Using Words as Necessary

My faith.  It's not something I write about often.  Or speak about.  I tend to live more like the quote attributed to St. Francis of Assisi - "Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary."  It is not that I am ashamed of my faith.  Not at all.  I just don't bring it up much.  Unless it's in a casual, "What did you do this weekend?"  "Well, we did this, that, went to church."  That's why, when the second quality Kim listed about me was that I was a Christian, it kind of surprised me.

Kim and I met almost two years ago.  Somehow, somewhere in there, we became good friends.  She certainly knows where I stand in my faith.  But it's not one of our top conversation topics.  So, to me it was an honour that she chose to place "a Christian" that high on the list.  (Also, to her credit, Kim has a gift for reading people, so perhaps that was why it was placed there.)

Peter (one of Jesus' disciples) wrote, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."  I don't know that I would call this my life verse, but it would probably qualify as my "talking about my faith" verse.  There are a few key things in these two sentences.

Prepared

Peter called for preparation.  Not just some hope that, in the time of need, some answer will come floating out of the sky.  This implies study.  No decent lawyer goes into a case without having studied it first.  I think that's the feeling here, except that one never knows when the "trial" might come.  I've been out for drinks with fellow university students on more than one occasion when the topic of creation vs. evolution has come up.  I have listened to their opinions and shared my own.  I am currently reading "The Case for a Creator" largely to be sure that I have an answer.  Also because I am constantly questioning my own beliefs and their validity (not in a doubting sense, but in a sharpening one), and I want to know where the evidence lies.

It is important for me to know what the Bible actually says.  Like any other work, people - Christians and non-Christians alike - seem to regularly take things out of context to prove a point or to justify an action.  Drives me crazy.

I also need to know what I believe.  This goes together with my questioning of my beliefs.  I question them so that when someone else asks, I know what I believe.  Our conversation may cause me to re-evaluate something, but I need to know where I stand now.  At this moment.  I need to know why I believe it.  Not just because someone told me that once in Sunday School.  It has to go deeper than that.

Gentleness and Respect

So many times, these two get left out of the equation.  I think that when most Christians share their faith, it is done with gentleness and respect, but it's not those people that get talked about.  It's the obstinate, belligerent, rude people.  Those who really don't want to listen to anyone but themselves. 

It certainly goes both ways.  I have been in conversations with people who don't share my beliefs who state outright that anyone who believes that the Earth was created is stupid and uninformed.  Richard Dawkins has referred to them (us) as historydeniers in his latest book "The Greatest Show on Earth," a book I do hope to get around to reading someday, even though I find him completely offensive and disrespectful.  I don't really want to read his book - he completely turns me off with his arrogance - but, again, I want to be prepared.  In the same way, no one is going to want to listen to me if I will not display respect for them.

Clear Conscience

This is where the deeds come in.  I know I certainly haven't always lived, in the past or in the present, in a way that lines up with what I believe.  But that is my goal.  To make choices that don't make me a hypocrite.  That give my words about the Gospel, when I speak them, credence.  Here is where the struggle lies, and I think perhaps that here is where the heart of the St. Francis quote lies as well.  Paul wrote a letter to the Colossians, saying, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."  It's a tall order, but a worthy goal.