Page 127 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 23
P. 127

"Do not make common cause with people who do           The important difference between Chris�ans and
        not believe in Christ and therefore pursue different   non-Chris�ans is that we want to and are able to
        goals from yours. Or do righteousness and lawless-     live a conscious, reconciled rela�onship with God
        ness have anything to do with each other? Do light     and that he is very close to us through the Holy Spi-
        and darkness have anything in common?" (2 Co-          rit in our hearts.
        rinthians 6:14). Luther translates more literally: “Do  It is also necessary to recognize that not all non-
        not pull loads under a foreign yoke with the unbe-     Chris�ans are the same. Among people from our
        lievers.”                                              culture, we meet people who are disappointed in
        This advice from Paul is valid, but it should not be   faith, Chris�anity or the church, or even people
        interpreted to mean that Chris�ans should avoid all    who have been hurt by Chris�ans. We meet indiffe-
        contact with unbelievers. I understand the verses      rent people, others who are undecided as to whe-
        to mean that in ma�ers of faith, values and life       ther God exists or not, or “emergency atheists”
        goals, we should not allow ourselves to be harnes-     who actually regard faith as nonsense but say yes to
        sed to the same yoke in which the unbeliever takes     God in emergencies. There are also magically min-
        the lead.                                              ded thinkers who believe in horoscopes, lucky
        It is important to ask myself to what extent I am un-  charms or fate, bad luck and good fortune. Of cour-
        se�led and influenced by someone else's world          se, there are also the an�-authoritarian atheists
        view and arguments. It is certainly good if we are     who associate God with nega�ve authority, or intel-
        prepared to ques�oned or challenged. But we must       lectuals who regard faith as stupid or medieval, not
        also not overes�mate our resilience, even if we        forge�ng the esoterics, who are strongly experi-
        have found spiritual stability as long-standing Chris-  ence-oriented. Then there are the followers of
        �ans. Especially when the other person is a “missi-    other religions.
        onary” for a different worldview, when they ac�ve-     Years ago, I came across the Angel Scale, which is a
        ly want to draw us into their worldview, we need to    good representa�on of my own path to and with
        ask ourselves how close we want the rela�onship        God. At some point, we were all in the minus ran-
        to be and how steadfast we are in this regard.         ge, even if we don't necessarily start at -8. Conver-
        I will first discuss the third conversion in more detail  sion marks the zero hour. As long-�me Chris�ans,
        in rela�on to rela�onships with other people and       we are in the plus range, where all the “pluses”
        then illustrate how we should also seek the king-      should play a role.
        dom of God in our professional and social environ-     - 8) Rejec�on of everything supernatural: “I only be-
        ment.                                                  lieve what I can see.”
                                                               - 7) Reckoning with the existence of a “higher bein-
        My rela�onship with all people                         g”: “A�er all, somebody must’ve made all this.”
        What image do I see when I hear the word “non-         - 6) A blurred picture of Chris�an faith: “A li�le mo-
        Chris�an”? Is it a black and white picture? I am on    rality can’t do any harm.”
        the side of light, the other person is on the side of  - 5) Interest in Chris�an faith: “Everyone needs
        darkness, I am on the side of life, the other is on the  something firm to hold onto in life.”
        side of death, I am on the side of good, the other is  - 4) Understanding the Good News: “No-one has
        on the side of evil?                                   ever told me about it that way.”
        In certain situa�ons, such an image can certainly      - 3) More detailed interest: “I would like to know
        provide an accurate characteriza�on, but as a rule     more about that.”
        it does not reflect reality. Since every person is first  - 2) Being touched on a personal level: “This is about
        and foremost a creature of God - no one will ques-     me.”
        �on that - God has a rela�onship with every per-       - 1) Decision to commit one’s life: “I want to become
        son. God is the reason why every person exists. God    a Chris�an!”
        knows every person, he loves everyone. Just as he      Conversion / new birth / bap�sm: “Jesus, come into
        has me permanently before his loving eyes, he also     my life!”
        sees all other people. The decisive factor in my life,  + 1) Prayer, Bible, fellowship.
        as in the life of every person, is the fact of God's re-  + 2) Discipleship, sanc�fica�on, good householding.
        la�onship with me.                                     + 3) Loving, serving, passing on faith.
                                                               +4ff.) Further spiritual growth…


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