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Stop Talking About Grace

By Jeremy Myers
6 Comments

Stop Talking About Grace

living graceI had a discussion today with a guy that most Christians love to hate. This man used to be a Christian, but rejected it all about twenty years ago, and now lives as a pot-smoking, cursing, swinging spiritist.

Yet as I talked to him, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the conversation… more than any theological or biblical conversation I have had in the last several years. It was one of the most refreshing and eye-opening discussions I have ever had.

It wasn’t refreshing and eye-opening because of anything I learned from him, but because it gave me a new appreciation into how many Christians treat non-Christians, compared to how many non-Christians treat Christians in return.

He told me about some of the criticism he gets from Christians, and how he just tries to respond with kindness and love. Isn’t it strange that many Christians, who are supposed to be known for our love, really only have love for each other, whereas everyone outside our “group” gets condemned and criticized for their beliefs and behavior?

I have noticed this sort of behavior on many fronts.

I have noticed this not just in my interactions with people at work and with my neighbors, but also online and in movies. As an example, did you see the movie God’s Not Dead? In it, a Christian university student is challenged by an atheist professor to defend his evangelical beliefs.

I found it strange that in the movie, the meanest and rudest people were the atheists. Also, the “token” Muslim family had a father who beat his daughter.

This is the sort of way Christians often portray non-Christians to one-another, which only goes to show that many Christians have absolutely no idea what most atheists and Muslims are like.

The people that Christians most loudly denounce are often some of the most gracious people to be around.

Doesn’t that seem strange?

Those of us who are saved by grace, teach grace, write about grace, proclaim grace, and have “grace” in the names of our churches and ministries, are some of the least gracious people that exist.

Which got me thinking… just like the preacher pounds the pulpit during his weakest points,ย maybe those who talk loudest about grace are trying to compensate for a lifestyle that lacks grace.

live out graceMaybe those of us who talk and write a lot about grace should follow the example of non-believers (and Jesus) and start living grace before we ever start to talk about grace with others.

Besides, living out grace is a better way to teach grace any day.

God is z Bible & Theology Topics: atheists, Discipleship, evangelism, grace, Muslims, Theology of Salvation

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Jerks for Jesus

By Jeremy Myers
10 Comments

Jerks for Jesus

When I was a pastor, I wish I’d had the courage to walk across the street.

Oh sure, I walked across it every day back and forth to the church parsonage. But a bit further down the road was an atheist who had never set foot in our church, and probably never would. I wish I had gone over there and asked him out for lunch. It’s one of the great regrets of my years as a pastor. I thought about it every week, but I never had the courage.

Jim and Caspar Go To ChurchRecently I read Jim and Casper Go to Church. Jim is a Christian who makes a regular habit of befriending atheists. Casper is an atheist. Together, they attend churches and then write about what they heard and experienced.

If you want to know what unbelievers think about you and your church, you should go ask them. But if you want to read about it instead (since it’s so much safer and easier), you can be like me and just read Jim and Casper’s book, and others like it (e.g., They Like Jesus but Not the Church by Dan Kimball).

Jerks for JesusJim has a ministry called Off the Map devoted to helping “Christians learn to communicate better with non-Christians, or as some of my more outspoken ‘lost’ friends prefer to put it, Off the Map helps Christians learn how to not be jerks” (p. xxii). It’s true. We can be real jerks. I’m sure it makes Jesus proud.

Anyway, here are a few quotes from Jim with comments by me:

Humanity is divided into two groups: (1) people who follow Jesus, and (2) everybody else. It doesn’t matter to me whether you call yourself a Christian, a Buddhist, a humanist, an agnostic, or an atheist. If you aren’t following Jesus, you’re in group two (p. xxiv).

I could be wrong, but I don’t think he means that there can be Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists who follow Jesus. Sure, some may claim to follow the teachings of Jesus, but they would have to reject some of them.

Just like many of us Christians do as well.

And that’s his point. Just because you call yourself a Christian doesn’t mean you are following Jesus. I wholeheartedly agree with that. He goes on to say that “some professed Christians are not actually following Jesus but are instead following religion” (p. xxv). So true. I’m one such person in many ways.

He goes on to say that authors of a generation ago (and even many today):

…Provided Christians a way to defend the faith-the expectation being that if we provide a biblical response to the arguments of atheists of doubters and essentially prove them wrong, they will be forced to admit the error of their ways and join us. (Short of that, we will at least experience the pleasure of intellectually humiliating them.) (p. xxxii).

I’ve been in “witnessing” encounters like this. The only results that I could discern were increased blood pressure, as evidenced by red faces and bulging neck veins. Jim says, “Ordinary Christians like me know that when you start defending the faith, you also start losing your friends” (p. xxxiii).

The solution, Jim says, is to actually make friends with non-Christians, and live out the teachings of Jesus among them:

Jesus didn’t just teach principles; he taught practices. He gave people something to do. He didn’t just teach them about forgiveness; he told them to forgive their debtors. He didn’t just talk about love as a concept; he told people to love their enemies. He didn’t just tell people to think about changing their behaviors; he told them to repent. Sure it’s challenging, but it doesn’t take a weekend seminary to understand what he means (p. xxxiii).

This is a great book. Get your own copy here: Jim and Casper Go to Church.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: atheists, Books I'm Reading, Discipleship, evangelism, follow Jesus

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Understanding the Unbeliever

By Jeremy Myers
9 Comments

Understanding the Unbeliever

I am convinced that we cannot adequately reach out to this world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless we understand how the unbeliever thinks, what they value, and why they make the decisions they do. Therefore, we must be students of people and culture just as much as students of the Word.

Once we begin to understand some of this, it will change how we organize our churches, how we share the gospel, how we interact with our neighbors, how we do our jobs at work, what we do with our money, and a host of other things.

UnbelieverTo learn about this world we live in, there are a variety of things we can do, but every Christian must be doing something to learn about people we are trying to reach. Though the best way to do this is with developing personal relationships with people, one quick way to learn is through blogs and websites.

I have recently become aware of a blog that is written by people who were once Christians, but have now left it behind. They share their reasons for doing so, and what they think is wrong with Christianity. At times, their insights amaze me. At other times, I am brought to tears.

I am a bit hesitant to share this site, since I have a feeling that some who read my blog will want to go post comments on that blog which which will only bring greater damage to the name of Christ…

But I think that most who read this blog are genuinely interested in understanding how unbelievers (and former believers) view Christ and Christianity.

So here is the site: de-conversion.com. Please, if you go read this site and decide to comment, be gracious, kind, gentle, loving, and patient.

Are there any other blogs you are aware of which helps us understand the way unbelievers think? Let me know in the comments!

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: atheists, Discipleship, evangelism, unbeliever

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