Information Related to "Explain Your Beliefs Without Losing Friends!"
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If
you're in the Church of God, you've probably heard these questions many
times. They reflect others' surprise at the beliefs we hold. Being in
God's Church means having a different set of beliefs than most—beliefs
that often aren't popular, and that frankly make us quite different!
Many people claim to be Christian and believe in Jesus Christ as Savior,
but they don't necessarily believe in absolute truth. They assume there
are "many roads" to salvation, and one shouldn't claim that any particular
way is the only way. Our world also includes atheists and agnostics
who have no religion and think of religious people as ignorant. Basically,
these are the two types of people we come into contact with when we are
at school or out with our friends.
When people learn that we hold strong moral convictions (and even call it "truth"), we can suddenly become the odd ones out. People then want to know why we believe what we do, and we have to explain our beliefs. How can we do so without losing our friends? Should we debate the truth? What attitude should we take? This article will attempt to answer these questions.
Simply put, how can you defend what you do if you don't know why you do it? Many teens in the Church of God have faithfully kept the Sabbath and Holy Days, tithed on their allowance or paycheck, and kept away from worldly holidays—but did not understand why they did these things. They just did it because that's what their parents said to do.
So how do you gain a good understanding of your beliefs? One obvious answer is by reading your Bible. Though teens often have busy schedules, it is wise to set aside time each day to read the Bible. The Bible is the source of all doctrines in the Church (2 Timothy 3:16) and is the best place to start to get an understanding of what God wants us to do.
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Table of Contents that includes "Explain Your Beliefs Without Losing Friends!"
Other Articles by Erik Jones
Teens and religion: