Weekend Theology

Woah its been a while. Thought i might just write on this to exponge some feelings.

The other day me and kelly met some friends that she had known a long time ago. Really cool peeps and had a great time.Got to talking and found that they were really all non-christian and by that I don't mean they had just been un-churched, actually quite the opposite. They had all grown up in church some even vocationally choosing ministry and then eventually chosen to no longer believe. We talked further and it was just interesting to me how they developed into where they were. Don't get me wrong I really appreciate, love, and respect them and their views. Infact I would think they are some of the smartest people that i know and really appreciate being able to talk and feel no pressure to win them as well as they win me.

This brings me to my real thought behind this post. How do I as a Christian continue this kind of discussion and yet still remain both a friend and consistent truthful view point..

You see, at least in this conversation I knew they understood almost any view i could provide. They had obviously originally been there maybe even thought that. Yet i could see certain questions, certain wisdom blocked them now from being able to believe in this truth or this way for that matter. It reminded me alot about Solomon. He had a personal God experience, he had followed him and he had so much wisdom, possibly the most yet in the end we ended so far from the Lord. It also made me think "isn't there a verse referring to thethe pain of wisdom". Even without i know that Paul says the gospel is foolishness to the wise. Its counter-intuitive. That being said I can understand the pains they might have with Christianity.

And so what can I do?
First I am in Awe of how Christianity- Loving and following the Lord- Can be so many things, hard,easy,rewarding,disasterous,dangerous,and safe at the same time. How its counter-intuitive, why would i understand a parodox that is Christ on Earth saving me? Yet that is the only really rational way I can understand.
Second I found that Being like Jesus is all the more important in these times. Had I entered this discusion as a fundamentalist I would have been too stuck to accept my new friends and love them and too distanced to relate to them so i could love them. Jesus was a master of this, such as to the woman at the well or Nicodemus even. He gave to them individually what they needed. maybe that was to be heard maybe to answer questions, maybe to love them, maybe to let them be wrong. Either way even if he was motivated to "save them" as most christians are he surely didn't tell them they needed him or hell, that comes later if at all all he did was give them what they needed. He answered them.
Third and finally I saw just the importance of a being flexible. To be able to reconcile all things to the Lord. Like I said before why is it that i put so much emphasis on things that won't matter at the time. For one friend Hell was his hardest to understand issue. But why is that important- if everything else, about love and Christ, is true and very much in agreement with the gospels why can't that be enough for now. Jesus meets you where you are. If theology wasn't at least somewhat flexible then everything that ran into it would chip a little bit off every time that happened. Should it not be flexible to at least allow someone in where they are at. I think so.