When Our Children Ask The Question: Why Am I A Christian

The Cypress Times ^ | 07/14/09 | Samuel Connelly

[Patriot1259]

What will happen when our children find themselves all alone, with the world pulling on them from every dirrection, and they ask themselves: "Why do I believe in Jesus? Why in the world am I a Christian?"

While I was talking with an old classmate of mine who still lives in California, I discovered that he was not following Jesus. This came as a surprise to me because he was very involved in his church as a teenager, and he was very outspoken about his faith in Jesus at school. As we continued talking about what we are both doing now, he asked me, "Why are you a Christian still?"

[Patriot1259]

Columnist Sam Connelly, explores what happens when adults abandon the beliefs of their childhood and what happens when a child asks, "Why Am I A Christian?"

[DManA]

The friend is seed sown on the path. The author is seed sown on good soil.

[TomOnTheRun]

"I spent a few days wondering, and decided that I was a Christian because I had been raised to be one. And that is no reason to believe something that you are going to base your life and major decisions on."

He's right - That is not a sound foundation for your life but frequently that is all that most children are provided. Christianity for most people is, at best, a marker for cultural identity and a cluster of traditions that they don't much think about. They are nominally Christian but not much more. I think this is THE issue plaguing Christianity today.

As the general culture strayed from Christianity this became an even more serious issue because that was the only thing keeping nominal Christians facing vaguely the same direction.

[2banana]

Jesus did exist. The historical evidence is clear.

So that means either one of two things:

1. Either he is the Son of God like he preached and changed the world forever

or

2. He is the biggest fraud in the history of the world and a maniacally liar.

So I would suggest, DO your homework. Do some research. Read some chapters of the Bible (I suggest Mark). Read some Lewis or Lee Stobble. Might take you a few evenings, not even as much time as a term paper.

If it is choice #2, a fraud this big should be pretty easy to detect after 2000 years and with the technology we have today.

[RJR_fan]

Most Christian children in America are actually raised in two religions. The dominant faith, the one that gets the most “air time” or “column inches” of attention, is secular humanism. This is the religion that most of these kids end up embracing. After all, their parents already told them that secular humanism is a better faith for dealing with “real life,” even as Christianity is a better faith for one hour on Sunday morning.

[TalonDJ]

Most Christian children in America are actually raised in two religions. The dominant faith, the one that gets the most “air time” or “column inches” of attention, is secular humanism. This is the religion that most of these kids end up embracing. After all, their parents already told them that secular humanism is a better faith for dealing with “real life,” even as Christianity is a better faith for one hour on Sunday morning.

Yeah, that pretty much covers it.

[TalonDJ]

What is interesting is that this statment:
"I spent a few days wondering, and decided that I was a Christian because I had been raised to be one. And that is no reason to believe something that you are going to base your life and major decisions on."

...is also a good explanation of why so many kids grow up and join the 'hate America first' crowd. They are/were American only in the same sense of 'raised as one' and did not understand what the United States is and was or why. If you can't articulate why American is the greatest country on Earth then you are only an American by momentum and address or residence.

[TomOnTheRun]

I agree. Although American by birth I spent a large number of years as a dual-citizen. I kept the other citizenship to make it easy to travel and visit family that still worked and lived outside the country but when that stopped so did my dual-citizenship. I made an affirmative choice to live here and be a citizen. I wish more citizens had to make such a choice.