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| you'll have to just imagine their animated faces :) |
I've never been comfortable sharing my faith in such open (and uninvited?) ways. I took a year off after high school to spend time with a mission organization. I met a lot of great people, but the philosophy/mission was much different than my own. Evangelism was expected, and not just by our actions - using words to convince.
We were given several options of places where we could do the outreach portion of our time (for one month). I chose Morocco because we weren't allowed to do street evangelism there. We worked at an orphanage in Casablanca, and were told NOT to share our faith. I could gladly abide by these rules.
I'm not a marketer at the best of times, and selling my faith? I just can't seem to do it any other way than through my actions.
And door to door? Have you ever sold something door to door? Well, not me - not chocolate bars, magazine fundraisers, and certainly not my faith. And so I wonder: is my faith not strong enough? Do I not think there's a message worth sharing?
I heard this quote while studying at university, and it rang true for me. I still love it:
I do think that there is a message worth sharing, and I'm happy to try to put into words what I believe - when people ask."Real religion does not give us final answers. It makes us ask better questions." David Tracey, Catholic theologian
And I'm happy to hear about others' faith - even (and sometimes especially!) if it is wildly different than my own. I love to engage in interfaith dialogue, and share faith in a kindergarten sense of the word - I give some to you, you give some to me. We share. Your faith influences, builds up, strengthens, and challenges, mine. And even changes me. And I hope to do the same for you.
I couldn't agree more. Still trying to find the right "fit" for "sharing" in the frequently used sense of the word --- rather I hope to learn more about listening and creating space where dialogue is possible and offering love and hope in the midst of that.
ReplyDeleteavsl - I really like what you said - I think it's so important to have dialogue where both parties are listening, and offering love and hope. I may not be in the majority here.... but I truly believe that there is one universal spirit for the world - we all feel it - hindus, buddhists, muslims, christians, jews....
ReplyDeleteI think that's why it's so hard for me to consider baptism at this stage in the game - because I can't believe that all other religions in the world are wrong, and christians are the only ones with the right belief.
I love the way you talked about sharing your faith through action, Rebecca. So many times in this world there's a lot of talk, but not alot of action to back it up.
Don't worry about whether you're in the majority/minority, Rachel - we see eye to eye on a lot of these things! You're in good company. For me, baptism was about choosing one - like a life partner. I don't think there is "the one" - there is a choice, and when you choose "the one" you go with it. Christianity is what I know, and there's enough in it that feels life-giving to me, even if some Christians seem to speak a totally different "language" than I do. This can be hard. And I hear you about other religions - this is something I feel/believe wholeheartedly too. But it's something I try not to shout out in certain circles. Traveling to India, Morocco, Indonesia really opened my eyes to people of other faiths, and wanting to dialogue/learn.
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