Editorial:
May issue
One of the most emotional church
services I’ve ever been to was at a
church in Swansea of a much more
Pentecostal flavour than I’m used to. I
had to keep my sunglasses on because
tears were streaming down my face,
as the preacher implored us to give
everyone who doesn’t know God
back to God, and assured us over and
over again of God’s total and utter,
unchanging, unending love for them.
Praying for my friends and family
who aren’t Christians moves me to
tears almost every time I do it. When
I was first exploring the idea of God,
one of my biggest reservations was
leaving them behind. I remember
being told not to worry about it, that
they would see the difference God
had made in my life and be attracted
to following Christ themselves.
It hasn’t happened. As the years
go on and they don’t find faith, I get
frustrated with myself – am I not doing
enough? I get frustrated with God –
why aren’t you showing yourself? And
I get frustrated with them as well – why
aren’t you listening? Can’t you see that
your life would be better with God?
Why aren’t you interested?
I get told, and tell people, that
they are in God’s hands, we have to
trust him, there’s nothing I can do
et cetera. I know it’s true, but the
danger is that we then abdicate any
responsibility we have for evangelism and effective engagement. There are
people we all know and love who
don’t know God. But sometimes we
forget to ask them why that is.
It’s against that backdrop that
we’re launching ‘Why I am not
a Christian’, (p23) a sort of antitestimony
page, which will alternate
with ‘Why I am a Christian’,
launched last month.
We need both sides of the story.
For every dramatic conversion, there
are those who die without knowing
God. God has transformed some of
our lives, but not all.
Certainly, this has consequences
for this life, and, depending on where
you stand on the whole Universalism
issue (see Greg Downes’ take on this
on p26), consequences for the next
life as well.
So, over the coming months we will
run interviews with passionate atheists,
angry ex-Christians and thoughtful
agnostics. I hope that thinking about
questions and objections to Christianity
will help you respond to people better,
and ultimately, encourage them to
pursue the life of faith.
But that comes later down the
line. Our first jobs are to listen and to
love, unconditionally, whatever people
believe. For me, editing this column is
going to be an exercise in learning to
listen better, and I’m praying there will
be fruit from it for us all.
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