Let's pretend your God was the kind of God that loved everyone unconditionally and wanted uncondtional love in return and as a result made it so there was no heavenly reward or hellfire punishment to motivate or threaten anyone into loving God.
Your choice was to be made COMPLETELY uncoerced with no expectation or fear of anything.
What would be your means to evangelize to a non-Christian to love and worship your God?
I worship only out of simple gratitude, awe and affection completely outside of any expectation of getting a reward or avoiding some kind of terrible doom or punishment. Do you feel the same?
2007-11-13 07:20:33 · 29 answers · asked by pixie_pagan 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Fish, it is curious you would ascribe your own reasons for my private gratitude?
Gratitude for being alive, for the blessing of the sunrise, good food, love, children all these things have nothing to do with any doctrine about salvation from hell.
2007-11-13 07:41:43 · update #1
You are doing fine young lady. Hypocritical false teachers are placing burdens upon God's people which are, as the Word of God says, TOO GRIEVOUS TO BE BORN; Matt 23:4 & Luke 11:46.
James 1:27, "PURE RELIGION and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world".
Did this verse say anything about trying to save the world by forcing their own beliefs upon others? NO!!
Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance: AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW". Without the Spirit, these fruits would not exist.
James 3:17, "But the wisdom that is FROM ABOVE is FIRST pure, then peaceable, gentle, AND EASY TO BE INTREATED, full of mercy and good fruits, WITHOUT PARTIALITY, and WITHOUT HYPOCRISY".
Most of the false doctrines, which they are so eager to share, are far from being easily intreated. I think these verses tell us how to live, and the judging belongs to God ALONE.
Peace, Joy, Love, Mercy, be with you!!
2007-11-13 08:10:17 · answer #1 · answered by 4KNOWN 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
"I worship only out of simple gratitude, awe and affection completely outside of any expectation of getting a reward or avoiding some kind of terrible doom or punishment."
This is a very strong indication that you've grown past the parent/child relationship of reward and punishment that's outlined in all the monotheistic religions. Congratulations! This would indicate that you are able to enter into a more fulfilling and mature relationship with the divine.
Unfortunately, given human nature, I doubt highly that you would be able to evangelize Christianity to a non-Christian without the aspect of "reward." It would be similar to someone trying to get you to change jobs without a pay raise and an increase in benefits. It's sad but it is the case for the vast majority.
You've grown past all of this. It's nice to see someone who is more spiritually evolved on these boards. Thank you for posting this question.
2007-11-13 07:42:16 · answer #2 · answered by gjstoryteller 5 · 3⤊ 2⤋
Uh, but that IS what a TRUE Christian is. The label was put on us, "Christian". Which I don't really mind cause it emulates what I believe, Christ IN ME!.
Now, as far as the punishments and all that, we have been given free will haven't we. Isn't it OUR choice? I can not MAKE my girl love me. She can not MAKE me love her. If one of us is not in love with the other there is room for disappointment and disdain as well. Don'tcha think it is the same with GOD?
Give Him a break and a chance while your at it.
Oh, I also worship and love Him out of gratitude and love for what He has done in me and my life. The "rewards" are just part of what comes along with the package>I didn't make the rules.
God Bless!
2007-11-13 07:34:11 · answer #3 · answered by xgarmstrong 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The absence of reward and punishment is a curious topic, as where does this leave individuals like Hitler in the afterlife. Just oblivion? Hmm...
Without the promise of an afterlife, what you are describing isn't Christianity; rather its some sortof deistic existence followed by oblivion, and with that sortof framework, I'm not sure how I'd evangelize, to be honest.
2007-11-13 08:34:53 · answer #4 · answered by Rob 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Though there are rewards for those who follow God, and though there are consequences for sin, you nonetheless described the Christian God: loving everyone unconditionally and not forcing anything upon anyone against their freewill.
My means of evangelizing would be to tell you the great things God has done in my life....and how more often than not, the one he has saved me from is myself. His dreams are always bigger than my own. And He is worthy more than anyone else of gratitude, awe, and affection!
2007-11-13 07:30:43 · answer #5 · answered by whitehorse456 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes, I do feel the same. I worship God for the same reasons. Because when I look around, I see and sense all of the wonderful things He has created for me and everyone else to enjoy. He must really love the human race to give us so many good things unconditionally.
2007-11-13 07:32:05 · answer #6 · answered by T W 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
First of all, my God does not threaten me into giving love. It was my choice. But if it was the way you propose, I'd have to say because my God gave me life, imbues my life with meaning, allows me to know love and all that goes with being human. And then there's the night sky filled with shooting stars, the moonlight on the ocean, the delight in seeing the turning of the wheel of the year, holding my baby, tasting chocolate, being able to walk and move and hear and just be and...okay, I'll stop now.
2007-11-13 07:32:18 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Christianity is not about the reward or the punishment. When one comes to know God, they understand what its all about.
Heaven is not about being in the most wonderful place in existence (though it is); neither is Hell about being in eternal torment (though it is). Heaven is about being in God's presence, and Hell is being away from God's presence.
My life is about worshipping God - here on the earth and in the afterlife. That's what I want to do. Punishment and reward are not why I do what I do, or why I believe what I believe.
Its simply this - God is worthy of worship and I am made to love Him.
2007-11-13 07:37:27 · answer #8 · answered by TWWK 5 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I'm a Christian. I don't proselytize. I don't like it when it's done to me, so I don't do it to others. I would use the same technique I use now, which is to be polite and not shove my religion in other people's faces. Many people have asked me about my beliefs, and I'm glad to talk about them. But I wait until I'm approached first. Sometimes, people see that I've got something in my life that's meaningful to me, and when they ask about it, I talk. In this case, I would give them a simple, easy-to-understand message of unconditional love. No Bible-thumping necessary. I'd make it sound like something beautiful, positive, and appealing, which it would be. Scaring people into religious belief never seemed like a good idea to me. It's one step away from a forced conversion.
2007-11-13 07:33:25 · answer #9 · answered by solarius 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I agree with Cautious. There is no point. live as you want to live, die as you want to die. Nothing will happen either way.
Praise God there IS a heaven! Praise God that he chooses to make a way for us when he did not have to! Praise God that he DOES love us unconditionally, and that he does not desire anyone to go to hell, but that everyone would be saved! That is why he sent his Son do die on the Cross. What do you have to do to "earn" heaven? Nothing but accept the free gift that God is offering to you! so, you don't have to "earn" it, you simply must accept the gift of Love God has offered. That is why I love my God!!...Because he first loved me!
2007-11-13 07:33:49 · answer #10 · answered by Tyson H 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋