I was perusing the web this week and noticed a few things that I found a little disturbing and sometimes even a little amusing. The anti-Christian crowd was out in force posting on Facebook and commenting on a few news articles as well. A couple of examples:
A Facebook post:
“Don’t pray in my school and I won’t think in your church”
A tweet about a prominent Pastor:
“@xxx – just read ur bio. u neglect to say ‘robbing people of 10% of their income and 100% of their brain’.”
More from Facebook:
“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.” ~Mark Twain
“It is crazy how many people become millionaires and billionaires through peddling their imaginary friends.”
From an article on Christianity:
“One of the biggest problems Christians have is when they hear something they think sounds wonderful at church or in an apologetics book and make the huge and terrible mistake of not realizing that these arguments are for the choir, not for the outsiders peeking in through the church windows.”
That last comment really hits home. Why do people feel the need to criticize Christianity? Some of them have been hurt in the past by well-meaning Pastors and church members. However, while well-meaning people are some of the trouble, I believe that most of the issue lies with us. 1 Peter 3:15 says “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” I don’t think we’re always ready to give an answer. Why? Because I don’t think a lot of us know the answers. As the poster above so aptly stated, we sit in church on Sundays and listen to a message that most of us agree with, and we aren’t challenged to explain or question any of our beliefs. So we don’t know how. If the preacher didn’t speak about it this month, we don’t know anything about it. If the Pastor doesn’t give us an answer (that we can remember anyway) then we don’t have an answer for it.
As one of my previous posts pointed out, quite a few Christians don’t really know their Bible. Those that do, too often only know enough to sound ignorant – quoting verses out of context, or, even worse, using the Bible to spew hate-filled tirades against unbelievers. Sometimes I think we take the analogy of being sheep too literal. We rely on a “shepherd”, or Pastor, to feed us, not realizing that the shepherd’s job was and is not to feed the sheep. To maintain a large flock, sheep needed to be able to move from pasture to pasture; this required the development of an occupation separate from that of the farmer. The shepherd. The duty of shepherds was to keep their flock intact and protect it from wolves and other predators.
So the job of a shepherd was to protect the sheep and lead them to different pastures where they could eat, but not to feed them. Too often, we rely on a Pastor to feed us, when, in reality, it is his or her job to keep us intact and protect us. We should just be eating in the pasture where they lead us. They may lead us to their backyard – their area of knowledge or expertise. They may lead us to topics, or to specific verses in the Bible. It is then up to us to feed from those topics, those verses, or those areas of biblical knowledge. It is up to us to “study to show ourselves approved to God”. The Bible says that those who seek God diligently will find Him. If I told you that there was a million dollars buried in a certain field, would you dig a hole and then give up searching if you didn’t find it in that hole? I don’t think so. You would dig another, then another until every inch of that field was dug, or until you found the money.
You see, too often, we dig one hole in searching for God’s truth. We go to church and listen to the Pastor expecting him to deliver the truth to us instead of searching for it diligently. Sometimes we find some truth in the Pastor’s weekly or bi-weekly message and that suffices us. I would say that would be like digging a hole and finding $100 and quitting because it was enough.
The Bible says that “iron sharpens iron”, yet too often we are trying to sharpen iron with wood. The reason iron sharpens iron is because as the two pieces of hard and unrelenting metal strike against each other, a little of each is shaved away in the process. Eventually, the edges become sharp. What happens when you strike iron against wood? It simply chisels away at the wood, never affecting the iron. So how do we sharpen ourselves? By striking against something as hard as we are. By challenging our way of thinking. By discussing things that make us defend our faith.
I think we have to become real sheep, not domesticated zoo animals that have to be hand-fed by a zookeeper. We need to become sheep that are discerning even in our own shepherd’s field. Do you believe everything that your Pastor preaches? Why or why not? My Pastor tells us to challenge him. To prove his teachings by comparing what he teaches with the Bible. Don’t believe everything he says simply because he says it. While that sounds nearly blasphemous to some, it is healthy Christianity. You need to know why you believe what you believe, and the answer cannot be “because my Pastor said so”. That will not win unbelievers to the kingdom. Just re-read the posts above to see that I’m telling you the truth.
I challenge you to challenge yourself. Challenge your thought process. When taking notes during your Pastor’s message, make note of anything he says that you think needs verification. Then verify it later. Look up scriptures he references, then read them in context to make sure that what he says is what God intended. Get involved in a small group in your church. I personally think that this is the best way to sharpen yourself. It gives you an opportunity to discuss your beliefs with others who believe the same way you do, but who may approach those beliefs differently. It also offers the occasional opportunity to face a thought or an idea with which you do not believe. That provides you an opportunity to sharpen yourself by having to defend your beliefs, but not face hostility.
So what are you? A sheep, or a domesticated pet? Do you require hand-feeding, or will you feed yourself where your shepherd leads you? It really comes down to this: Are you always ready to give an answer to anyone who asks what you believe? Could you defend your faith to someone who believes differently than you do? Not just argue a point, but convince them through the skillful use of the Word of God? And use it correctly? This is our mandate from Christ. Sharpen yourself and become the sheep you were meant to be!