Being that I’m asked everyday why I’m Christian and what I believe, and that my French is not strong enough to explain the depths of my faith, I’ve realized how infrequently I am asked this question. Or questions such as why was Christ cruicified? Or how is Christ the son of God but also God? I feel like I’m in seminary. These are difficult concepts to explain in English much less in French. I believe, however, it’s the same for many people in general. Explaining what you believe and why you believe it leaves many speechless.
So.
Without going into deep exegesis of scripture explaining the old testament vs. new testament prophecies and such…..
Why do I follow Christ?
Because he is worth following.
He came to change the religious, social, and political climate of his times. He was a revolutionary. His words led movements, not only in his times, but also in our times. He taught us how to live in communion with one another. Leaders such as Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, have looked to his words and passion to spur them and others to action. Christ was so successful at mobilization, empowerment, and motivation that thousands of years later I am writing of him in a blog post as a faithful follower, moved by his work. His words, life, and death are still profoundly changing lives. Not only was his death the powerful act of a martyr, dying that we might live, but his LIFE is one worth emulating.
I follow Christ because he is the only God who came down to earth to experience humanity WITH us. God, in his infinite boundless existence, chose to become human. He has been where I’ve been. Not only that but he chooses to endow us, forever flawed humans, to be his hands and feet in the earth. I love that Christ chose the "least of these" to be leaders. I love the beautiful contradiction that he chooses to empower imperfect people to carry out his perfect plan. And just as he chose us, he gives us the freedom to choose him. He created the world and let us run free, choosing not to be an overbearing creator, intently micromanaging our movements. Instead we can hear how he warmly shows us the way in his voice.
You know that voice. So many religions teach that God is a mighty judge in the sky waiting to smack you with lightning bolts of judgment. But he is far from that picture. The God of all creation lives with us. He lives inside each and every one of us. He is in you. His glory takes shape in you. I feel his spirit in me, constantly tweaking my actions, thoughts, and plans, until I get it right, empowering me to do… something….different. We ALL hear his voice. That whisper, or gut feeling, the anxiety you feel when you KNOW with all your heart something is absolutely wrong or extremely right. God is not far away. He is not untouchable. He is Elohim, God with us, he is the Holy Spirit, speaking to us, he is mother, father, best friend, and companion. That voice has led me and taught me in some of the worst situations and most turmoil filled points of my life. But also in the most blissful times as well. We must learn to follow that voice. To all ends of the Earth, in all things. Our dreams and futures await depending on our simple obedience to that voice. So let’s stop calling “it” intuition, or “something told me” and the millions of other things people from around the world have consistently over time ascribed to “it”---and attribute it to the one, our God, Holy Spirit, God in us.
Knowing Christ has given me wisdom, confidence, and an outlook of the world that allows me to know though we are hopelessly flawed, anything is possible. I have seen miracles happen large and small. Like the little boy we met during my time in Ghana who was born with a malformed leg unable to walk, but after prayer was able to run. Or the asthma that used to keep me from breathing full, deep breathes and regularly gave me asthma attacks, gone after a weekend prayer retreat, never to return. Incurable diseases disappear with doctor’s notes to prove their non-existence.
My life has changed dramatically in the journey of knowing and following Christ and the spirit of God inside us all.
This is not at all comprehensive and I could continue on and on, but all in all......He’s not a bad choice as a leader J
Know what you believe. And know why you believe.
Why?
Because you never know who may need your faith when they have lost theirs.
Several nights ago, when I asked Mah Benti to eat with me, she asked me if I was going to church this week. I said I’ll try to, and I asked her what she prays when she prays. She began a beautiful Arabic song, in a falsetto soprano voice. After she finished I asked her the meaning of the prayer. She said it’s a salutation to God. She then asked me what I pray. I told her I pray each day, and throughout the day to God about everything. For the health of my family, for the health of my friends, for my life. I tell God I love him and ask him what he wants of me.
Mah Benti proceeded to tell me that if I pray with weave in my hair, God will not listen because he doesn’t like that. And if you die with weave in your hair, God will send you to hell. She said but you’re a Christian so it’s ok for you to pray with weave, just not Muslims. “Who said that?” I said. “Where in the Koran does it say that?” She said, “The Imam said it, not the Koran.” I asked her, “How is that true then? Is the Imam God? When you die your body remains on earth, right? But your spirit goes to heaven. So why would God be concerned with your body? I believe God loves all his people and he is a God of grace, correct? If he is then he doesn’t care what his people are wearing, he only wants them! Just like your family loves you regardless of what you wear. It’s the same with God.”
She nodded her head at all my interjections, and afterwards, she leaned in to me and whispered, “Me? I love Christians. Because when you pray to Christ, everything is quick. In Christianity, when you are sick, you can pray to Christ immediately and he takes care of it. In Islam, there are too many things you have to do to get to God. I want to know Christ. But it isn’t possible for me to go to church now because I am young and I must do what my family does, but when I grow up I want to go to church.”
I told her that you know you can pray to Christ anytime you want to, in your room, in your head at school; God is with you at anytime. She whispered, “Yes, I want to pray like this, but it’s impossible for me because I am Muslim and I don’t have the bible also.”
Because I saw she was a bit scared of talking about this outloud with her family, I asked her if she wanted to talk in my room. She said yes. She came to my room and started telling me how she loved Jesus Christ, but needed help to become a Christian. I told her if you love Christ, you don’t need my help to become a Christian. He is already with you. “How?!” she exclaimed. “How is he with me if I don’t know the bible, I don’t go to a church, and I am Muslim?” “Mah Benti,” I started. “If you believe with all your heart in Christ and you believe he is your savior, your one love, that he is God, then you already are a Christian. You can be Muslim by culture because your family is Muslim, but those are only rituals to you if you don’t believe in them in your heart. What you believe in your heart is what is true! Christ is already in your heart! And he is with you because you believe!”
Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as I spoke. And just at the time, my sister in-law, who had been listening right outside my room with her child, came in my room and began a long story of how she had been sick recently and had been to the doctor this morning to get a shot. She wanted me to pray for her. Just then her drunk husband walked into my room, carrying on about a lot of nonsense, hiccupping through the entire conversation. And as he made a big scene, embarrassed, she quietly slipped out. Mah Benti also told me she was going to bed after he finally left my room. But not before she turned around to tell me that he was an insult to the family and to his wife. I hugged Mah Benti, told her I loved her, and sent her to bed.
After she left, I took some time to pray. My heart was heavy for my sister-in law as I saw her in her own way reach out to me for something. What I know from the time I have lived here is that this particular my brother in law is abusive, and often times I wake up to my sister in laws screams. I’ve seen him hit her once, which is not uncommon in this culture. There are days I walk out of my room to leave for school and my, “Bonjour, Ca va?” is met with a slow head shake, as she diverts her eyes to the ground. I’ve noticed that she is treated like an outcast amongst the family. As if she is beneath them.
I know that for my safety, getting in the middle of that situation, would not be the best idea. And I’m not going to tell her to leave her husband or even talk to her about the abuse, subjects that would be disgraceful to address. Statistically, 84% of Guinean women believe that their husbands are supposed to beat them if they perform poorly. Leaving him at this time would be a huge feat considering she has no outside family. But what I do hope to offer her, for now, is hope. Hope in something greater than her, beyond herself and her situation.
Hope that someone loves her. Even if it’s just a girl from half way around the world living next door to her now.
There is always somewhere to begin.
So many say they believe in something, in Christ, in God, in Atheism, in Islam, in Hinduism but when asked why, they stumble to express the source. If you are a Christian, take the time to truly search your heart, the bible, prayer, and find why you believe in Christ. Go beyond, “he died for my sins”, or “because he’s the only truth”. Go beyond the usual answers that the Church has regurgitated for centuries. Make it personal. One reason why so many people are turned off by Christianity is because most of us have no clue what we believe or why we believe it. We believe because we believe……and that’s it. People need to see more than just words, more than just religious acts. Religion often has choked the life out of the beauty and bliss of the graceful and fiery revolutionary who gave his life that we might truly begin to live ours.
If you don’t believe in Christ, I urge you to take a step past what you’ve heard from church, religious leaders, and religious Christians and find who he really is. The truth, passion, and simplicity of his life and death is far more compelling than most of what is popularly echoed. It’s worth it. Believe me :-)
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