2/19/15 Ala about 23
A
church brother and I had a wonderful hour-long coffee shop conversation
with Ala', an engineering student from Syria whose family fled to
Turkey during their most recent civil war. Ala' said he is “90% Muslim”
but has had many questions recently and wonders about other religions.
We talked about the difference between being “culturally” Muslim because of his upbringing, and choosing to be spiritually Muslim as a religion. Ala' agreed that he and many of his friends and family were only Muslim as a matter of culture, and I explained that the same thing happens in our churches – many who call themselves “Christian” in this country are really only culturally Christian and really aren’t sure what they believe. This was very helpful later on in our conversation as he confronted many of the inconsistencies one would see in American “churchianity”.
Ala' was truly one of the more sincere seekers I have met, and though he’s had little exposure to Christianity he had quite a list of insightful questions for me, like “Why wouldn’t a good person who is nonetheless an unbeliever go to heaven?” “What is the Trinity?” “Why wouldn’t someone just keep on sinning if they are forgiven?” “Does God need us?” “What was God’s purpose for creation?” “Why do you believe Jesus is the Son of God” “Is it okay to test God?” and – this question really stood out to me – “As someone who has barely heard anything about Jesus, why should I believe in him when some of the people I talk to have heard about him all their lives but have turned to atheism?”
That last question was especially hard to hear, but there is a simple answer. Just like Ala's experience as a cultural Muslim, so many in a predominantly Christian country can grow up as cultural Christians, but when faced with the difficult questions of skeptics, their shallow faith falls apart.
What to do? How can parents who don't want their children to simply "go through the motions" as cultural Christians take steps to ensure a genuine faith in their sons and daughters? Much prayer and a solid church family are key, but so is the ability to ask difficult questions and wrestle with doubts, sooner, rather than later when it may be too late.
A problem with randomly raising difficult questions, however, can be that by asking questions young people aren't yet asking, they create unnecessary doubts that didn't exist before. That's the reason, I believe, some of the Christian catechisms that are written in a question/answer format can be so helpful. The theological concepts are presented in an organized fashion so that more complex questions and ideas first have a solid foundation to build from.
Another valuable place I believe questions can be confronted occur in the context of the questions of unbelievers. Some questions are far more common than others and more likely to be asked of our children. Why not talk about them in advance, not only for our children's faith, but also to give them the tools to answer the questions of others? Ray Comfort's LivingWaters.com videos are a good place to see this question/answer process in action, and have inspired me to do the same on my YouTube channel.
Ala's questions were not just brought up as part of our conversation but were asked independently, like they are part of a list Ala has formed in his thinking. They were obviously important to him and deserve thoughtful answers.
We ended our conversation with Ala' by praying for him – which he welcomed – that God would bless his search for truth and give him the answers to his sincere questions. He has my church and contact info as well – please pray for him, God is clearly at work in his life!
We talked about the difference between being “culturally” Muslim because of his upbringing, and choosing to be spiritually Muslim as a religion. Ala' agreed that he and many of his friends and family were only Muslim as a matter of culture, and I explained that the same thing happens in our churches – many who call themselves “Christian” in this country are really only culturally Christian and really aren’t sure what they believe. This was very helpful later on in our conversation as he confronted many of the inconsistencies one would see in American “churchianity”.
Ala' was truly one of the more sincere seekers I have met, and though he’s had little exposure to Christianity he had quite a list of insightful questions for me, like “Why wouldn’t a good person who is nonetheless an unbeliever go to heaven?” “What is the Trinity?” “Why wouldn’t someone just keep on sinning if they are forgiven?” “Does God need us?” “What was God’s purpose for creation?” “Why do you believe Jesus is the Son of God” “Is it okay to test God?” and – this question really stood out to me – “As someone who has barely heard anything about Jesus, why should I believe in him when some of the people I talk to have heard about him all their lives but have turned to atheism?”
That last question was especially hard to hear, but there is a simple answer. Just like Ala's experience as a cultural Muslim, so many in a predominantly Christian country can grow up as cultural Christians, but when faced with the difficult questions of skeptics, their shallow faith falls apart.
What to do? How can parents who don't want their children to simply "go through the motions" as cultural Christians take steps to ensure a genuine faith in their sons and daughters? Much prayer and a solid church family are key, but so is the ability to ask difficult questions and wrestle with doubts, sooner, rather than later when it may be too late.
A problem with randomly raising difficult questions, however, can be that by asking questions young people aren't yet asking, they create unnecessary doubts that didn't exist before. That's the reason, I believe, some of the Christian catechisms that are written in a question/answer format can be so helpful. The theological concepts are presented in an organized fashion so that more complex questions and ideas first have a solid foundation to build from.
Another valuable place I believe questions can be confronted occur in the context of the questions of unbelievers. Some questions are far more common than others and more likely to be asked of our children. Why not talk about them in advance, not only for our children's faith, but also to give them the tools to answer the questions of others? Ray Comfort's LivingWaters.com videos are a good place to see this question/answer process in action, and have inspired me to do the same on my YouTube channel.
Ala's questions were not just brought up as part of our conversation but were asked independently, like they are part of a list Ala has formed in his thinking. They were obviously important to him and deserve thoughtful answers.
We ended our conversation with Ala' by praying for him – which he welcomed – that God would bless his search for truth and give him the answers to his sincere questions. He has my church and contact info as well – please pray for him, God is clearly at work in his life!
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