responses to why I wouldn't be a Christian 1

Let’s look at some possible responses to reasons I have raised as to why some people might not be Christian.

• Faith in Jesus is a relationship more than a worldview. Personally, I don’t spend as much time dealing with core teachings of the Christian faith and figuring out how to filter my “thoughts, words, and deeds” through those teachings, as I do simply connecting to Jesus through prayer, reading the Bible, and thinking about him, and responding out of that relationship.If someone doesn’t have a relationship with Jesus like this, you don’t get motivated simply by the teachings. Jesus offers the means to come to him, but you have to be open to seeking him. It is like playing a computer game and needing certain keys to get to the next level. To get to the level of faith there is the primary key of openness to discovering Jesus. There is no shortcut. There is no “cheat codes” book you can use.

This can seem a classic “Catch 22” situation. Once you start living a relationship with Jesus, he has the opportunity to guide you and influence you. Yet, if you don’t start “checking him out,” you won’t be open to that influence in the first place.

This is why it is difficult to explain what Jesus means to me, as in some real sense you have to know him, too, to know why I think and feel the way I do about him. A person needs an openness to experience the presence of Jesus in the first place. If you give him any tiny crack in your resistance to a relationship with him, he will move in and begin to more and more hang out with you.

John 14:23 (NLT)  
    Jesus replied, "All those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and live with them.

Respect any one teaching of Jesus and consciously attempt to live it out in your life for a set period of time. If you authentically honor him in this way, you will learn to love him and want what he wants. Try it for a day, a week, a month.

An example:

• I will not get angry. I will give everyone wide boundaries of grace. When I feel anger at another person coming, I will figure he/she is having a bad day. I will consider what must be happening in his/her life to bring about the behavior that is influencing my anger. I will pray for him/her instead of fuming. I will quietly choose to not allow myself to be drawn in to an angry response.