Reason behind reluctance

[Olivia]

Hey Guys!

Well, I was having a good ol' chat to my mate Ben the other night on Facebook chat. Seeing as it was like, midnight, we were feeling particularly philosophical. As you do at midnight. Anyway, we were discussing some points on Christianity as a whole.

One thing that's really got my mind working these past couple of days is why are people so reluctant to listen to people who are trying to spread the word about God? When you really think about it, it's quite interesting to unpack.

One of the things we touched on is, maybe people see Christianity as more of a cult than a religion? Or they grew up in a background that didn't support the idea? Or maybe the idea of God is just too big for them to unpack...

Anyone have any ideas or opinions to put forward? I think it'd be cool to unpack this. It's something that's generally known, but not actually thought about, if you know what I mean...well, I haven't anyway.

[Courtney]

Interesting perspective there.
When you say "people see Christianity as more of a cult than a religion" do you mean people as in people who arent christian?

Have you considered their view as any christian who talks to a non christian about christianity may be seen as a bible basher?
Have you seen K Road and Queen Street at night where christians stand out on the side of the road holding crosses the size of their body up in the air yelling at the top of their lungs about christianity..

what affects do you think thatd have on the general view of christianity?
as for other christians.. maybe theyre reluctant to share their faith because theyre afraid to be judged publically and afraid to lose their friends over different views of religion.

so is it better to show them through your actions that your christian or to talk about it from the start? what do you think?

[gavin]

Satan might just might have something to do it with it...

[Olivia]

Mmm, well it'd be no surprise that Satan would be fighting to keep people from God, that's for sure!!

And yes Courtney, I mean people who aren't Christians. And I reckon that all would send a message of doubt to non christians, definitely. We may seem over-obsessed perhaps to them, and maybe a little crazy...I know my OLDER sister (not Laura) thinks that i've been brainwashed by the church, and maybe that's a view that a lot of people have.

In my opinion, I think I would show them through my actions first. That way, they're not feeling any pressure to be influenced by me immediately and feel uncomfortable because i'm talking to them. Maybe in this case actions speak louder than words? And if they want to talk about it, they can ask me. One only has to see me to see how i've changed since i've accepted Christ in my life. Perhaps that'd get the person in question thinking??? I dunno. Just a throw in the dark here.

Oh yes, and an afterthought: my sister Laura said she doesn't like it when people try to "push" religion on people. What do you think we may do to "push" religion on people? And how do you think we can approach this in a way that we don't make others extremely uncomfortable and run away screaming? Would be interesting to hear some viewpoints