hoosier said:
Hi,
One thing I can't stop thinking about lately is how all the christians I know atleast has some form of christian background. Whether it was going to church at an early age and then leaving or having christian parents.
Isn't this kind of weird? I have yet to meet a christian who did not have any exposure to Jesus while growing up. This thought makes me want to doubt God too and it's worrying the heck outta me!
Like how do we know if we are pursuing the right religion? What makes Muslims pursue their God? What gives them so much faith in their God? How do I know I'm going for the right God? I think the reason why I am a christian today is because I went to church as a youngster, but later left. I realized later that I needed to depend on him...but what if I was born in a Muslim country (for example)...? Would I have gone for another God? It is a frightening thought.
Any comments would be appreciated =)
Like a handful of others who have posted on this thread, I am also a Christian who grew up with zero Christian upbringing. I did not have Christian parents. Rather, I grew up as a Hindu idolater, worshiping a pantheon of gods in futility. The only exposure I had to Christianity was through my cousins. Although their parents were not Christians either, they sent their children to a Southern Baptist school. A couple of times when they came over, they would tell me vague and incomplete stories about Noah, Moses, the Gospel, and especially the end times (with what I now know to be a pretribulation, dispensationalist bent). My older cousin even led me through the sinner's prayer...a lot of good that did me (almost none, actually) Unfortunately, the only thing I ever learned about Jesus was that he died on a cross, and that he would send me to hell if I didn't verbally and mentally say the words "Dear Jesus, I accept you as my savior." What disheartens me even to this day is that both of my cousins have since returned to their idolatry.
You seem to be considering the possibility that a person who doesn't have a Christian upbringing will not come to Christ. So to give you an idea of how little I knew about Christ, you should know that at the age of 19, I had only touched a Bible once in my life (in a hotel room, where the Gideons place them). And on that occasion, had I only read about two sentences from the Bible, one of which was Genesis 1:1.
I became a Christian at age 19, and God spoke to me very powerfully through his written word, and more importantly through the Holy Spirit, which gave testimony to the power of Jesus' Name. I got a Bible from a friend of my parents (actually it was intended for my father, but he didn't read it, and so I decided to do so). I only read the Gospel of Mark, and the epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans. And these Scriptures were enough to convict me that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. I did not have any Christian upbringing, but only Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God. And he was enough to convince me of the Truth.
So I hope that I in turn have convinced you that you are not a Christian because of your prior upbringing in a Christian family. Now, it is very probable that God used your upbringing to bring you to Christ. Indeed, God uses different means with different people. And make no mistake, you are very blessed to have a Christian family. But do not presume to think that God cannot save a man however he chooses. Others on this thread have also testified about how they came to Christ apart from a Christian upbringing.
Remember that it says, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12). Muslims cannot be saved under the name of Mohammad, but only through Christ. Therefore, I hope you will take the time to thank God for your own salvation, and earnestly desire that all non-Christians should come to faith in Christ and be saved, as everyone here has.
