Growing up in Church

[SnowyMacie]

This thread is really for those of us who are "pew babies". I went to my church's Sunday night service last night due to being in a coma-like sleep from Sing Song. Anyway, I don't remember what song it was but I thought about how ironic it was that I was singing this lyrics, it was something about "old self and new self". Yeah, I've matured in my faith and things have changed since becoming a follower of Christ, but I never really had an "old self", I was always so involved in church that on some level was always a Christian.

This had me thinking about how my two least favorite questions in the world are "What's your testimony?" and "How did becoming a Christian change your life?" or a variant of one of those things. I usually have an answer ready for the testimony, but it's really more of my journey following Jesus, rather than how I came to follow Jesus. The second question, I have no clue how to ever answer that other than "well, I grew up in church..."

On that point, I often do wonder what I would be like if I wasn't following Jesus. I can definitely point out somethings, but I am I really sure I would be that way, I've only really known the Christian Matt. I am not saying that I'm missing out, but I don't feel like I have quite as much of a connection to the world I'm supposed to minister to.


Anyone else feel this way?

 

[Jupiter Drops]

Yeah, often times we get to shielded and sheltered by growing up in a church that we kind of have no idea how to connect to the world.

I like my church adult youth environment more than anything, but it doesn't do me the justice to stay in there forever. Sometimes you just have to taste the bitterness of what the world's like. I desperately do wish that I could stay in there forever, but that's not right. I can't stay as a baby forever.

It's a bit of a dangerous thing when you grow up sheltered in any circumstances. It would be wise to take a gander around the world and see how other Christians interact.


Not all of us have an 'amazing' testimony like, "I was a druggie and God saved me," or "I used to be a tyrannical, ruthless businessman whose life was turned around by God's grace." These stories are everywhere, but they are unique and important because they exist. We are important too because of our experience and relationship with God.


It also takes a lot of maturation and understanding. You just have to put yourself in someone else's shoes once in a while to really get what they're saying. Sometimes they can be right or wrong, or something else. Whatever. The point is to really explore and see the world as a Christian. You are the light and the salt of the earth. No pressure.

I think our old selves die every day. Everyday, I'm learning something else and it's God who gives me the wisdom and strength to comprehend. We are building ourselves in Christ, with Him as the chief cornerstone.

 

[Sketcher]

I gave my life to the Lord and was baptized when I was 9. I blasphemed a lot when I was 5. I suppose that's what it comes to.

 

[MacFall]

I grew up in the Church, but my testimony begins when I started to find meaning in what I was doing. And part of that has to do with when I broke from some of the doctrines into which I was raised, began to think through some things on my own, and eventually discovered a Faith that integrated every part of my worldview. It also had to do with realizing that emotional experiences are not as meaningful as engaging my mind. So my walk with God improved noticeably when I stopped mocking Christian Philosophy and found out what other, better Christians than I thought about Christ. It was sort of humbling, but also very exciting.

 

[Rhamiel]

i understand what you mean

 

[Blank123]

I used to feel like that, and then one day I sat down to actually write out my testimony, and realized there was a point where I moved from living off of my parents faith and being a church baby to my faith being something that was real and personal. I did make a personal choice at one point to accept Christ as my Lord and Saviour, but for a long time after that I still didn't understand what it meant to take my faith seriously. It wasn't until something happened that meant I really needed to lean on the Lord for strength that I began to mature and understand what it means to have personal faith and relationship with Him.

Every child of God has a testimony. We may not have been saved out of a culture of sex, drugs, and rock and roll (and many church babies are), but everyone is saved who understands who we are without Christ and why we need Him, chooses to repent and follow Him as Lord.

 

[MacFall]

I disagree with the idea that a person's "testimony" is a story of a moment of epiphany or Pauline conversion. Any time someone asks me for my testimony I would rather answer, "My testimony is my life; otherwise I'm doing it wrong."

 

[HazelWings]

I think I can relate. Although my denomination is different now than it was, I've always believed there was a God and I was His child. Not everyone has a jolting born-again story. I think many (most?) Christians have a more subtle shift in the way we think and how we lead our lives.