I recently got a quote sent to me from this book: "I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus" By Don Everts, Doug Schaupp
To set this up the authors talk about thresholds (or stages) that non-Christian go through in their journey toward and with God.
"One thing is certain: people will regress and "go backward" through the thresholds as often as they progress forward. WE have hundreds of stories of people who once trusted us and then stopped trusting. Friends who were curious, but then their questions dried up, like a hose suddenly turning off. People on the journey who struggled to become open to change, only to slide back into jadedness. And seekers who seemed so close only to end their search without finding Jesus.
These are stories of heartbreak, when you joy turns to mourning and pain before the Lord. It has happened to us many times, and it will happen to you. We must not allow ourselves to grow cynical when our friends disappoint us. Instead, we ask God for a new heart, his heart for people, all over again. When our friends stop being curious, we go back to arousing curiosity. When they stop being open, we enter back into the tension of having patience and challenging like Jesus challenged."
I was struck by this because I do believe that it is easy to become cynical- cynical about people, about Church, about Christianity, and cynical about life. This is reality- this is a danger if we journey through life with people.
So, why am I cynical? Because I have not asked for a new heart, one more like His.
To set this up the authors talk about thresholds (or stages) that non-Christian go through in their journey toward and with God.
"One thing is certain: people will regress and "go backward" through the thresholds as often as they progress forward. WE have hundreds of stories of people who once trusted us and then stopped trusting. Friends who were curious, but then their questions dried up, like a hose suddenly turning off. People on the journey who struggled to become open to change, only to slide back into jadedness. And seekers who seemed so close only to end their search without finding Jesus.
These are stories of heartbreak, when you joy turns to mourning and pain before the Lord. It has happened to us many times, and it will happen to you. We must not allow ourselves to grow cynical when our friends disappoint us. Instead, we ask God for a new heart, his heart for people, all over again. When our friends stop being curious, we go back to arousing curiosity. When they stop being open, we enter back into the tension of having patience and challenging like Jesus challenged."
I was struck by this because I do believe that it is easy to become cynical- cynical about people, about Church, about Christianity, and cynical about life. This is reality- this is a danger if we journey through life with people.
So, why am I cynical? Because I have not asked for a new heart, one more like His.
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