23 January, 2012 in Church, Personal by Aonghas

What Christianity Means to Me

Christianity to Me

Recently I’ve started a bible study course called ‘Experiencing God’ by Henry Blackaby with a few others from my youth group at church. The study involves daily devotion five times per week and a group session where we meet up and share what we’ve learnt as well as watch a sermon-like presentation on a DVD. The course has made me think about my relationship with God, and I’m continuing to learn more as we go. Since several people have asked me about Christianity in the past, I thought I’d share a little bit about how I got to be where I am in my faith today.

Before I get into my thoughts on Christianity, I must warn you beforehand that these are purely opinions of my own and I am not trying to offend anyone in the process! In the past I’ve always felt a little iffy talking about religion with people, especially with those who I haven’t known for long. A lot of people have preconceptions about Christianity and I think many of them are misunderstandings. Unlike some other Christians (often “Christians” are stereotyped as being those people who change every conversation into a conversation about religion and people think their only purpose in life is to convert as many people to Christianity as possible), I don’t believe in forcing my beliefs on any other person in any way. My philosophy, and I think the attitude that Christians generally live by, is that I should live my life in accordance to God’s will and always remember the fruit of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (you can read about them in Galatians chapter 5 if you want ). I think that if I can show other people those qualities in myself, they will see the difference in me and, in essence, God’s character. It’s that difference that I believe leads people to want to know more about God. Simply telling people about God and Christianity has little effect; showing people how I behave differently through my actions will trigger those curiosities. That’s when sharing my faith with others becomes worthwhile because I know their interests are genuine. Okay that was a long disclaimer.

So here we go. My thoughts on religion, and namely Christianity (which many Christians believe is more a relationship rather than a “religion” per se). I’ve taken the liberty of breaking my little rant into a few sections so that I don’t lose track of where I am, since I have a tendency to do so…

The simple idea that a God exists is key to any religious belief system and I think once you make that realisation many other things make more sense. I cannot understand how anyone can deny creation. No matter how you look at it, nothing can be created from nothing. There had to be a higher order or an existence of a supernatural being behind the origin of the universe. So then if we can conclude that God exists, the next question is what religion to believe. One of my friends once told me that he took different things from different religions based on what he liked. The problem with this kind of ideology is that because religions contradict each other, you cannot really believe in one religion and another one at the same time. Truth is absolute, so if Christianity is true, all other religions are effectively invalidated. I know that sounds harsh, but that’s ultimately what it comes down to.

Now I guess you’re wondering what makes Christianity the ultimate truth for me? I guess there are many aspects of Christianity that are unique from the other religions. One of the main reasons Christianity stands out for me is that Jesus provides the link between man’s shortcomings and eternal life. No matter how hard we try, we cannot rid ourselves of sin. That’s why Jesus came to die on the cross for us. There’s a whole background behind that story in the old testament of the Bible, but the whole Jesus dying on the cross story is pretty much the cornerstone of Christian belief and I probably shouldn’t go into too much depth here because it opens up a whole new topic of theology and we can save that for another day. I haven’t really said too much about Christianity itself, but if you’re interested I really encourage you to have a look at this website called www.faithfacts.org because it has a lot of interesting information and it will answer any of your questions a lot better than I can! I think it’s important that you compare the different religions out there. To me the choice was pretty obvious.

When I have shared my faith with friends in the past, they have usually been interested in hearing my story, but they haven’t yet made that decision themselves. One comment I got once was “the difference between you and me is that I’ve never let myself go”. I think I kind of understand what she meant, in that she was afraid to take that leap of faith because she still wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. Maybe she felt like she didn’t know enough to make an informed decision yet, or perhaps she was worried about trusting in something that seems intangible. I think it’s normal for people to feel like that (I think I did too at first). Like, you cannot see God so how should you be able to rely on Him? That’s a fair question to have. For me personally, I wouldn’t say I have “let myself go”. Instead I like to think I have made a conscious decision to “grab on” to God to become more stable. It’s interesting to hear from some friends that they felt that “throwing yourself out there and believing in everything” would make them feel vulnerable and insecure, whereas I can only imagine vulnerability and insecurity in a life without God. This reminds me about another conversation I had with a friend where we were talking about what we value the most. My friend said the thing we value the most is our greatest weakness. I value God/Jesus Christ the most in life, but what if He was taken away from me? How would I cope? Well, the simple answer to that question is that it’s impossible for that to happen. God is the constant in my life and I know that He will be there always. I’m reminded by a Bible verse we learnt years ago in Sunday School class. In Deuteronomy 31:6 Moses said to Israel, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” And that verse is so true. God is with me wherever I go and will never leave.

My illustration of how we are connected with God

When I was talking to a friend a while ago, she was telling me how she relied on her family and her friends to get her through the tough times. I told her how I relied on God first and foremost and used an analogy of a baby mobile hanging over a crib to describe my situation. Basically God is the backbone (or the hanging bar on the mobile) and I am one of the hanging objects. Although I can interact with others (the other hanging objects) and have relationships with them, everyone goes through difficulties and can fall if they’re not careful. If I was to completely rely on another person and he or she fell down, I would not have anything else to support me and I would also fall. However, having God is like wearing a harness (which can also be thought of as Jesus, who took away our sins and bridged us directly to God). It’s that safety that keeps me afloat and also provides support for others around me. Ideally in future, my whole family will be attached with their own harnesses, and together we’ll stay strong together under God’s care and provision.

Since becoming a Christian, I feel like my life has changed. Pretty dramatically actually. I used to wonder what the purpose was in life. I think many people in the world spend their whole lives trying to discover the answer to that question and end up going round and round in circles. Believing in life after death (which is in heaven) adds a whole dimension to the way I think and how I approach my everyday life. I’m not scared about death anymore. Money and financial wealth isn’t everything. I thank God for everything good that happens, and I’m storing my treasures in heaven rather than on earth. Why satisfy myself with worldly temptations just to enjoy my short time of earth and sacrifice an eternity of paradise after I die? That’s not to say you cannot enjoy an enriched and fulfilling life as a Christian. I remember a Bible teacher at primary school telling me how she always prayed for a car park when she went to Bible College and God would always provide her with one even when it was really busy. I’ve never forgotten that story, and only recently have I realised that behind the scenes, God has REALLY provided for me over the years. I know this might sound cheesy or lame or whatever, but I honestly feel like I can always turn to God for anything at all and I know He’ll be there for me. It truly amazes me how many things happen by “coincidence” to the point that I cannot put it down to chance anymore. Some call it fate; I call it God working in my life.

So there you have it. I don’t think that was fully comprehensive but it’s a start at least. If you’re not a Christian yet but you’ve considered God or wondered what your purpose is in live, I strongly encourage you to have a look into Christianity. Find a Christian friend or ask me if you have any questions. I don’t have the all the answers but I’d be happy to help by sharing what is true to me and what can be true for you as well. I know this topic can be a sensitive area sometimes. I just wanted to be open about it because it’s a pretty important part of my life and I wanted to share it with you.

4 January, 2012 in Personal, Thoughts and Reflections by Aonghas

2012 Has Arrived!

Happy New Year everyone. Yeah woops this post is about 3 days overdue now but the partying has just finished… no I lie, I’ve been working at Cotton On for the last 2 days because I’ve been appointed acting manager while our company tries to find a replacement. Over the last few weeks I’ve learnt several things about managing people and dealing with others. The Christmas period was hectic as predicted, and I was given extra responsibility to lead my co-workers at Cotton On. It’s definitely a change from working by myself normally on Sunday afternoons. I’ve thought a lot about this coming year as well and it’s going to be an important one. My final year of my degree (if all goes well), as well as new responsibilities and my first proper year of “adulthood” – it won’t be easy but I’m excited to see how it will unfold.

I just thought I’d start the year fresh with a blog post but it’s not very long! My deeper thoughts about this year will come out in a later post perhaps