Questions I Sincerely Want Answered
I don't know if anyone will respond to this blog (via FB or via this blog). I sincerely pray that many do.
I am specifically writing former members of Youth Groups gone by and former members of the church I have been at part of for the last 17 years, why they have changed.
(If you haven't changed, then this isn't for you outside of the same understanding I am hoping for.)
I have watched heartbreakingly over the last 17 years former youth seemingly trade in their faith for Christ for either a liberal understanding of faith or an abandonment of faith altogether. (Truthfully, I don't know where some currently lie.)
For those who have changed to a liberal understanding of faith:
How did you come to your conclusion that the liberal interpretation was the correct one?
Do you still believe in the foundational tenets of faith? (We are fallen in need of a Savior because of our sin, Jesus came and paid the price for that sin on the cross, He lived a sinless, perfect life therefore death had no hold over Him and 3 days later He rose from the grave giving promise of eternal life to all who repent and believe in His finished work on the cross.)
As a liberal believer, how do you view the Word of God?
As a liberal believer, what role does the culture play in producing the will of God?
As a liberal believer, how do you define sin? (Or who gets to define what sin is?)
How does your understanding of faith produce change in those in need of Christ? How do you see the redemptive work of Christ through this liberal framework?
If you no longer call yourself a believer in Christ:
What was the tipping point for you to believe that Christ wasn't who He claimed He was in Scripture?
How has the abandonment of faith changed your outlook on life?
How has your morality changed (or has it changed at all)? In other words, are there any changes to what you consider right and wrong to be, comparing your former Christian life with your current life apart from Christ?
What good things are you a part of now? And how do you define whether something is good or not?
These questions are not meant to start an argument, but a dialogue. I admit that I am not an uninterested party to the answers. I pray often for you and am perplexed by some of the choices you have made concerning your current views versus older views when I knew you better.
Maybe you are seeing something I am not and I want you to have an opportunity to explain how and why things have changed. It is okay for us to have that discussion and even disagreement without being disagreeable, and I pray you will.
This is my olive branch. I pray that the beginning of the discussion will be yours.
I am specifically writing former members of Youth Groups gone by and former members of the church I have been at part of for the last 17 years, why they have changed.
(If you haven't changed, then this isn't for you outside of the same understanding I am hoping for.)
I have watched heartbreakingly over the last 17 years former youth seemingly trade in their faith for Christ for either a liberal understanding of faith or an abandonment of faith altogether. (Truthfully, I don't know where some currently lie.)
For those who have changed to a liberal understanding of faith:
How did you come to your conclusion that the liberal interpretation was the correct one?
Do you still believe in the foundational tenets of faith? (We are fallen in need of a Savior because of our sin, Jesus came and paid the price for that sin on the cross, He lived a sinless, perfect life therefore death had no hold over Him and 3 days later He rose from the grave giving promise of eternal life to all who repent and believe in His finished work on the cross.)
As a liberal believer, how do you view the Word of God?
As a liberal believer, what role does the culture play in producing the will of God?
As a liberal believer, how do you define sin? (Or who gets to define what sin is?)
How does your understanding of faith produce change in those in need of Christ? How do you see the redemptive work of Christ through this liberal framework?
If you no longer call yourself a believer in Christ:
What was the tipping point for you to believe that Christ wasn't who He claimed He was in Scripture?
How has the abandonment of faith changed your outlook on life?
How has your morality changed (or has it changed at all)? In other words, are there any changes to what you consider right and wrong to be, comparing your former Christian life with your current life apart from Christ?
What good things are you a part of now? And how do you define whether something is good or not?
These questions are not meant to start an argument, but a dialogue. I admit that I am not an uninterested party to the answers. I pray often for you and am perplexed by some of the choices you have made concerning your current views versus older views when I knew you better.
Maybe you are seeing something I am not and I want you to have an opportunity to explain how and why things have changed. It is okay for us to have that discussion and even disagreement without being disagreeable, and I pray you will.
This is my olive branch. I pray that the beginning of the discussion will be yours.
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