September 21, 2011

  • How Do You Handle Dissenters?

    September 12, 2011

    I had been reading quite a few blogs on Xanga.  There seems to be an endless debate between the Christians and the atheists.  While reading these debates, I could not help, but to wonder why each side needed to prove its point and win.  While I am the first to admit that I acted this way in the past and need affirmation for what I believed, I no longer need it or seek it insofar as I am in Christ Jesus.  Jesus Christ is now my identity - He is the one who affirms, provides, and takes care of me.  It does not matter to me if I proved a point or not as long as I love and care for others in the way that He does.  Of course, I still tell others the truth, sometimes not in the most loving way, but I do not engage in endless debates with them to prove that I am right.  I already know that I am right because the Truth Himself is my guide.

    After spending some time here, I started to bump into dissenters of my faith.  They present the secular world view and other world views contrary to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to me all over Xanga.  It does not really bother me much - my Savior dealt with a similar situation when He was on earth before the forgiveness of sins is available to mankind through His sacrifice on the cross and resurrection on the third day.  As I bump into these dissenters, I come closer to the love of Christ, feeling what He felt, and experiencing what He experienced.  While I understand that some Christians do not believe that suffering brings a Christian closer to Christ, I live by it.  It is through the refining fire that we are purified and brought closer to God.  And, I practice this by giving up my right to be right and merely putting the truth out there for others to read.  I am not responsible for their response to the truth, but I, as a disciple of Christ, am responsible for preaching the gospel to the nations.

    How do you handle dissenters of your faith?

    Copyright 2011 by Christenstein

Comments (6)

  • " through the refining fire that we are purified and brought closer to God.  And, I practice this by giving up my right to be right and merely putting the truth out there for others to read.  I am not responsible for their response to the truth, but I, as a disciple of Christ, am responsible for preaching the gospel to the nations."

    Amen. You said this well. What you do is what I try to do too.

  • As for me there's only one God, regardless whatever names and nicknames human called Him.  He is only one.  He is the only one God.  And I think debating about whose God is more powerful, or which religion is more completed is kind of fruitless.  With religion or no religion is a person privacy, it should be between him/her and the God.  

  • On my Xanga site, I allow people to disagree with me and other commenters, as long as they are civil. Once they get insulting I  ask them to stop. If they apoligize, then we move on. If they react in a hostile manner and continue to be insulting then I block them. Once I block them, it is usually forever, unless they e-mail me and promise to behave.

    As for continue to argue to prove a point. I do so, simply to keep conversation going. There is a guy in my church, who was converted, by a fellow scientist who was able to argue with him, at his level, and make me see that he was wrong. He has now been a christian, for at least a decade or more. So yes, I argue, because believe it or not, a good arguement or debate can convert someone. 

  • Did Jesus or Saint Paul need to prove they were right? Yet they spent a huge part of their ministries engaged in discussions.

    It's not a matter of proving one's self right. It's a matter of spreading the Word.

    If Christians leave the field, the atheists win by default.

  • @LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - Exactly.  It is not about me proving myself right, but proving Christ right as Saint Paul says that we should be preaching Christ and Him crucified.  Here is what I wrote.

    And, I practice this by giving up my right to be right and merely putting the truth out there for others to read.
    So, if they are going to lie to me continuously, most of the time, they will get a blast of Truth over and over again, which means it is not an argument or discussion, but just statements of facts made.  That's the subtlety that you caught onto.  Thanks for your comments.  

    @ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake - He has now been a christian, for at least a decade or more. So yes, I argue, because believe it or not, a good argu[]ment or debate can convert someone. 

    A good discussion of truth lead by Christ and the Holy Spirit can definitely convert someone - continue evangelizing.  Here, you state, "believe it or not" which gives me the impression that you may have misread the post.  In the end, I am saying similar things to what you say.  In fact, I was converted as a result of discussion in a forum, which an evangelist pumped truth to my rebuttals.  What I was trying to get at is to not to argue for arguments sake, but to preach for Christ's sake for it is Christ and Him crucified that we should be preaching.

  • @LoBornlytesThoughtPalace - @ProudToBeAChristianFruitcake - The footprints shows that someone went to a past blog post I made about the same topic.  Hope you find this helpful.  Enjoy!  http://www.christenstein.com/732446751/do-not-quarrel-about-disputable-matters-opinions/

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