Change in Beliefs...Help!

[All4Christ]

A bit of background...I've been a fundamental Pentecostal all my life, very conservative. I've been a Christian for as long as I can remember, and I decided to attend a Christian Liberal Arts college, which has turned out to be not as "Christian" as I expected it to be. Oh, and if this is the wrong place to post this, then I'm sorry....don't feel obligated to respond...

In my Social Research Class, we have been doing a survey poll for students here at Messiah College about the religious change in college students throughout their career in college. Since I've been doing so much work on this, I've started to evaluate my own life. I have changed during college. I freely admit this, yet I hesitate to say whether it was a positive or negative change. I have friends that are so much more liberal than I am, and I fear that they have changed my beliefs at times. It is difficult now for me to say whether or not homosexuals are able to be Christians, while earlier before college I wouldn't think that they could be Christians at all. I don't believe homosexuality is correct, but I also see the points that some of them make about the way Christians treat them and the way how they think that contradicts with the Bible. I'd say that this has made me more loving, but at what cost? Am I compromising my beliefs for the sake of loving those who God has made in spite of their sexual orientation? Am I losing the faith that I should have? Or take theology for instance. There are several areas in my theology that I am possibly changing my thoughts about. Some of these might be once saved always saved versus possibilities of losing your faith, predestination versus free-will, etc. etc. I don't know what to do or think. Take music for example. Surprise surprise, I'm willing to dance now! Before college, I had never heard ANY secular music, save classical music. Now.....heh. Think of that, a traditional ultra-conservative Pentecostal willing to dance and listen to hip-hop music. The words are often not good at all. I have fun dancing to it! I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I think about it, yet when I do it, it is so much fun. If this is sin, is that the case with all sin? is all sin fun? Where do we stop being part of the world and separating ourselves from it? My friends have influenced me so much to become more liberal. Do I need to stop being friends with them for the cause of staying conservative? If I do stop being friends with them, who will witness to them? Who will I be able to talk to, to have listen to me etc.? Not many people in the church have taken the time to get to know the real me. These people accept me for WHO I AM. Why haven't people in the church done the same thing? What do I do? How do I handle this? I ask this here because I want the opinions of those who are Pentecostals and/or Charismatics who believe similarly to what I believe.

I'm sorry for rambling...they're just my frustrations for the moment.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

We are to love the sinner, but not the sin.
That does mot mean we can throw it up at them at every opportunity. We have to walk in love toward those who are outside of the truth.
I do not know what you mean when so say "the way Christians treat them."
If Christians are being cruel, calling names ("queer", "homos") or any such thing.. then they are wrong. They need to walk in love with kindness, compassion, and with the remembrance that we to were once sinners.
At the same time, if we are asked about this sin, then we have no choice but share what the word says. We can never back down on the word. Even if this is to our own hurt.

 

[Tinker Grey]

[aside] Hey! I graduated from Messiah College in 1985! Not by under this name, tho'.
[/aside]

I freely admit this, yet I hesitate to say whether it was a positive or negative change. I have friends that are so much more liberal than I am, and I fear that they have changed my beliefs at times.

Don't be afraid of change. So what if your beliefs have changed (as long as that does not include faith in God)?

I find that I primarily seek discourse for the purposes of growing. This implies change! I can change by strengthening or enhancing my current view. I can change by easing the strictness of my beliefe. I can change by reversing entirely.

If I am not growing in some way, I may as well be dead.

I agree with what didaskalos has written on the homosexuality issue. It may be, however, that someday you come to the conviction that the pertinent verses on this issue (or on some other) has been mistranslated or taken out of context. You can change your views on various things without changing the fundamental belief that the Bible is correct. What happens when you change is that you admit that your reading of the Bible was wrong. That's all.

Am I losing the faith that I should have?

Who says should?

My point here is that many folks have held any possible view you could have held. All of them have been justified by scripture, tho' they are contradictory.

A reasonable Christian can reasonably hold views that contradict the views of another perfectly reasonable Christian.

Or take theology for instance. There are several areas in my theology that I am possibly changing my thoughts about. Some of these might be once saved always saved versus possibilities of losing your faith, predestination versus free-will, etc. etc. I don't know what to do or think.

Just keep thinking!

Salvation is by the Grace of God. Salvation is by believing in the work of Jesus and that God has raised him from the dead. Your salvation does not depend on your belief in some particular dogma of some particular denomination.

"Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord."

You will change. Get used to it.

I was a strong Christian 20 years ago. I am a strong Christian now. I held strong beliefs then. I hold strong beliefs now. The me of 20 years ago would not recognize who I am now.

However, I would not change who I was then, because I suppose that who I was then was a necessary step to becoming who I am.

Take music for example. Surprise surprise, I'm willing to dance now! Before college, I had never heard ANY secular music, save classical music. Now.....heh. Think of that, a traditional ultra-conservative Pentecostal willing to dance and listen to hip-hop music. The words are often not good at all. I have fun dancing to it!

If you worry about it, buy Christian hip-hop. Should find plenty in your campus bookstore, I would guess (is it still in Eisenhauer?).

I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I think about it, yet when I do it, it is so much fun. If this is sin, is that the case with all sin?

Probably is the case with most sin. If it bothers you, stop.

However, not all things that feel good are wrong.

Where do we stop being part of the world and separating ourselves from it?

I don't know. Remember however that Paul said that all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient.

Abstinence from some particular activity for the sake of abstinence is no virtue!

My friends have influenced me so much to become more liberal. Do I need to stop being friends with them for the cause of staying conservative?

Conservatism for the sake of it is no virtue. Seek the truth regardless of the label. I cannot tell you that that truth will label you conservative or liberal. It might however make you a better child of God.

If I do stop being friends with them, who will witness to them?

Why do they need witnessing to? Are they not Christians? Are you supposing that liberals need to be converted to conservatism?

By all means, stay friends. Listen to their opinions. If they are not Christians, let their arguments strengthen and enhance yours. Let them spur you to deeper research in the scriptures and seeking after God's heart. If they are Christians, let their arguments strengthen and enhance yours. Seek the truth. Don't be afraid of change.

Iron sharpens Iron.

Who will I be able to talk to, to have listen to me etc.? Not many people in the church have taken the time to get to know the real me. These people accept me for WHO I AM. Why haven't people in the church done the same thing? What do I do? How do I handle this?

I think my opinions above cover what I think you should do and what attitude you should have.

My experience at Messiah College and that of my wife and my observation of nearly all my friends, is that MC challenges you to grow. One of the most frustrating things about World Views (do they still teach that) is that they presented the views of various philosophies without refuting them. You were left to figure it out on your own.

Most of the thoughtful types had a hard time with this. As a young person, you are used to things being a bit cut-and-dry. College in general, and MC in particular, breaks you out of the black-and-white of your childhood.

The best response to such a challenge is to seek God with all your heart. If such seeking changes you, good. Embrace it. An honest seeking of God cannot be bad. If you see your attitudes toward the Bible changing, study it! It cannot be bad to delve deeper and harder into scripture. If it changes you, good. Embrace it.

HTH

Tinker

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

This post is going to aim at what I believe is the bottom line issue here. I may or may not make a post addressing each of your questions. . .for the moment I'm sensing that this is what God would have me say.

Please know that I am not judging you but working off my own experience in my own life, it sounds like your walk with God is suffering.

What is your fellowingship time with Him like? How about the time you spend in His word just feasting on what it says to you? In all honesty, do you even have this time alone with Him?

I have found that the more I stay away from His presense the more I am drawn away by the ideas and thoughts and desires of those who also do not share that time in His presense.

I grew up in the Penticostal church too. There were alot of things that I was taught was sin but in and of themselves are not. I have found that as my relationship with Him grows then there just are things that I don't desire. Yet the more I stay away from Him the more I see things creep in that draw me away into doubt and unbelief.

I would suggest that you first, get yourself alone with God and ask Him to show you where you got off track and show you the way back to what He's called you to. Not what your Penticostal upbringing taught you but what He's called you to.

 

[All4Christ]

Quaffer, actually, in all honesty lately I have been reading much more of the Bible than I used to. I am reading every day thankfully, and I am now having time with God every day. I actually think that Tinker may understand what I am trying to convey as he was a member of Messiah College as well. Messiah...well, it makes you think. I've tried to take this to the Bible and see what the Bible has to say about it. I actually believe I've been reading the Bible more because of it. Does this make sense? Maybe...(I've been thinking all day about this) maybe I am in the process of growing....and growing means thinking about why I believe what I believe instead of what I was taught to believe. OK, so I do agree with a lot of what you said though. I do need to get to know God more. I'm just saying that I think I've already turned from that downward spiral of not paying attention to God in my life. As for Didaskolos (and what Tinker Grey said on the matter) about homosexuality, I want want to PM both of you separately from this post....apparently I was greatly misunderstood. For anyone else who reads this and decides to respond on that particular subject...I agree wholeheartedly that we need to love homosexuals and not be afraid of them or be cruel or anything to that effect. I mean, that doesn't follow Christ's example at all....for example, assuming that homosexuality is a sin (go with me for this for a second, even if you don't believe it is a sin) look at Christ's example with Mary Magdelene. Does he condemn her? No. He says go and sin no more. He was friends with the sinners. He was friends with those no one wanted to be with. He was friends with the outcasts. OK, I"m late i'll finish this later....bye

 

[ufonium2]

I'm not Charismatic, but I had a similar experience in college and I'd like to tell you about it, maybe it will help:

I grew up in the church in a very small town. I never knew any homosexuals, and the ones I knew of were town pariahs because of it. I never really knew people who professed any religion besides Christianity, and I never knew anybody who claimed to be an atheist (obviously there were some, but they didn't talk about it or have Darwin fish on their car or anything.)

Then I went to college. A state school in a large town. I met homosexuals for the first time, and realized they could be nice people. I met militant atheists who had no problem openly questioning the existence of God.

All of this was new, and I took a really bad approach to it. Instead of really thinking about my faith and using these experiences to make it stronger, I stopped thinking about faith altogether. I only went to church when I was home, dated an atheist, and just basically went with the flow.

Several years later, I don't even like to think about the me I was in college. I became MUCH more 'liberal' than I ever felt comfortable with in the name of not rocking the boat. Now, I am more conservative (and also more thoughtful about spiritual things) than I was even before college, and it feels good.

So, new experiences aren't a bad thing, but don't be afraid to rock the boat. If you really feel your beliefs have changed, explore that. You might find a church that is a better fit to who you are. However, if you are uncomfortable about the changes you have made in your life, maybe you should seek out social circles whose beliefs more closely reflect your own.

Remember, it's possible to tolerate other beliefs without accepting them.

 

[Tinker Grey]

As for Didaskolos (and what Tinker Grey said on the matter) about homosexuality, I want want to PM both of you separately from this post....apparently I was greatly misunderstood.

Feel free!

Tinker