A Story Worth Telling

I recently had an anonymous individual attempt to comment on my blog, basically to the effect of “I can’t believe anyone would actually admit to being a conservative, creationist Christian in a public forum” and that it was the height of idiocy to believe such things, let alone admit that I believed them to the general public. Because I moderate my comments, I chose not to publish this one, but I have to admit that it probably didn’t have the effect that the author intended. He or she most likely meant to either a) rile me up into a good debate, or b) shame me into shutting up; but the effect that the comment actually produced was one of somewhat bewildered amusement.

Why should I not admit to my faith in a public forum? Why should I be ashamed of it? Why should I be ashamed to say what I believe and have people associate me with my words? (Note, by the way, that the comment was left anonymously…someone who didn’t want to be associated with their words in a “public forum”…J) Here’s the thing: I have a personal relationship with the God who created the universe, and who has laid out, in pretty clear terms, the things He wants us to know about Himself. Why shouldn’t I share that?

As Christian songwriter Larry Norman wrote,

“When you know a pretty story, you don’t let it go unsaid / You tell it to your children as you tuck them into bed / And when you know a wonderful secret you tell it to your friends / You tell them that a lifetime filled with Jesus is like a street that never ends.” If you were to discover the secret of life (as so many people claim to do every year,) you wouldn’t keep it to yourself, would you? You’d probably get on Oprah and tell the whole world about it, and write a best-selling book and make speaking engagements across country. It would be hard to keep you quiet—you’d be that one guy at the party that won’t let anyone else get a word in edgewise because you have just got to tell them about this!

It’s the same way with Christ, my friends! Not to sound cheesy, or to just reiterate what every other person out there is saying, but it’s the truth: I know the secret to life, the universe and everything (and no, the number 42 has nothing to do with it. J).

And I realize that the message of the cross sounds pretty stupid from the outside looking in. I seem to remember seeing a warning about that at some point—something about the message of the cross being foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those of us who are saved it is the very breath of God. It’s not my job to make the message of Christ pleasing for people who don’t want to hear it—I’m never going to be able to do that anyway. It’s not a “pleasing” gospel—it’s absurdity on a divine scale, and only through the grace of God can someone understand it, and only through the Holy Spirit can one accept it.

My place is simply to not be ashamed. To be bold and to be a light in the world—and yes, that includes the public forum of the Internet. So, in answer to your comment, my very dear Anonymous: Yes. I am very boldly a conservative, creationist Christian. And if you like, I could give you nicely laid out and researched reasons why I am such—in fact, I’ll probably end up giving you more information than you ever wanted. J I’m not afraid to proclaim my faith to the world, nor am I ashamed to be associated with the truth. Jesus said, “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33)

For my part, I’ll just continue to “sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation to every man and every nation—sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation and let the people know that Jesus cares!”