The Everyday Club

9/4/11 Sherman, about 35
People who pay attention only to arguments against God and Christianity, like the conspiracy theories they hear on certain TV channels, often use these "intellectual" arguments as a sort of smokescreen to cover up their real reasons for disbelief and sin. This was the case with Sherman, an Asian-American whom I talked with while watching a basketball game at the park this morning. Sherman tried to discredit the Bible and religion in general with a variety of accusations - and I responded to a few of them, but in the end his rejection of faith in Christ was more personal than intellectual in nature. His grandmother had practiced ancestral worship in China all her life until she was in her 70's when she became a Christian. She was so excited that all she could do was talk about Jesus to the point that his mother told him that she felt like she didn't know her any more. Sherman also has a few Christian friends who are trying to get him to go to church, but his biggest complaint about Christianity is that he doesn't want to lose his own personality, which is what he feels happened to his Grandmother and is happening to his friends. I asked him if he has any grasp of the dire consequences of his sin - that he will be held accountable before God one day. My hope is he will realize that losing his personality - and the ability to make and break his own standards rather than conforming to God's - will be the least of his worries when he faces eternity.