Christian Life Questions
Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:31 pm
I've been browsing the God and Science site (brilliance! absolute brilliance!) and came upon one article -- Brownies with a Difference.
I've been a Christian...pretty much all my life. As well as having faith, I try to stay on the right path; I don't go to wild drunken parties, or hang out with people who do drugs, or curse and swear and all that. I ask Jesus for forgiveness for what I do wrong and try to avoid most situations that would push me to walk off the path.
But then I saw that Brownies article, which makes life sound...incredibly isolated and impossible. After all, unless you stick to strictly Christian music and G-rated movies, it's near-impossible to avoid secular influence in the world. I'm a huge science fiction fan -- read it, watch it, write it, even -- and I've seen a few Lord of the Rings showings in my life. I listen to modern music, within strict limits (without sexually explicit themes, mass swearing, that sort of thing), and most of my friends -- by virtue of similar interests and such -- are not believers. I have Muslim, agnostic, atheist, everyone friends. I do have Christian friends as well, of course.
So is the general view that I have to give up movies, music, friends, books, and even my passion for writing, or else I'm only living "halfway"? Some people have made it sound like you're not a real, bona fide, living-the-Word Christian until you do. I know that all the fiction I see and read and write is just that -- fantasy, nothing real. I don't mistake it to be otherwise. But I'm obviously going to encounter some undesirable language, and inevitably violence, no matter where I go or what I see.
Also, how does one manage to live a peaceful and happy life (within the world's limits, of course) and not think constantly about the fate of everyone else? I mean, most people I know aren't Christian, and sometimes it's hard for me to even think about them, because I know what's going to happen to them if they don't change. It's downright depressing. Any advice (besides prayer, which I'm working on there) for living a fruitful, upbeat life in this kind of world? I'm just going off to college, and I'm wondering...this is the start of my life, really. My life away and on my own. So how can I last 50-odd years of watching all this happen? (I'm not suicidal; don't get me wrong. I have no intention of killing myself.)
I've been a Christian...pretty much all my life. As well as having faith, I try to stay on the right path; I don't go to wild drunken parties, or hang out with people who do drugs, or curse and swear and all that. I ask Jesus for forgiveness for what I do wrong and try to avoid most situations that would push me to walk off the path.
But then I saw that Brownies article, which makes life sound...incredibly isolated and impossible. After all, unless you stick to strictly Christian music and G-rated movies, it's near-impossible to avoid secular influence in the world. I'm a huge science fiction fan -- read it, watch it, write it, even -- and I've seen a few Lord of the Rings showings in my life. I listen to modern music, within strict limits (without sexually explicit themes, mass swearing, that sort of thing), and most of my friends -- by virtue of similar interests and such -- are not believers. I have Muslim, agnostic, atheist, everyone friends. I do have Christian friends as well, of course.
So is the general view that I have to give up movies, music, friends, books, and even my passion for writing, or else I'm only living "halfway"? Some people have made it sound like you're not a real, bona fide, living-the-Word Christian until you do. I know that all the fiction I see and read and write is just that -- fantasy, nothing real. I don't mistake it to be otherwise. But I'm obviously going to encounter some undesirable language, and inevitably violence, no matter where I go or what I see.
Also, how does one manage to live a peaceful and happy life (within the world's limits, of course) and not think constantly about the fate of everyone else? I mean, most people I know aren't Christian, and sometimes it's hard for me to even think about them, because I know what's going to happen to them if they don't change. It's downright depressing. Any advice (besides prayer, which I'm working on there) for living a fruitful, upbeat life in this kind of world? I'm just going off to college, and I'm wondering...this is the start of my life, really. My life away and on my own. So how can I last 50-odd years of watching all this happen? (I'm not suicidal; don't get me wrong. I have no intention of killing myself.)