Christian bronies: meet, greet, and mingle!

[weesh 690]

Good day y'all! I have a question that has been lingering with me for a while now. I say I'm a Christian and that I believe in God but it doesn't always seem sincere. I do try to believe sincerely but it usually comes off more of a Pascal's wager than actual belief in my mind. I don't know if this is some sort of test or not but it's been bugging me for years. Have any of you dealt with something like this before, and if so how did you overcome it(if you have)? All suggestions and advice are welcome 

 

I think this attitude is very healthy, and appreciate that you are wrestling with it.

 

I've had to deal with doubts in the past, and was pretty uncomfortable about my faith until I finally got to a point of satisfaction...

But it took a long time, and didn't have a conclusion that I could have expected.

 

It would take a LOT of typing to tell the story, but it did end with a satisfying result eventually.  

[Kaneki 1,072]

I think this attitude is very healthy, and appreciate that you are wrestling with it.

 

I've had to deal with doubts in the past, and was pretty uncomfortable about my faith until I finally got to a point of satisfaction...

But it took a long time, and didn't have a conclusion that I could have expected.

 

It would take a LOT of typing to tell the story, but it did end with a satisfying result eventually.  

 

It took me a while too, it wasn't until I started going to a Christian homeschool co-op in my high school years to finally realize "okay, I don't have to doubt that I'm truly a Christian" - there were people there who weren't what people and the media think of as the total Christian mold, and it made me feel better about myself that I could fit into this.

[Prospekt 10,984]

Good day y'all! I have a question that has been lingering with me for a while now. I say I'm a Christian and that I believe in God but it doesn't always seem sincere. I do try to believe sincerely but it usually comes off more of a Pascal's wager than actual belief in my mind. I don't know if this is some sort of test or not but it's been bugging me for years. Have any of you dealt with something like this before, and if so how did you overcome it(if you have)? All suggestions and advice are welcome 

 

I've definitely dealt with this before. When I was a kid I believed in God and all that but I didn't truly become a Christian until I was 14. Since then, I've had experiences where I believed God was using the Holy Spirit in me or somebody else to do some sort of work here on earth. But even then, sometimes I hit these "dead zones" in my life where I feel like I'm talking to God but he isn't around to listen and respond. From time to time, I come across people who try to talk me out of my faith and treat it like some childish, primitive belief. All of this can be very tough and it has made me doubt the authenticity of God.

 

But you know how I wrestle with this doubt and find my way back to God? I use scripture as a way to give myself peace. Romans 3:3-4 and 8:26-27 are only a few of the verses that are helpful for me when I begin to get caught up in the world's unbelief. I've found that sometimes God just wants to communicate through scripture rather than through some other means, and that really helps me.

 

I hope this helps, sorry for rambling on a little bit. I'll pray for you!

[BlinkZ 1,151]

Sorry about brining up topic I really can't retort about very easily.  I changed churches once cause of situations that happen that made me felling unwelcome. granted I still made freinds there but not the whole church. 

 

Nice to know there people here i can talk with. probably better places though but eh

 

Back a few years ago I did like Quizing and such but was more of the social kind, can't quote bible verses off hte top of my head like others can. Really nto veyr good at the spreading faith part but I try to follow that 'Show through actions" part. Doesn't help when I still think certian view points that socieity thinks i'm just not being 'social accepting"  yeah I find being tolerate in a surrender.

 

[Brightbart 268]

Thank you all for the kind replies, I really appreciate it. I'm glad to see that I haven't been the only one but I suppose that shouldn't be surprising given how complex it can be for some people. 

 

I've definitely dealt with this before. When I was a kid I believed in God and all that but I didn't truly become a Christian until I was 14. Since then, I've had experiences where I believed God was using the Holy Spirit in me or somebody else to do some sort of work here on earth. But even then, sometimes I hit these "dead zones" in my life where I feel like I'm talking to God but he isn't around to listen and respond. From time to time, I come across people who try to talk me out of my faith and treat it like some childish, primitive belief. All of this can be very tough and it has made me doubt the authenticity of God.

It can be tough, it's unfortunate that we live in a world where the ideas of and belief in Christ is ridiculed so much. I too have dealt with people like that. However I have found that most of the people who act as such are young and impressionable. They usually grow out of it when they realize that people can make their own choices on how they want to live their lives.  Ironic though that the one who is practicing his or her faith as they please is the childish one but the ones preaching that those who don't think as they do are "stupid" aren't. 

 

I hope this helps, sorry for rambling on a little bit. I'll pray for you!

 

Thanks! 

[PlunderSteed 1,251]

I like your analogy of letting God sand the edges instead of forcing a square peg in a round hole. Forcing the matter usually doesn't work out no matter the idea in question. I used to go to church every single week and on my own accord too; but as I got older it became more of a force of habit than anything else. I eventually asked myself why I kept going and I soon started going less and less until I just stopped completely and the lingering thought of sincerity kicked in. 

 

You're right in that it's the unknowingness that makes belief scary. I usually feel the need to know something in order for me to accept it as truth, and that's what I think is the primary force behind why I sometimes have trouble with putting trust in belief. At the end of the day I have to understand I will not be able to know everything for certain and that some things I just need to put faith into. 

Thank you for your nice reply!

 

 

In this modern world we're living in it's difficult to find silence. I shall keep on searching. 

 

In this analogy, the hole is you, and the peg is the belief system you're trying to adhere to.  The "shaving off" part can be done to either the peg or the hole.  Many Christians end up shaving off parts of the idea: parts of it that are fringe, impractical, or just plain silly, like the whole "women should never have authority over a man" part.  Nobody actually follows that to a T, because almost everyone at some point works in an organization where there is a women in charge of them at some level.  Taking it a step further, in many places it's actually illegal to refuse to hire a woman into a management position because of some arbitrary belief system that has nothing to do with her qualifications.

 

On the other hand, many Christians shave away at the hole, forcing themselves to change for the sake of accommodating the peg.  In many ways this is healthy: it forces them to be more patient, more loving, etc.  But in other ways it's harmful: it can make them shun and mistreat perfectly decent people simply because their life circumstances are decried by a belief system.  Gays, divorced/remarried people, and rape victims have all been mistreated by Christians who have reshaped themselves into blindly applying barbaric, counter-productive attitudes without considering whether it actually serves a purpose.

[Brightbart 268]

In this analogy, the hole is you, and the peg is the belief system you're trying to adhere to.  The "shaving off" part can be done to either the peg or the hole. 

I had originally read the analogy as me being the peg though which is which doesn't really matter in the end. You are right about both the peg and the hole can be shaved. Just be careful as to not shave too much of either, you might just cut off something important.  

[Whirlwind 1,048]

I hope this is What Heaven sounds like!

What is Your Bible version of choice?

Mine is New Living Translation (NLT)

[ChB 18,532]

I love the ESV! It's a good translation, yet an easy read. 

[Prospekt 10,984]

The NIV is my favorite! The ESV is nice too. Both are nice, clear, and easy to read. I've actually never read the NLT but I've noticed it's becoming one of the more popular versions so maybe I should try it out.

[Cyrus Summers 34]

I don't really like God 100%. Its more fearmongering reason, if i dont love him i'll go to hell. But it also expects me to love him back, not in my works but in my hearth too.

 

The term Lord means someone who rules over you. So i am more or less being the typical pharasee jew (well Christian one). I do the things to be decent, i dont look up porn or try to flee from sexual immorality most of the time, try to love one another as i love myself. But i dont really have much love for this God in my heart, atleast not 100% as others do.

 

Edit: I happen to be a fan of some Christian rock music from 70s, 80s, and 90s. Not talking about the alternative modern rock, which i dont know even has anything to do with Christianity. But 70s is pretty good among some others i like.

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by Cyrus Summers

[Sunwalker 981]

I don't really like God 100%. Its more fearmongering reason, if i dont love him i'll go to hell. But it also expects me to love him back, not in my works but in my hearth too.

 

The term Lord means someone who rules over you. So i am more or less being the typical pharasee jew (well Christian one). I do the things to be decent, i dont look up porn or try to flee from sexual immorality most of the time, try to love one another as i love myself. But i dont really have much love for this God in my heart, atleast not 100% as others do.

Look this way: if you love your family and friends, then you love God. God is the supreme goodness, He is its source, He is the love made person. Anything that is good is good because somehow it is either directly or indirectly linked to God. It is not possible to be good outside God.

 

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

1 John 2:9-11

The two big differences in Christianity with other religions is that it is God who comes first in our encounter (as the person of Jesus Christ), and God is more than just an authority figure, he is a Father figure. We are not His servants, we are his sons and daughters. One should not follow the law of God because of fear, but rather because those laws exist for your protection, and if you don’t follow you will eventually end up harming yourself and others. This will sadden God because he cares for us, and no loving son would want to make his father sad.

 

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

John 15:9-17

Hell is for those who rejected God, and by consequence any goodness. God doesn’t want anyone to end up there, everything that Jesus passed through in the cross is just a testament of how serious God is about saving people. Getting in the Heaven is not a matter of “scoring points by doing good deeds”, because that would imply that someone is capable of deserving it. Nobody of us is, that is why salvation is offered freely.

 

We should be good not by obligation, and not for getting a reward. We should be good because our Father is good. Being good and caring to others is a natural consequence of having faith. “Being good for goodness sake”, as some would say, though I don’t like much this expression. I prefer rather how the Holy Scriptures phrase it:

^16b God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

1 John 4:16b-21

Take good care

Edited August 9, 2016 by Sunwalker

[Cyrus Summers 34]

Look this way: if you love your family and friends, then you love God. God is the supreme goodness, He is its source, He is the love made person. Anything that is good is good because somehow it is either directly or indirectly linked to God. It is not possible to be good outside God.

 

I dont hate my parents but i dont or am super excited about them(Which i guess is bad since they raised me. Thats the thanks they get ) But i tended to love being with friends as a child.

[Sunwalker 981]

I dont hate my parents but i dont or am super excited about them(Which i guess is bad since they raised me. Thats the thanks they get ) But i tended to love being with friends as a child.

You are conscious of your own flaws, and that counts. An evil person would not even care about them. Christianity isn't as much for the saint people as it is for the sinners, who are the first ones to need salvation. It is an way to seek perfection, rather than a private club for those who are perfect. Jesus reached first the most flawed people.

 

There are things beyond your control, that you should not blame yourself. Your upbringing and the environment where you live are not your fault. Parents should be the first example of God's love that one should get. The close family should be one's first experience into the church. It is not uncommon for people who had bad experiences at home to have issues to understand or accept God, that's because they had no example of what God's love actually is.

 

It is virtuous from you that you don't hate your parents. I don't know which issues you had or hadn't with your parents, so I cannot really comment on that. God isn't going to blame you on things that are beyond your control; and for what you did wrong, God is always open for forgiveness.

 

When it comes to God, it is not about how much you have accomplished, because ultimately nobody is good enough to deserve anything from him. It is about the direction that you are following, whether you are doing the best you can in order to improve. As long you do the things that are within your reach, God is going to complement with the rest.

 

Being loving is not the same as being stupid. You don't have to accept bad things that others do to you, and neither you have to take part with malicious people, and much less help them. Love doesn't preclude self protection, and sometimes it is better for all the parties to keep distance from each other. So it is not necessarily bad if it is the case that you doesn't have many friends today.

 

It is important that you keep doing your best effort to become a better person, have respect for yourself and others. And more importantly, make an habit of praying regularly, it is important to know what God wants from you and also to get strength from Him. Keep in mind that praying is not the magical lamp of wishes, sometimes what you want isn't what is better for you and sometimes it just isn't the time yet for something. It is crucial to be very patient when praying.

 

God bless you

[Whirlwind 1,048]

I had thoughts on forming a small group online. 
I go to one with my church, But would I love expanding my religious beliefs to others who follow Christ online

[SummerOfGold 31]

How do you deal with baggage when there's a lot of it and you don't want to come off as somebody who just whines about their life? I feel empty bringing things to God for some reason, and I'm not sure what to do.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

How do you deal with baggage when there's a lot of it and you don't want to come off as somebody who just whines about their life? I feel empty bringing things to God for some reason, and I'm not sure what to do.

 

I'm not quite the fount of inspiration that Sunwalker is but I do have a perspective to offer in this case. For one thing, God is never tired of you. If it helps, don't pray to him in ultra reverent tones, just talk frankly to him, like you would to a friend or parent. Someone you trust to just let you vent your emotions and knows you're not just talking for attention.

 

Secondly, one route to take is doing something you like that you find relaxing. When someone says something you feel compelled to talk against, unless it's personally directed, ignore it. Even then you can decline to take part in a debate. Discretion is the better part of valor. Trust me there is a feeling of immense relief with just letting sleeping dogs lie secure in your own ideals and life.

Edited August 22, 2016 by Steel Accord

[Whirlwind 1,048]

Something I discussed recently with my small group really wanted me to Question you people here

It really had me thinking and I wanna here your opinions (I already have my response)

 

But Even though a person is more wise if they say the truth under God's Name.

But my question to you guys is how do you think being Truthful can help the lives of others?

Edited August 23, 2016 by Captain Whirlwind

[weesh 690]

But my question to you guys is how do you think being Truthful can help the lives of others?

 

well, enabling people is bad, and people sometimes lie to themselves and others rather than confront someone with truth they need to hear.  

it can also build trust when it is vulnerable.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

 

 

But my question to you guys is how do you think being Truthful can help the lives of others?

 

Hmmm that's an interesting question to ask. I would actually say "it doesn't matter." Selfish as that might seem I would say that the truth is more for the sake of the person speaking it than it is for those that hear it. I've always tried to live my life, at least in my recent years, by ultimately being sincere. Which is, true to thyself. Not disguising or misrepresenting your identity, thoughts, feelings, or ideals. You can't control others or how they will react to something, even what is your best approximation of the truth, what ultimately you can control is yourself. So conducting yourself in ways that aren't lies or fabrications is ultimately the best way to live truthfully.

[Once In A Blue Moon 894]

 

 

Not disguising or misrepresenting your identity, thoughts, feelings, or ideals [...] So conducting yourself in ways that aren't lies or fabrications is ultimately the best way to live truthfully. 

 

 

In Joshua 2, Rahab hid the spies and lied to the king's men - treachery and treason and all that. Certainly not what one would term 'honest' or 'truthful' but it was the right thing to do.

 

To put it in a more modern context, I vaguely recall there being an undercover police operation that ended recently and managed to catch some quite unpleasant characters doing some quite unpleasant things. The undercover police were not honest or truthful either, but by their actions serious crime is prevented.

 

I really don't like having to lie (or being dishonest, misleading etc.), and I don't really need to thankfully, but I believe that there are some circumstances where it is right to do so. Extreme situations, and not applicable to most people, but food for thought when it comes to being truthful (boundary cases tend to be the most interesting for stress-testing a worldview.) 

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@@Once In A Blue Moon,

 

I don't overall disagree but I didn't say "I don't ever lie" I said that I try to be sincere. There is a difference. And yes, that is an extreme case, and I always take such thought experiments with a mountain of salt. 

[Whirlwind 1,048]

Wow! You guys are coming with some pretty good responses!

But you know what I've realized one thing with people being honest/dishonest is saying that they say they are labeled "christian".

 

And there is a difference between Believing in God and being a Christian. I my opinion, being a Christian is Believing in God's word and living under great circumstances to love, pray, and serve to others around the world Including God himself.

 

So I always like to challenge myself on who I am and be an honest believer and take his word for it. I'd hope I could encourage you guys too if you are having problems on being truthful. We all lie sometimes, but there is always a way to fix it

Steel Accord , Once In A Blue Moon, weesh  

[RealityPublishing 323]

I'm that odd-ball Jewish kid in the back hanging out with LivingTombstone. 

[Steel Accord 6,658]

I'm that odd-ball Jewish kid in the back hanging out with LivingTombstone. 

 

You're welcome here too, friend.