“Why am I not a Christian?”
- Is it because I am afraid of ridicule, and of what others may say of me?
- “Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed.”
- Is it because of the inconsistencies of professing Christians?
- “Every man shall give account of himself to God.”
- Is it because I am not willing to give up all for Christ?
- “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”
- Is it because I am afraid that I shall not be accepted?
- “Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.”
- Is it because I fear that I am too great a sinner?
- “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses from all sin.”
- Is it because I am afraid that I shall not “hold out?”
- “He that hath begun a good work in you, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
- Is it because I am thinking that I will do as well as I can, and that God out to be satisfied with that?
- “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
- Is it because I am postponing the matter without any definite reason?
- “Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for you know not what a day may bring forth.”
- Is it because I am trying to save myself by morality, or in any other way of my own?
- “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
- Is it because I do not clearly see the way to be saved?
- “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
--Am. Messenger
From the Presbyterian Magazine, October 1858. Pages 479-480. [Language updated]
3 comments:
Ooh, I really liked this. Thanks for posting it!
You're welcome, Rachel. As soon as I saw it I knew it was something for me to post -- because it's so applicable to those of us who know Christ as well as to those who don't know Him.
For me the issue is at least partially linked to why I am not bolder about sharing the Gospel, or simply standing up and saying "I AM a Christian." By God's grace, though, I believe I'm growing in both those areas!
Yeah, I can relate. I'm getting a little bolder at work, in part because people keep either blasting all christians for various things - and so I feel compelled to gently put my two-cents in - or because people are asking questions - like yesterday, when a guy from India started asking about American churches, and I was the only church-goer in the office.
I'm not a big fan of the "screaming and yelling and wearing christian t-shirts and holding my bible every second" style. I know i need to be better at being bold. But I also hope that people who are around me see something in me that sets me apart. One of my coworkers (who seems to know everything that's going on in terms of the people, at least) has told me that most everyone in the office likes me because I'm "so nice and helpful to everyone." While that's not quite a, "they know you're a christian and think you're maybe on to something," it's a pretty good sign (considering my coworkers).
Again, thanks for posting these. I'm sorry I don't respond to them more often. But I do appreciate them. :-)
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