At a Loss for Words

Spirituality Column #147
September 1, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

At a Loss for Words
By Bob Walters

“I wish I were better at expressing my Christian faith to people …”

Sound familiar? How often we Christians lament our shortcomings in this area.

Thankfully, it is generally not up to us – neither by our courage of engagement nor talents of elocution – to awaken in others the soul-saving stirrings of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is above our mortal, um, pay grade; it comes from the top – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Salvation is Jesus Christ’s job.

It is, however, very much up to us to “…set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …”

That’s 1 Peter 3:15. We never know when it will be our words or actions that God will use to begin His work in another person’s heart. All we can do is tell of our own faith, and then see if the sown spiritual seed takes root in productive soil.

So, on the one hand, the pressure’s off. We can’t save anyone with our words or deeds, no matter how dazzling. On the other hand, the pressure seemingly couldn’t be greater … as believers we are called by God to “always give an answer” for our faith; our love demands it.

But is there pressure, really? Pressure comes from fear, and love of God dissolves fear. When fear is gone, what we have left is love’s best companion: freedom.

And when we are free in Christ – not fearful of man – our answers for our hope in Christ flow freely.

Still, it can be tough to describe our faith because our relationship with God is so spiritually personal; very real, but mystical and hard to explain – especially to non-believers. What “did it for me” probably won’t do it for you.

For example, the action that triggered my first trip to church in 30 years – and led to my faith, baptism and study – was my almost-13-year-old son asking at the dinner table, “Why don’t we go to church?” It was an innocent and legitimate question, not a suggestion or trick. He was just curious.

Next thing you know, I’m in the back pew at a church, crying quiet tears as my heart awakened to the Holy Spirit and love of Jesus Christ.

There was my answer, before I’d asked a question.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com) was baptized in 2001.

Unconditional Christian Extremists

Spirituality Column #78
May 6, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Unconditional Christian Extremists
By Bob Walters

A non-believer should know that a Christian extremist will:
- Love unconditionally,
- Be compassionate unconditionally,
- Forgive unconditionally,
- Evangelize unapologetically.

I know … it sounds pretty good until you get to that last one about evangelizing. Don’t those Christian extremists know how annoying that can be?

Ah, those extremists. Then there is the F word … fundamentalists. It is important for those of us who identify with the Gospel to get a grip on both the extremes and fundamentals of our faith.

Ajai Lall, a native of India and president of Central India Christian Missions, spoke in Indianapolis recently about extreme Christianity and what it looks like in his native central India. This is an area where Christians endure atrocities at the hands of Hindus and Muslims.

Lall noted that Christians are commanded by the New Testament to exhibit extreme love, compassion, forgiveness and evangelism. Since the time of Christ we haven’t always gotten that right, but the example Jesus set endures.

Love – Jesus loved those who crucified Him.

Compassion – Jesus comforted the thief hanging on the cross next to him.

Forgiveness – Jesus begged his father, God, to forgive his executioners.

Evangelism – Jesus spoke to his followers and to his enemies about His mission to establish God’s new covenant of grace, love, mercy … and faith.

If every Christian were that resolved in these areas, it might be easier to evangelize without non-believers and confused believers thinking you’re a religious nut.

Thing is, if you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and you trust Him as your Lord and Savior … well, you’re a fundamentalist. No, seriously … you are. And if you love your enemies, have compassion for others before yourself, forgive all wrongs, and tell others of your faith that Christ is the only way to eternal life (John 3:16, John 14:6) you’re a Christian extremist.

A couple of things will then happen. You will be at peace. You will have complete freedom. And the evangelizing part will still be rejected by many.

Just remember, the evangelizing is the easy part. Talk is cheap.

What those Christian extremists do in central India ain’t cheap.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that few people are annoyed by love, compassion or forgiveness. It drives a lot of people nuts to be told Christ is the author of all three.

Christ-free Christmas in the Cards

Current! In Carmel - #7 – Christmas Cards
Spirituality column – Dec. 26, 2006

Christ-free Christmas in the Cards
By Bob Walters

“It is only when men begin to worship that they begin to grow.” —Calvin Coolidge

If you think the reverse of this statement would rightly be, “when men don’t worship, they don’t grow,” you might agree that where the Christmas holiday season is concerned, our mates across the pond have Scrooged themselves.

From Albert Mohler’s Dec. 18 Christian blog, via Jeff Jacoby writing Dec. 13 in the Boston Globe, reporting on a Dec. 8 column in London’s Telegraph, describing a recent survey and report issued by British employment law councilors Peninsula, we learn that 99 percent of “Holiday” cards in the UK not only don’t mention Christmas, angels or Jesus, they don’t even refer to the holiday traditions – Christmas trees, Santa Claus, etc. No Peace on Earth. No Silent Night.

Further, the survey informs, nine of 10 British firms don’t have Christmas parties for fear of being sued by their offended employees. One in 15 Brits attends church.

They can’t be afraid of losing God. He’s already gone.

Christmas-less England. The soon-to-be land of “Winterval.” Prince Charles, a couple years ago, mused that the British royal moniker “Defender of The Faith” should instead be “Defender of Faith” to remove the offending “The Faith,” referring to Christianity. This in a country where the monarch is head of the Christian church.

I wonder what his mum thinks.

Let’s not play Pharisee and Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) and somehow congratulate our American piety. We all have great reason for humility, but we mustn’t miss this very teachable and scary moment.

The good news on this side of the Atlantic is that most people in the U.S. – 80-85 percent – whether they go to church or not, think they are Christians ... and that's a very positive thing. Any believing, practicing, church-going Christian should nurture all those de-facto Christians and all the rest of our neighbors. We too often condemn them rather than needlessly and indiscriminately love them, as we would have them love us.

That might sound familiar (Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12).

Britain’s 1.6 million Muslims in a country of 60.5 million, just 2.6 percent, aren’t the problem. It is the Seculars, the post-modern “right and wrong is a matter of opinion” crowd, that destroys Christianity. Don’t think it isn’t happening in America, and don’t blame believers of other faiths. Christmas is up to you: resolve to be a better Christian.

Now, those Christmas cards still hanging in your house? Those are all from people who, to one degree or another, love you.

Do them the honor of making a New Year’s resolution to grow in 2007.

Walters, a Carmel resident, has never been to England but he kinda likes the Beatles. Contact him at rlwcom@aol.com.