Christianity vs. Other Religions
February 26th, 2007
“Christians are the only ones that are ashamed of what they believe.” -Ralph Diehl
Think about it.
{blog of adam}
“Christians are the only ones that are ashamed of what they believe.” -Ralph Diehl
Think about it.
February 26th, 2007 at 8:45 am
I’m not sure if I would call it shame, but more of a desire to remain politically correct in a very judgmental society. There’s a fear in all of us that people will not approve of who we are or what we believe. I am not at all ashamed to believe that God is love, and that he sent His son for me so that we could be in perfect union in Heaven. However, I may find myself keeping quiet at times just because I am afraid. There’s just a slight difference to me. That’s not any better of a perspective, but seems to hold more truth.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:24 am
I think I agree with Abby here. It’s not so much shame as it is fear. We live in a society that is entrenched in materialism, and we are afraid that speaking up could cause us to lose something…speaking up could have a cost associated with it.
I do think shame enters in…eventually we become ashamed that we are afraid, which, in the end, causes us to be even more afraid to speak up.
February 26th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Hmm…let me clarify real quick:
Speaking up will have a cost associated with it! There is no way around it. But, as Christians, we have forgotten that the cost is temporary. Our hope is not in what we have, it is in Christ and spending eternity, that’s right…forever and forever, with Him, and with each other, in a sinless world.
So, frankly, if we count the cost, then in the long run it costs us more to not speak up.
February 26th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
The title of this post is “Christianity Vs. Other Religions.” So let’s do some comparing . . .
Muslims - They are in a war against anything that’s not Islam.
Mormons - Take 2 YEARS of their life in missionary training in another country. They come back to America as an “Evangelism Machine.”
Some Eastern Religions - Wear certain clothes JUST to set them apart from other religions; just to make sure everyone knows what they believe.
Scientology - Although it was invented in the past 60 years by a science fiction writer and hasn’t proved the test of time - it is more and more becoming accepted by others simply because big names are scientologists and aren’t AFRAID to tell other people: Tom Cruise, Chick Corea, Madonna to name a few.
Christians - They are the only ones that seem to have a desire to remain politically correct in a very judgmental society.
Compare Christians with followers of other religions - we are indeed set apart. We’re the only ones who are afraid to make our beliefs known. Dictionary.com defines “ashamed” as being “unwiling or restrained because of fear of shame, ridicule, or disapproval.” Most Christians are ashamed of what they believe. How I want to be a part of a generation that changes this.
February 27th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Well, I guess that in order to make a statement about Christians in general, I have to consider all of the Christians around the world. And, Christians are the least ashamed of their faith in every country except America. While other religions are willing to go to great lengths to share their faith, Christians, around the world, are willingly being slaughtered by the thousands because they are not ashamed of theirs! I’m not talking about committing suicide for their beliefs. I’m talking about being shot in the head, or burned to death, or drowned, or some other terrible torture, because they won’t renounce God.
And, upon further investigation, I’ve come to the conclusion that, across the board, Americans are more ashamed of their respective faiths than people in almost any other country. I really think that one of the root causes of this is materialism. The entire western world is less radical about their respective faiths than the entire eastern world.
I also think that Christians in America are isolated in the church culture (which has held a place of respect in the society, until recently. It no longer holds this place of respect, but we trick ourselves into thinking it does.), and they don’t realize how few Christians there are. If they did, they might be a little more inclined to share their faith.
Also, I think there is a key difference between being ashamed and being afraid. I think we are afraid of losing something we’ve worked for (materialism) if we witness. This is separate from being ashamed. This “ashamed” feeling is a result of our shame over our fear of the cost of witnessing. I realize that it is almost a semantic point, but I don’t think it is. Look at it like this: I’m afraid to light the pilot light in the gas stove because I might get burned or start a fire. I’m ashamed to admit my fear of messing with the pilot light because someone might make fun of me.
February 27th, 2007 at 11:47 am
[…] I read a blog post that asked why Christians are ashamed of what they believe…this made me wonder some more. […]
February 27th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
I can’t change other Christians; I can only change myself. I know where I need to be more bold, and I am working on that. Call it whatever you want; we all “give in to get along” more often than we should, and that is what P Diehl is referring to here. If I speak up more, and you speak up more, we can begin to operate as the Body we were meant to be.
March 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I know plenty of Christians who are not ashamed of their faith. In fact they are the Christians that everybody else sees and responds to. This is just like how we Christians look at the unashamed people in every other religion to make generalizations. Those who are ashamed are not going to be on the front.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:43 am
Many times God tries to push us out of our comfort zone ,but most Americans are scared. They are scared of standing out and being someone different from what society wants to conform us to. Jesus said,” The world hated me so they are going to hate you.” We need to step up and be what God wants us to be. For me it is hard ,but God is slowly changing my outlook on life. Because really society is searching for peace. Who are we if we don’t tell them. If we are hated we are going to be scared. It is our natural instinict to want to be loved and needed. Yet what is our whole purpose on life? It is to bring more people to the kingdom of God for eternal life. I must agree with Abby on this issue. It is not so much ashamed as it is being scared.
December 10th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
[…] are God’s children! Why are we so ashamed of Him? We should be boldly declaring “My Dad is bigger than your dad” to the world around us, […]