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Chapter 46 - Questioning

The radical Christian generally finds the easy path of being told what is true by a pastor or denomination to be unsatisfactory. He would like to evaluate things based on his own growing knowledge of God and his word. To illustrate this process we can examine one of the thousands of propositions with which Christians are presented.

It is not uncommon for churches to adopt a system or program to help them evangelize non-Christians. This can be motivated out of a sincere desire to help those who do not know God, but it can also be driven by a less noble desire for the 'success' that a larger membership would bring.

One technique that is used is to instruct Church members that those who are not Christian have to be first made to see their sin, and the way to do that is to expound the 10 commandments to them.

Some of the first questions that would arise in the mind of a radical Christian might be;

1. Are people brought to faith by persuasion?

2. Is a conviction of sin a prerequisite to conversion?

3. Would people be convinced they haven’t kept the 10 commandments.

4. Are accusations of sin persuasive?

5. Wouldn’t people generally respond to such an approach as if they were being insulted?

6. What role would God have in such an approach?

7. Wouldn’t the presenter of the proposition imply that he is sinless?

Here are some verses that come to mind in regard to the subject of people coming to salvation;

The world of advertising is based on the concept of convincing people there is a problem and that your product is the solution. Most of the world religions are based on the idea of something you do so that you can get something you want. When viewing many of the testimonies of people who became Christian, one observes the consistent desire to find what was true.

A Christian who is becoming radical that attends a church where the program of evangelism through wielding the 10 commandments is being used may wish to avoid attempting to convince everyone else that they are 'wrong'. It may be kinder to say that one remains unconvinced that it is entirely biblical. Christianity is supposed to accommodate those of different levels of understanding.

One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. - Romans 14:5

Unfortunately many churches are not accepting of differences. For this reason, it may work out that the radical Christian’s church attendance becomes sporadic so that there is not much expectation of program participation.

It can be beneficial to question not only that which is new with which one is presented, but revisiting long held assumptions can often prove beneficial as well. It should not come as a surprise that maturing in faith will result in changes, modifications, and deepening such that what one believes is more a reflection of a dynamic process.

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