to coincidence, so when he wants or needs my attention, I tell Him to hit me over the head with a frying pan to get my attention. That's why I think He always shows me that it could only be Him sending me that message."

I don't take what unbelievers say personally because they don't have a relationship with God. That's key for me. They see the bible and think we just follow it aimlessly. Far from the truth. It is much more about prayer, about sharing my life with God about me wanting to do His will while I'm here. The bible is the foundation, but it's really more about the personal stuff with me.

I hope I didn't ramble and made a point.

Christians can hurt my feelings because they many times don't know the bible yet argue and snip. They judge according to what their reality is with God. If they are all about obedience, then you better be obedient. If they are all about prayer, than you better be praying. Very "Be like me" type of thing.

BryanW92 said:

You really hit the nail on the head there. We live in a culture of moral relativity and Christ is not ambiguous. He says that the only way to the Father is through him. Period! This isn't just a problem when dealing with non-Christians and atheists/agnostics/deists, but even when dealing with people in the Mainline Protestant denominations, who have adopted the "many pathways to the top of the mountain" approach that effectively calls Jesus out for being a liar in John 14:6.

So, we first have to deal with the fact that most people do not really believe in the Father, except for in a detached way where he made the Earth and then checked out on us. Then, we have to deal with the "Son" who is also part of the Trinity and the mysterious Holy Spirit (none of which is complicated--if people are willing to listen, which they won't). Then, we have to deal with the truth that all of the New Age, Neobuddhist, Joel Osteen type of churches are not really Christian. And that's just when evangelizing to cultural Christians!

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The way I explain "the only way through the Father is by me" is what Jesus did on the cross. Briefly, that before Adam and Eve sinned that human being communed with God, then after the apple, sin got between human beings and God. God is holy, human beings sin. Jesus lived a life with no sin and died sinless so He could be our sacrifice for sin. When we are one of Jesus' own, he impudes His righteousness (victory over sin) to us. With the righteousness of Christ, the Father see's us just as He see's His Only Son. Perfect because of Christ's righteousness and victory.. That is why Jesus is the Only way to the Father. Because no one but God in the flesh could have overcome sin and reconciled us back to the Father, as He is holy and we need to be holy also.

I have found that simply being me, a believer, and talking as a believer, my faith comes up in a lot of conversation. I don't force it OR shy away from it. It's just part of my every day speech.
Sometimes people jump in and ask questions,

...oops. I hit "reply"
Anyway... Some jump in, ask questions. If that happens I am happy to answer any they may have.

For me (yes, I am a missionary) it is difficult to bring up any specific topic of conversation with a stranger, not just the topic of faith and eternal destiny. Recently I have been challenged to think of the "gospel" more in the terms of the "gospel" that Jesus preached: The Kingdom of God is here, among us. The point of the gospel that Jesus preached was to extend the sphere of influence of God among people. While we tend to be preoccupied with getting out of here and into the eternally manifest presence of God, or Heaven, and escaping Hell, God is concerned with coming here, with being present through us in the lives of others, with "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven". This message is much easier to talk about than "Turn or burn". But I am still kind of socialy awkward, and that is more my trouble than "being ashamed of the gospel" in any way.

BryanW92 said:

Jesus lived in Asia. It would apply more to them than to a person living in the Western Hemisphere. Why should Westerners be burdened with extra rules? If an Asian can get to the Father by worshiping Buddha, then why couldn't a Roman get there through Zeus or Athena or a German by worshiping Odin? Were the Apostles cruel monsters for bringing their near eastern faith to the rest of the 1st century world when all those people were perfectly acceptable to the Father in their old religions?

"It can be argued" that your belief turns evangelism into the ultimate jerk move by trying to take away a person's cultural religion (which is an acceptable way to the Father, as you argue) and replacing it with a different one that is equally acceptable.

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Bryan,

Honestly, I don't know what to make of your response to my post #18. Jesus lived in Asia? The Christian religion is still a minority religion in most Asian countries. Me trying to take away a person's cultural religion? On the contrary, I favor cultural diversity. Are you sure you are responding to the right posting?

Kutte

BeachSun said:

I have found that simply being me, a believer, and talking as a believer, my faith comes up in a lot of conversation. I don't force it OR shy away from it. It's just part of my every day speech.
Sometimes people jump in and ask questions,

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Yup. It really has to be very natural and organic. People can see right through things.

Kutte said:

Bryan,

Honestly, I don't know what to make of your response to my post #18. Jesus lived in Asia? The Christian religion is still a minority religion in most Asian countries. Me trying to take away a person's cultural religion? On the contrary, I favor cultural diversity. Are you sure you are responding to the right posting?

Kutte

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Yes, Jesus lived in Asia. The Middle East is on the continent of Asia.

I was responding to your post. I understand that you favor cultural diversity, even if it goes against the gospel. Jesus did say that the only way to the Father is through him. He did not qualify that in any way to permit people to keep their old ways and that they would probably be good enough.

F-False
E-Evidence
A-Appearing
R-Real

We must depend 100% on Abba Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, Holy Word-Get out of our comfort zone(get out of the boat!).

BryanW92 said:

Yes, Jesus lived in Asia. The Middle East is on the continent of Asia.

I was responding to your post. I understand that you favor cultural diversity, even if it goes against the gospel. Jesus did say that the only way to the Father is through him. He did not qualify that in any way to permit people to keep their old ways and that they would probably be good enough.

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Bryan,

When talking about Asia countries such as China, Vietnam, Korea come to mind. The Middle East may be part of Asia but people usually don't attribute the Middle East to Asia.
A tribal leader may tell his subjects that the best, most likely, the only way to reach the top of that mountain over there without getting lost in the wilderness is by following him because he has been there before and knows the way.

Kutte