So last night I had Young Adults, which is simply a small group for college aged students. We all meet together and mostly hang out and talk for some time and then we'll have short discussion on either theology, doctrine, faith, etc. Anything along those lines.
To open up the discussion, our leader, Cody Winkler, who is currently the youth pastor at my home church, but will be moving back to Lubbock, TX this summer with the rest of his family, asked us the question, "What is your favorite part about Christianity?"
And the ever awkward moment of silence filled the atmosphere. Cody finally asked specific people the question: "Julian, what's your favorite part about Christianity?" Julian pauses for a moment, and then replys with (and I'll paraphrase to the best of my ability), "Prayer. Just the idea that we can have open communication with God, which in turn, allows us to have a relationship with him." Good answer.
"Jordan, what's your favorite part about Christianity?" I just stared back, blankly, at a loss for words..."We'll come back to you," Cody said.
"Grant, what's your favorite part about Christianity?" I, for some reason, forget Grant's answer, but it was also a good one, I think.
Back to me..."Jordan, what's your favorite part about Christianity?" Again, I'm at a loss for words. I sat there and thought, trying to figure out what to say. The reason I had such a hard time answering the question is, 1) because it forced me to think of something, to exclude all other attributes about Christianity, and to have a bias towards Christianity, favoring some things over others, and 2) I didn't want to give a generic answer. I told Cody and the rest of the group, "I don't really know. I'm at a loss for words..." Another awkward moment of silence, making me feel inferior and pressured.
Finally, my sister, Lindsay, broke the silence by saying (again, my paraphrase), "I think it's really hard to name one favorite thing about Christianity because the wonderful thing about it is that every single component works together." It's like she read my mind.
Cody, who apparently likes to throw us into corners, asks, "Well, what are those components?" We all nervously laughed, not knowing what to say. It's just one of those questions that's the easiest, but at the same time, the hardest question to answer. We all knew that the question went beyond the surface. Cody wanted a specific answer.
"I want to do a survey with 1000-5000 people," Cody said, "asking this question, expecting people to give answers like grace, hope, joy, etc." Cody then began to tell us how these answers all benefit us as Christians. They're all selfish answers. Now, we should all long for grace, hope, and joy because God offers them to us freely for our benefit. There's nothing wrong with these answers. But why should we play favorites? What makes hope better than joy? Well, nothing. It's like what Lindsay said. Everything about Christianity works together, which is why it's so wonderful. There is no one thing that overrides everything else.
Acts 1:8 says, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jersualem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
You see, most people stop at "you will recieve power when the Holy Spirit comes on you..." and tune out the second half of the verse. People think, "Well I just need more power from God," "I just need to be filled with the Holy Spirit." Christianity is more than just recieving. I think the layout of Acts 1:8 is in perfect alignment with God's plan for us. We can't be God's witnesses unless we recieve power from the Holy Spirit, but we shouldn't be content after recieving any power and overlook the second half of the verse. The power of the Holy Spirit is for our benefit, so that, in turn, we can be used for God's benefit. I loved it when Cody said, "There are reservations in heaven, but there are no limits to who can be invited." We are God's witnesses. It's one thing to "walk the walk" and people do take notice to how we live our lives. And living a good, strong, Christian life does have an impact. But why stop there? Let's walk and talk.
I love Christianity not only because of what it offers me, freely giving me grace, hope, salvation, joy, purpose, you fill in the blank, but because after recieving all these free gifts, I am able to return the favor to God, devoting my life to him, living unselfishly, being his witness to the ends of the earth.
So...what's your favorite part about Christianity?
I've been thinking a bit lately about that idea of receiving from God so that we can turn it around and give to others. In my family group at camp last week, we talked about how as Christians, we're like the moon, which receives light from the sun and reflect it back to earth. So everything we receive from God should be reflected to the world. 2 Cor. 1:3-7 is a cool passage about it.
ReplyDeleteAnd my favorite thing about Christianity is all the pretty Christian girls.
Ya, too bad I can't say the same thing about Christian guys.
ReplyDelete