Posted on 08/03/2013 7:10:24 AM PDT by ReformationFan
Christianity is not just about being happy and feeling good and being liked by others
What’s at the root of this movement to back away from moral issues? Here’s what I think is the problem. When you advocate for moral causes like protecting the unborn, or school choice, or freeing the slaves, a bunch of people are not going to like you. Christians in the time of Jesus knew that being bold about their Christian convictions would make a lot of people think bad things about them – they expected it. But young evangelicals have gotten the idea that being a Christian should not involve any sort of unhappiness and unpopularity. They wouldn’t have learned this from the Bible, because the Bible emphasizes suffering and unpopularity as part of the normal Christian life. It is their experience of church (and the hedonistic culture around them) that is likely to reinforce that view.
What young evangelicals learn in many churches is that religion is something that is centered on the Bible and the church building – it is not something that flows into real life. They learn that you can’t find out anything about God from the Big Bang, the DNA, the fossil record, or even from the peer-reviewed research on abortion, divorce, or gay marriage. They learn from the Bible that helping the poor is good, but then they never pick up an economic textbook to see which economic system really helps the poor. What you learn about in church is that religion is private and has no connection to reality whatsoever. This fits in with their view that Christianity should make them happy, because they’ve learned that it doesn’t involve any studying to connect the Bible to the real world.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaquilareport.com ...
Actually, I see young people in our church who have a lifestyle of sacrificing for others. They impress this sexagenarian a lot.
Yes. If you won’t stand for something you will fall for anything.
I wish more people realized that the only thing that matters in the end is the state of our souls and the souls of our children. We are rearing children for Glory. We don’t always succeed but that does not excuse us from remembering the eternal.
Lack of solid doctrine.
Why single out Evangelicals? The majority of folks in this country who claim to be Christian do the same.
Now that is pure Alynsky in response to a comment that didn't "make it personal" but that Alynsky didn't want to answer. Accuse your opponent of what you yourself are doing.
Interesting.
This is a personal question directed at **me** about **my** taxes. I call that “making it personal”.
This an Alinsky debating technique often used to discredit ( as a hypocrite) the messenger of a true statement in attempt to discredit, hide, or distort the true message.
Impersonal Truth: In many counties even some entire states, if conservatives and Christians simply removed their children, the entire system of godless government owned and run socialist-entitlement schooling would utterly and completely collapse!
Opinion: I doubt that God is pleased that innocent children are being forced into government institutions where they are forced to think and reason godlessly. (These children must just to cooperate in the godless classroom. )I would expect that He is especially displeased with Christians and conservatives who do this to their children since Christians and conservatives should know better.
Opinion: Christian children who attend godless schools will learn to think and reason godlessly. They must just to cooperate with the indoctrination ( oops! “instruction”) In my opinion this is a MAJOR reason young adults are capable of “compartmentalizing” their faith. The major point of the article.
Thanks, I will.
I had a debate with someone about whether people who were anti-abortion were anti-sex. When I say debate, I mean I said things and gave evidence and he acted like a baby. The closest he came to actually making an argument or point is, “Using abortion data from 50 years ago, preposterous.” After I finished with him, someone else entered and said things that made it clear all (s)he wanted to do was to have lots of sex and complained that her school did not teach sex ed properly.
“Because what is important to them is how mega their church is and the operating hours of the Starbucks in its basement.”
In all fairness I have seen this.
Asking about **my****personal** taxes is making it personal.
Since you refuse to see this, I see no point in continuing the discussion with you.
I’m not discrediting your ideas; in fact, I clearly wrote that I agree with you. I’m simply pointing out, and I’ll only type this one more time, that sitting in front of a computer screen spouting off about defunding the beast is much different than actually defunding the beast. If you go back and read my posts you will see this. Other than that, have a beer or two and relax. You are wound way too tight.
I see. Jesus Christ is one thing, but since this involves your money it rises to the level of major biggie.
Who says it’s confined to just young *Evangelicals*?
It’s a symptom of a much bigger problem in society as a whole
Exactly.
It’s the way they were raised.
I remember when I was in college my roommate (a Christian) was being given a bachelor party. When they (other Christians) started showing a X-rated video I walked out. They later apologized to me, but it wasn't to me they should have apologized to.
I'm not suggesting that we become hermits. We should just ask ourselves why do we want to be identified with this world?
bump
It’s always been a problem for Christians of all ages.
Very good question. How does one be in the world but not of it? I freely admit I struggle with this as well. Some of us are old enough to remember a time where our culture at least paid lip service to Christianity and we had what Francis Schaeffer said was a “Christian consensus” even if many folks in the society were not individually Christian and would not claim to be so. As our cultural consensus seems to be shifting ever more and more to a secular and hostile to Christianity consensus, the “mushy middle” that many of us could live in is rapidly disappearing.
That's a good question for which I don't think there is an easy answer. We can only look internally and honestly judge for ourselves what needs to be improved.
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