Honest questions for Christians

[Red Fox]

If I were a Muslim, how would you draw me to Christ?

What would you say to me that could convince me enough to convert to your faith?

And if I were a Muslim and I read all of these verbal attacks against Islam, please tell me why I should ever consider converting to Christianity?

While I'm not a Muslim, I am a non-Christian now. So, what could you say to me that would make me consider returning to the Christian faith?

I spent many years in the church, so I'm fairly familiar with scripture. I'm familiar with the teaching of Christians being commanded to love their enemies, pray for their enemies, do good to their enemies, treat others as they want to be treated, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and be a witness for Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission, among many other teachings of Jesus. I also know Jesus made it perfectly clear that the world would know His followers by their love for each other.

A person can say they are Christian all they want, even until they are blue in the face, but... if they are not living what they profess and their profession of faith is not evident in their own words and actions, then their repeated proclamations of being Christian are not worth listening to. IOW, if a Christian wants to draw a person to Jesus Christ, then they must first live out their faith, otherwise they could possibly push someone further away from Him and even quite possibly cause them to miss salvation.

 

[Aldebaran]

I spent many years in the church, so I'm fairly familiar with scripture. I'm familiar with the teaching of Christians being commanded to love their enemies, pray for their enemies, do good to their enemies, treat others as they want to be treated, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and be a witness for Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission among many other teachings of Jesus. I also know that Jesus made it perfectly clear that the world would know His followers by their love for each other.

A person can say they are Christian all they want, even until they are blue in the face, but... if they are not living what they profess and their profession of faith is not evident in their own words and actions, then their repeated proclamations of being Christian are not worth listening to. IOW, if a Christian wants to draw a person to Jesus Christ, then they must first live out their faith, otherwise they could possibly push someone further away from Him and even quite possibly cause them to miss salvation.

The main thing I notice about your assessment is that you're evaluating others. What we should be doing is evaluating ourselves, and then deciding what road we want to take. Others may have gone down the same road and ended up taking a detour, or even had a flat tire, but that shouldn't stop you from taking or continuing the journey.

 

[Red Fox]

The main thing I notice about your assessment is that you're evaluating others. What we should be doing is evaluating ourselves, and then deciding what road we want to take. Others may have gone down the same road and ended up taking a detour, or even had a flat tire, but that shouldn't stop you from taking or continuing the journey.

I did spend a lot of time evaluating myself and what spiritual journey I knew I needed to take. It wasn't an easy decision for me to leave my Christian faith. I have always been observant of how other people live out their personal religious beliefs. Spirituality has always intrigued me. And how I have been treated in the past has had a huge impact on my life and how I view the world around me. It has been no different concerning the spiritual aspects of life for me either. So, will you answer my questions?

 

[Aldebaran]

I did spend a lot of time evaluating myself and what spiritual journey I knew I needed to take. It wasn't an easy decision for me to leave my Christian faith. I have always been observant of how other people live out their personal religious beliefs. Spirituality has always intrigued me. And how I have been treated in the past has had a huge impact on my life and how I view the world around me. It has been no different concerning the spiritual aspects of life for me either. So, will you answer my questions?

Well, your questions mainly refer to speaking to someone who is Islam. I'm not intimately familiar with that religion except for the actions I've seen from them.

 

[Red Fox]

Well, your questions mainly refer to speaking to someone who is Islam. I'm not intimately familiar with that religion except for the actions I've seen from them.

I would say that's fair enough, but what about my last question?

 

[Aldebaran]

I would say that's fair enough, but what about my last question?

I guess I would say the same thing as I did originally. I mean, when a person witnessed to me and told me about God's hand in the world and how things have been playing out through time according to His word, my mind went to the reality of it all rather than other people's lives and how they may have gone astray or made mistakes. God deals with each of us in His own way, and each of us reacts in our own way. It's sort of like life in general; where each person has a different story to tell. Some have it glamorous, some have it rough, and many have it somewhere in between--whether we're speaking financially, or in relationships with parents or a spouse, or in a career. If we look to how other people have lived and what they have gone through, it can help shape how we want to live, but it can also scare us away from living a good life that we could have had because of the experience we saw someone else have. This is why I point to not observing how other Christians are or have treated you in the past, but rather focus on living for Christ yourself.

 

[Red Fox]

I guess I would say the same thing as I did originally. I mean, when a person witnessed to me and told me about God's hand in the world and how things have been playing out through time according to His word, my mind went to the reality of it all rather than other people's lives and how they may have gone astray or made mistakes. God deals with each of us in His own way, and each of us reacts in our own way. It's sort of like life in general; where each person has a different story to tell. Some have it glamorous, some have it rough, and many have it somewhere in between--whether we're speaking financially, or in relationships with parents or a spouse, or in a career. If we look to how other people have lived and what they have gone through, it can help shape how we want to live, but it can also scare us away from living a good life that we could have had because of the experience we saw someone else have. This is why I point to not observing how other Christians are or have treated you in the past, but rather focus on living for Christ yourself.

That was a very well thought out answer. Thank you.

 

[Aldebaran]

That was a very well thought out answer. Thank you.

Thanks! It just kind of came to me as I was typing.

 

[benedictaoo]

I'd be a Christian if I ever met one. I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.

I wouldn't say anything but pray that you come to know the love of Christ. And if one of us knuckle heads drew you away from Christ, then that's on us, not you. We'll answer for what ever we do or not do.

But God would not deny salvation based on anything we did or didn't do in His name. God doesn't work that way. Your salvation is between you and Him alone.

 

[MikeK]

I don't think anything I would say would help, except perhaps and invitation to join me in prayer or at Mass. I have never talked anyone into believing, but I have, with His help, inspired a couple of people to investigate the faith by just being a friend. Nothing should please us more than serving Christ, and if people see how overjoyed we are, they're going to want that.

 

[tadoflamb]

I'm a convert, and no one is more surprised by this than me. I came from a very long way away to embrace Christianity much less Catholicism. How did this come about? It certainly wasn't from any individuals overt evangelizing, though many in the first 40 years of my life made the attempt. No, I was evangelized by the Church herself and quietly drawn into her. And since this was the way I became Catholic, I want to allow any individual to have the same privilege. Without being asked, I don't know what I would say to convince someone to become Catholic. My impression is that we evangelize with our life styles and if we truly exhibit that sense of peace which should come with knowing Christ then it should be irresistible to the people we encounter. I'm just not there yet.

 

[benedictaoo]

Yeah, I don't, in my real life, talk about this unless its appropriate and wanted. I do try to just be a decent person and yes, I am as abrasive in real life as I am here and I am full of witt and opinions and have absolutly no problem expressing them but I do not go around approaching Muslims trying to bring them to Christ.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Faith comes from God, it is His revelation of Himself to the individual, however that may happen.

Religion, is the individual's response to faith.

There is nothing anyone can say to make another have faith.

There may be words that can help a person come to Jesus Christ and explore for themselves, but it is Christ who will give them faith.

Faith is a gift from God. You can't give to others, only God can do that.

That being said, a person must be open to faith in order to receive it.

Muslims have the threat of death if they convert to any religion outside of Islam.

Its not an easy decision for a Muslim to make in converting, but when they do, it is Jesus who drew them to Himself
and it was very profound.

Jim

 

[benedictaoo]

Amen Jim

 

[Sword of the Lord]

Walking the walk is certainly one way to bring people to Christ; after all, we are to let our light shine before others so that people glorify God. But we are also called to go, and make disciples of all nations, so never evangelizing, never talking about it, isn't the way to go.

 

[Poor Beggar]

If I were a Muslim, how would you draw me to Christ?

What would you say to me that could convince me enough to convert to your faith?

And if I were a Muslim and I read all of these verbal attacks against Islam, please tell me why I should ever consider converting to Christianity?

While I'm not a Muslim, I am a non-Christian now. So, what could you say to me that would make me consider returning to the Christian faith?

I spent many years in the church, so I'm fairly familiar with scripture. I'm familiar with the teaching of Christians being commanded to love their enemies, pray for their enemies, do good to their enemies, treat others as they want to be treated, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, and be a witness for Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission, among many other teachings of Jesus. I also know Jesus made it perfectly clear that the world would know His followers by their love for each other.

A person can say they are Christian all they want, even until they are blue in the face, but... if they are not living what they profess and their profession of faith is not evident in their own words and actions, then their repeated proclamations of being Christian are not worth listening to. IOW, if a Christian wants to draw a person to Jesus Christ, then they must first live out their faith, otherwise they could possibly push someone further away from Him and even quite possibly cause them to miss salvation.

You're asking what approach I would use for a class of people. I've never evangelized anyone like that. I talk with a person. Also, NO ONE lives out what they proclaim. Only Jesus Christ did/does that. For me, if I cannot live out my beliefs that is all the more reason to believe in the One who IS righteous. My failures proclaim the Truth.

 

[Winken]

A person can say they are Christian all they want, even until they are blue in the face, but... if they are not living what they profess and their profession of faith is not evident in their own words and actions, then their repeated proclamations of being Christian are not worth listening to. IOW, if a Christian wants to draw a person to Jesus Christ, then they must first live out their faith, otherwise they could possibly push someone further away from Him and even quite possibly cause them to miss salvation.

So why are you, a Christian, not living out your faith?

 

[Sword of the Lord]

So why are you, a Christian, not living out your faith?

She specifically said she isn't a Christian.

 

[Red Fox]

So why are you, a Christian, not living out your faith?

I am not a Christian any longer. I have walked away from my Christian faith and I now walk a different spiritual path.

 

[Red Fox]

Also, NO ONE lives out what they proclaim. Only Jesus Christ did/does that. For me, if I cannot live out my beliefs that is all the more reason to believe in the One who IS righteous. My failures proclaim the Truth.

Actually, I know quite a few Christians who live out their faith, my husband is one of them. And if it weren't for these particular Christians being in my life and showing me by their example that not all Christians are like the foul ones (for the lack of a better term) I have encountered in the past, I would never consider Christianity ever again. In fact, I would probably despise Christianity with a passion, but because of these particular Christians, as I said my husband being one, I can't and don't hate the religion.