Things to Consider: Part II

In China, all I had ever heard of Jesus was that he was a man. But when I got here, my professors and other students have told me different things about Jesus. Who is Jesus really?

Here, I just explained that Jesus was not just a man, or a "good man," because of His message.  By claiming that He was God, he challenged everything the Jews and the Romans stood for.  Therefore, Jesus was either really God, or else he was a liar or a mentally unstable person.  Having presented those three choices, I wanted to highlight parts of Luke with her (Born of a virgin...Never sinned...His Ministry...His sacrifice and triumph), but we moved on to the next question.

I don't know much about Christianity, but I do know a little about Buddhism and Islam. Islamic people are very exclusive, and they won't marry anyone outside of Islam. Is Christianity like this?

For this question, I told her that Christians should not marry outside of the Faith, and I used 2 Cor 6:14 as support for my statement.  

However, I explained that I believe this rule was a safety mechanism for us.  I told her about King Solomon.  I told her about how when God offered him anything he desired, he asked for the wisdom to lead God's people. I also told her how great his name became and how much God blessed him.  But then I told her about all of his wives, most of which were pagan.  He began to build temples for their false gods and God was pretty upset. 

I noticed some people who call themselves Christians are very aggressive, and some are not at all. When I got here, I was interested in Jesus, so I asked a girl to teach me the Bible. She did a Bible study with me, but then she asked me if I wanted to do another one, and another, and another, and another! But I was busy with classes, so I felt pushed.

I read her the Great Commission at the end of Matthew.  I told her that our mission as Christians is to share Christ's love and message to everyone.  I also told her that as humans, we do make mistakes.  Some of us just stick with other Christians (and that's not bad, but if we do not try to reach out to others at all, we are ignoring our commission).  Others seem to overdo it and add pressure and tension.  But it is our goal to share God's love with others.

Should I pay attention to what the professor says to me or what students tell me in Bible study?

I told her that since she is not a Christian, but a seeker right now, Bible study might not help her as much at this stage.  I advised her to seek stronger Christians, whether they be professors, some students, or even ministers and preachers.  I invited her to my church, and told her a little about the youth minister.

A girl I know told me that nothing is more important than prayer. She said I don't even need to study for tests, I only need to pray all night long.

I told her that prayer is a powerful and amazing thing.  The word 'pray' simply means 'ask.'  We are able to talk to our amazing God, and He listens to us!  I also told her that prayer is real.  I told her about how prayer had affected my life.  Then I told her that prayer, however, is not a magical formula that will make God do what you want.  If I asked God for a Ferrari, I might not get one, since God knows that with my driving skills, I could get myself killed!  So, in short, God answers prayer, but don't try to manipulate Him!

If a person is saying really bad things to me, and I tried to ignore him, tell him I don't like what he's doing, and tried to avoid him, but he keeps doing it, and I punch him, and he punches me back, who's fault is it?

This was a tough question! It was a little random, but I started by saying they were both in the wrong.  I reminded her that our mission is to show Jesus's love in our lives, so the moment she punches, she is no longer showing love.  I said that if she can't avoid him, she could find an authority, such as a professor, a campus safety officer, even a dean or the president!  Then the person would notice how much of an effort you put to not fighting, and that will make him wonder.  I told her that this was just my opinion, since I could not point to any scripture, but I felt this was a good idea because I tried to focus on our mission.

Is it more important to become a good person and do good things or to find out about Jesus and be a Christian?"

I was surprised to learn that she heard this from a professor! Then I felt bad that I told her to take their advice.  I started by trying to tell her that sometimes, even professors make mistakes, and then I addressed the question.  Our God is so perfect, that even the smallest smidge of sin will keep you from getting anywhere near Him.  Even if you try hard to be a good person, if you have sinned at least once in your life, that will discount you from being with God in Heaven.  That's why God Himself became a man and died for us.  I explained that Christians use the phrase "washed in His blood" because since Jesus is the only one who never did anything wrong, He was the perfect sacrifice and when we let Him into our hearts, he cleans our hearts so that we can be like Him.  If a person who has tried to be a good person does not choose Christ, he will not get any closer to God.  I used Galatians 2:16 to back this up.
 Then I told her about how when one lets Jesus into his heart, He sends the Holy Spirit to start making him like Jesus.  I read Galatians 5:22-23: The Fruit of the Spirit.  I told her that we will become "good people" by following Jesus and letting the Spirit teach us these things.
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This is how our conversation went.  As I mentioned before, I wanted to post this so that you can start to think about things like this, about how you answer questions like these, about your story.  I know for a fact that I have a long way to go in my own walk with Christ, but I feel He gave me the words and the scripture references during that time, and it makes me glad that He would use me!

So if you have any responeses to what I have said, you know what to do!

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