I was just finishing a discussion with someone who offered this analogy/metaphor. Religion tries to put a coat of paint over old paint, the end result is chipping peeling, bubbling paint. But Jesus comes along and helps us remove the old coat of paint, providing us with a clear surface to work with. Hope that helps.
I was just finishing a discussion with someone who offered this analogy/metaphor. Religion tries to put a coat of paint over old paint, the end result is chipping peeling, bubbling paint. But Jesus comes along and helps us remove the old coat of paint, providing us with a clear surface to work with. Hope that helps.
" In any case, my main situation is this: I know all there is to know about Christianity, or at least enough. I highly doubt someone could present to me a perspective I am not familiar with. Yet I cannot accept it. My heart wants nothing to do with God and I only think of him bitterly. I don't want to go back to where I was in high school because that relationship was too flimsy and fake, but I would like something to give me a sense of purpose and security in life. Right now I am terrified of death for fear of hell, but I just don't want God. If that's where my heart is, what can I do about it?"
Honesty is the first step. Before we are born again we are enmity towards God. Our hearts are wicked and we hate God. We might, some of us, love the idea of God or a god our mind conjures up (idolatry), but ever presented with the true God, as I believe you know Him at least intellectually, we hate Him. That's because we are evil, and He is good, so naturally, we hate good. But, you have a conscience, and you have a fear of the Lord (the beginning of wisdom) and this is good.
What you need to do brother, is get down on your knees and ask God to change your heart. Are you also repentant of your sin? To come to Christ we need to repent and trust in Him. If you feel you cannot do this, you need to ask the Lord to help you.
I'll take the challenge of presenting some "new" takes on the old traditions of the church....
I would like to ask you a couple of questions if I might, it might get a bit uncomfortable for you, so if your the kind that reports every discomfort please say so upfront, otherwise here are my first questions....
1. At 6, why did you come to Christ? Was it out of fear of hell or out of love for God, or maybe out of "presure" from the family??? (those are the most common, there could be others)
That is an excellent question. Let me just say this. To become a "Christian" at age 6 is not normal!! Normal 6 yr olds are not thinking about religion. This suggests to me that you were raised in a family of fanatics and extreme religious zealots. And being fanatics, I am sure you were coerced into "accepting Christ" from a fear of Hell and pressure from the family.
I would say that your faith has been built on a wrong foundation to begin with. Hence your doubts and misgivings.
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That is an excellent question. Let me just say this. To become a "Christian" at age 6 is not normal!! Normal 6 yr olds are not thinking about religion. This suggests to me that you were raised in a family of fanatics and extreme religious zealots. And being fanatics, I am sure you were coerced into "accepting Christ" from a fear of Hell and pressure from the family.
actually, I came to Christ at the age of 6, it was out of a desperation to survive in a world that hated me. And in reality, I, yes at the age of 6, led my family to Christ. In fact, I don't recall ever going to church or praying before that night long, long ago. Nor did I go to church events or VBS type stuff. Though I was told that we went on Easter and Christmas, I have no memory of it at all. As to hell, personally, I didn't even know hell existed until much much later. I guess the point is, that you can pigeon hole people all you want, but truth is found in the individual, not the genrealizations that make us comfortable.
I would say that your faith has been built on a wrong foundation to begin with. Hence your doubts and misgivings.
Personally I think that anyone who comes to Christ to avoid hell, and not for the purpose of finding life in the Savior is missing the mark, but I do agree with you here.
Honesty is the first step. Before we are born again we are enmity towards God. Our hearts are wicked and we hate God. We might, some of us, love the idea of God or a god our mind conjures up (idolatry), but ever presented with the true God, as I believe you know Him at least intellectually, we hate Him. That's because we are evil, and He is good, so naturally, we hate good. But, you have a conscience, and you have a fear of the Lord (the beginning of wisdom) and this is good.
What you need to do brother, is get down on your knees and ask God to change your heart. Are you also repentant of your sin? To come to Christ we need to repent and trust in Him. If you feel you cannot do this, you need to ask the Lord to help you.
This is theology I've heard before and been taught. To me, it makes sense. However, I've already tried asking God to change my heart. I've tried to be as humble as possible and give everything to him, but it never worked. I think that deep down I don't really want him to change me. I think I enjoy resting in the bitterness and power of rejecting God. Of course that is just my self-psycho-analysis, so who knows? As for repenting, that has also been near impossible. Again, my heart is not in the right place for that. What's got me stumped is how I'm supposed to ask God earnestly to change my heart when, until he changes it, I don't earnestly want it changed.
Originally Posted by BlackSabb
That is an excellent question. Let me just say this. To become a "Christian" at age 6 is not normal!! Normal 6 yr olds are not thinking about religion. This suggests to me that you were raised in a family of fanatics and extreme religious zealots. And being fanatics, I am sure you were coerced into "accepting Christ" from a fear of Hell and pressure from the family.
I would say that your faith has been built on a wrong foundation to begin with. Hence your doubts and misgivings.
I don't think my family was fanatical. I think they just took me to church and taught Christianity to be true like any Christian family would. But I won't say it's impossible that my foundation was wrong. After all, I was only 6 and my main motivation was avoid hell and being like everyone else I knew. But I recognized that a long time ago and renewed my faith many times when I learned new things and realized my foundations before may have been faulty. Still, the issue may be that I never really took the gospel to heart, but instead only believed the facts. At this point, it's impossible for me to look back and know for sure how real my faith was.
I don't think my family was fanatical. I think they just took me to church and taught Christianity to be true like any Christian family would. But I won't say it's impossible that my foundation was wrong. After all, I was only 6 and my main motivation was avoid hell and being like everyone else I knew. But I recognized that a long time ago and renewed my faith many times when I learned new things and realized my foundations before may have been faulty. Still, the issue may be that I never really took the gospel to heart, but instead only believed the facts. At this point, it's impossible for me to look back and know for sure how real my faith was.
I don't mean to disparage you or anyone else, but how on earth can any 6yr old make such a committment to be a Christian? What does any 6yr old know about life in general to make such an important decision and committment?
I mean for goodness sakes, when you're 6yrs old, you've only just come out of kindergarten! You've only just learnt the alphabet and numbers and nursery rhymes. It is ridiculous to suggest that a 6yr old has the mental faculties to be thinking about the implications of religious beliefs.
I'm sorry, but this is just not normal behaviour.
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I don't mean to disparage you or anyone else, but how on earth can any 6yr old make such a committment to be a Christian? What does any 6yr old know about life in general to make such an important decision and committment? I mean for goodness sakes, when you're 6yrs old, you've only just come out of kindergarten!
That's why I said, "But I won't say it's impossible that my foundation was wrong. After all, I was only 6 and my main motivation was avoid hell and being like everyone else I knew....At this point, it's impossible for me to look back and know for sure how real my faith was."
I've known plenty of people who "became Christians" at that age and are still strong believers, but they probably didn't really understand enough until they were older. On the other hand, it's not impossible for a 6-year-old to feel guilt and want forgiveness. I think it's hard to really know in most cases, but I'm willing to admit that my 6yr old decision may not have been the solid foundation I thought it was. That's why I said, "But I recognized that a long time ago and renewed my faith many times when I learned new things and realized my foundations before may have been faulty."
I don't mean to disparage you or anyone else, but how on earth can any 6yr old make such a committment to be a Christian? What does any 6yr old know about life in general to make such an important decision and committment?
I mean for goodness sakes, when you're 6yrs old, you've only just come out of kindergarten! You've only just learnt the alphabet and numbers and nursery rhymes. It is ridiculous to suggest that a 6yr old has the mental faculties to be thinking about the implications of religious beliefs.
I'm sorry, but this is just not normal behaviour.
there is a big difference between "normal" and reality. The truth is that some 6 year olds are capable of such thought and reasoning, but most are not. This issue came up recently in our church, when a parent was worried about the young age of their child and that moment of "decision". Point being, the point you are making is a good one and one that many should take to heart, however, it is not as definative as you seem to be trying to make it. There are definately 6 year olds that are capable, and 6 year olds that are not.
And while the topic is open, the generally acceptable biblical age of accountability was 13. Which should be a word of caution to all bible believing families that long for their children to come to Christ, and want to push them into it.
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