Facing Oppositon

[HaleyN13]

I'm currently a freshman in college, and on my campus religion is accepted well. Where I've run into controversy is my workplace.

I've worked at the same place since I was 15..so this is my 4th year there. However, a girl that works at one of our other locations has joined us. We'll call her Allie. I like her okay...but she can be mean. She can be sassy and sarcastic, bossy and lazy. It's okay to be honest-I'm honest too. But she can be TOO honest. She honestly scares me about what's going to come out of her mouth next.

The other day there were about four girls working, plus this particular girl. We weren't busy so (like most females do), we were just socializing. Somehow the topic of church came up...and my friend mentioned that her boyfriend went to a particular baptist church. This sparked in Allie...apparently she was raised at that church and something had happened that turned her off. But it wasn't enough to just say "I don't like that church" or "so and so happened there so I don't go there anymore". She had to go a million steps further and talk about how she hated that church, hated baptists churches in general, and expressed her dislike for 'baptists'.

I'm a baptist. Through and through.
The other girls standing with us are Christians too. They go to 'nondenominational' churches, but I KNOW that one of their faiths aligns with mine.
Nobody said anything. Everyone fell silent and my friend just looked at me. What could we say?
I knew I needed to say SOMETHING but I couldn't formulate a response before the topic changed. It was an awkward silence so Allie had to have known something was up.
I still feel guilty about it.
I knew in my heart I needed to say something to defend my faith, my God, and my church. But I was afraid of what this mean girl would say to me that I didn't. Would she make the rest of the day miserably awkward, any everytime I worked with her after today? Would she say something so harsh and rude? Worse...would she say something that I couldn't respond to and think she was right?
I still feel so guilty about this...and honestly I want to have a response ready for if/when she mentions it again.

TL;DR: a scary girl at work talked about how she 'couldn't stand' people of my faith without knowing that I was one of them. All of us were too scared/shocked to say anything and now I feel guilty. What could I have said, and what should i say next time?

 

[Tolworth John]

I still feel so guilty about this...and honestly I want to have a response ready for if/when she mentions it again

I can think of only one reply and that is to ask her, Do you hate me? //because I go to xxxxxx baptist church.

If you have the chance you can point out that people are not the same, if someone hurt her at that church it doesn't follow that you will hurt her just because you are a baptist.

 

[Emli]

I'm currently a freshman in college, and on my campus religion is accepted well. Where I've run into controversy is my workplace.

I've worked at the same place since I was 15..so this is my 4th year there. However, a girl that works at one of our other locations has joined us. We'll call her Allie. I like her okay...but she can be mean. She can be sassy and sarcastic, bossy and lazy. It's okay to be honest-I'm honest too. But she can be TOO honest. She honestly scares me about what's going to come out of her mouth next.

The other day there were about four girls working, plus this particular girl. We weren't busy so (like most females do), we were just socializing. Somehow the topic of church came up...and my friend mentioned that her boyfriend went to a particular baptist church. This sparked in Allie...apparently she was raised at that church and something had happened that turned her off. But it wasn't enough to just say "I don't like that church" or "so and so happened there so I don't go there anymore". She had to go a million steps further and talk about how she hated that church, hated baptists churches in general, and expressed her dislike for 'baptists'.

I'm a baptist. Through and through.
The other girls standing with us are Christians too. They go to 'nondenominational' churches, but I KNOW that one of their faiths aligns with mine.
Nobody said anything. Everyone fell silent and my friend just looked at me. What could we say?
I knew I needed to say SOMETHING but I couldn't formulate a response before the topic changed. It was an awkward silence so Allie had to have known something was up.
I still feel guilty about it.
I knew in my heart I needed to say something to defend my faith, my God, and my church. But I was afraid of what this mean girl would say to me that I didn't. Would she make the rest of the day miserably awkward, any everytime I worked with her after today? Would she say something so harsh and rude? Worse...would she say something that I couldn't respond to and think she was right?
I still feel so guilty about this...and honestly I want to have a response ready for if/when she mentions it again.

TL;DR: a scary girl at work talked about how she 'couldn't stand' people of my faith without knowing that I was one of them. All of us were too scared/shocked to say anything and now I feel guilty. What could I have said, and what should i say next time?

Did she have any Biblical arguments or was it just her opinions and her experiences? Was it at all about God or all about her?

 

[faroukfarouk]

Hi; Hebrews 12.2 is a great reference point.

 

[vinsight4u]

/nvm

 

[HaleyN13]

Did she have any Biblical arguments or was it just her opinions and her experiences? Was it at all about God or all about her?

We never got into it. I don't know why she 'hated it'. I don't know if someone hurt her or she didn't believe anymore or what.

 

[Emli]

We never got into it. I don't know why she 'hated it'. I don't know if someone hurt her or she didn't believe anymore or what.

Well, hatred is never of God. You could quote 1 John 3:15 as a starter. I would go into a Biblical debate with her to help her see God's point of view and maybe calm her down. But don't be prideful or aggressive about it. Ask more than you preach, because you need to know where her heart is at in order to get through to her. She probably has no theological points to back her up, but the Holy Spirit might move in her if you can get her to focus on God. And ask her what happened at the church and show compassion to her, because it probably hurt her emotionally. Be an ambassador of Christ to her, and take the Lord's perspective, and show her the love that she is most probably lacking. No one who feels loved by God can hate someone or something that is of God. If she puts up a fight, and refuses to focus on the Lord, then she is too self-focused to listen. In that case, I would kindly tell her to respect you as a person and your faith and not display hatred towards you or your denomination. And keep loving her no matter what. Turn the other cheek if she makes it personal, and refuse to stoop to that level yourself. Just keep your focus on Jesus, which will prove to her that you belong to Him. If she has a problem with that, then she doesn't belong to Him.

Whatever you do, I'd try and reach out to her emotionally if I were you.

 

[deusartemlux]

I'm currently a freshman in college, and on my campus religion is accepted well. Where I've run into controversy is my workplace.

I've worked at the same place since I was 15..so this is my 4th year there. However, a girl that works at one of our other locations has joined us. We'll call her Allie. I like her okay...but she can be mean. She can be sassy and sarcastic, bossy and lazy. It's okay to be honest-I'm honest too. But she can be TOO honest. She honestly scares me about what's going to come out of her mouth next.

The other day there were about four girls working, plus this particular girl. We weren't busy so (like most females do), we were just socializing. Somehow the topic of church came up...and my friend mentioned that her boyfriend went to a particular baptist church. This sparked in Allie...apparently she was raised at that church and something had happened that turned her off. But it wasn't enough to just say "I don't like that church" or "so and so happened there so I don't go there anymore". She had to go a million steps further and talk about how she hated that church, hated baptists churches in general, and expressed her dislike for 'baptists'.

I'm a baptist. Through and through.
The other girls standing with us are Christians too. They go to 'nondenominational' churches, but I KNOW that one of their faiths aligns with mine.
Nobody said anything. Everyone fell silent and my friend just looked at me. What could we say?
I knew I needed to say SOMETHING but I couldn't formulate a response before the topic changed. It was an awkward silence so Allie had to have known something was up.
I still feel guilty about it.
I knew in my heart I needed to say something to defend my faith, my God, and my church. But I was afraid of what this mean girl would say to me that I didn't. Would she make the rest of the day miserably awkward, any everytime I worked with her after today? Would she say something so harsh and rude? Worse...would she say something that I couldn't respond to and think she was right?
I still feel so guilty about this...and honestly I want to have a response ready for if/when she mentions it again.

TL;DR: a scary girl at work talked about how she 'couldn't stand' people of my faith without knowing that I was one of them. All of us were too scared/shocked to say anything and now I feel guilty. What could I have said, and what should i say next time?

I can relate. I work two jobs; one in academia where I've rubbed shoulders with God hating relativists (some more aggressive than others), the other in a retail environment where most folks are drug using gamers. You need to work it out for yourself, but I've come to the conclusion that I will defend and share the gospel when legitimately questioned. This obnoxious co-worker of yours just wants to fight with you. To me, I think being a peacemaker implies a sense of cultural relativism. I've told people before that they can believe whatever they want--that they are wrong but that I'm okay with their opinion. Sharing the gospel and arguing with a bully are to different things. "those who have ears, let them hear" (Matt 11:15) let the rest be deaf to the truth until God wakes them up and they really want to know what it is you believe. Don't forget to live and witness by your actions!
However, if they are offending you just ask them kindly to knock it off.