2. Christianity?

One major problem I have been thinking about is legalism in the church. Guys, we spend so much time telling each other how to worship, how not to worship, what and what not to say, what not to drink, what not to wear. Its the very thing Jesus spent his entire ministry fighting against. read through the gospels. Its seems as if at every turn, Jesus was dealing with the Pharisees and their concern over religious rules. If your brother in Christ is in sin according to the Bible, by all means, confront him about it. However, if the Bible does not convict it, its none of your business. I overheard a guy on the quad talking about how one of his friends did not have a strong relationship with Christ because he did not lift his hands during praise and worship or ever go to the alter at church. ????? what ????? Don't remember the Bible saying that if you don't go to the alter, you are not a strong Christian. This is a result of legalistic teaching either in a youth group or in a church., and its dividing Christianity into faction-like groups. We are supposed to be a family guys, a single body.

Another thing really upsets me. Yesterday before Bible class here at MC, I overheard a girl saying to her friend " Why do we need to know anything about Biblical History, or archaeology, or any of that 'technichal' stuff? All we need to know is how our personal relationship with Jesus is." I wantedto puke. This is exactly why the world looks at Christianity as big, pompous idiots who preach their belief but can never back it up. So many people make the mistake of thinking their personal relationship and being good are the only parts of Christianity. No! Matthew 28:19-20 clearly tells us to go and make disciples. In the world we live in, we no longer can tell people that Jesus loves them, and hurray, they will believe. We live in a world that wants information, we want to be able to understand something. Technology allows us to do so, we have instant knowledge at our hands (instant communication), and instant communication (phones). As Christians we need to know our faith, need to be able to prove its real, rather than to just say its true "because the bible says it is." There is a plethora of historical and scientific knowledge proving the truth of the Bible and of Christian claims. Why not learn it? I recently watched a fox news video of an atheist debating with a reknowned Christian pastor. The Islam leader said "Prove to me scientifically or historically that your religion is true." and the pastor stared at him and couldn't say anything. This a momumental problem most people don't even realize. If someone comes up to you believing the Bible is untrue, what are you going to say? Can you prove its real?

Guys, I am like everyone else in their Christian walk, trying to figure things out and grow closer to God. I don't have all the answers. I just hate to see so many Christians believing but not being able to show the world what they believe. I would love to hear comments or Criticisms.

mike

p.s. a good resource dealing with the whole catergory of apologetics is a book called "New Evidence that Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell