I recently had a conversation with a friend who didn't want to discuss religion with me. I had asked him why he believed what he believes. I didn't get an answer to my question but he rather went ahead to tell me how he discussed religion with only open minded people. I was a bit taken aback because this meant that he didn't think of me as an open minded person.
When you're born into an extended family with multiple worldviews then, you've got to be opened minded. You grow up with uncles, aunties, cousins, grandparents and other relatives who are Christians, Muslims and African traditionalists. You grow up in an environment where all these worldviews play an important role in your socialisation process.
You learn to respect each worldview and the people who practice them so that you can live peacefully with everyone. This interaction between different worldviews continues even in the larger community and schools.
I'm a Christian but I'm not a Christian because I was born into a Christian nuclear family. I'm a Christian because it's the sole worldview that answers my questions and God has proven his word over and over again in my life.
There have been times that I nearly lost my faith in the Christian God because although I had been to church all my life, I didn't understand the essence of what I believed. Then in senior high, I had to study Christian Religious Studies which almost caused me to lose whatever faith I had left. We debated the Bible in class and pointed out the loopholes we saw. It made me question if the Bible was really God's word. We studied the letter and not the spirit filled word.
As though everything was trying to make me lose my faith, I studied Religious Studies at the university as a minor. However, this turned out to be such an eye opener. I was introduced to more worldviews than before. As I studied these worldviews I began to see the differences between their beliefs and the Christian faith. I realised that I had been lied to in junior high where I was taught that all monotheistic religions worshipped one God.
This inspired me to read more about these other religions so that I would be better placed to defend my faith. I also had to grow in my knowledge of the word of God and Footworksinternational.org has been such a blessing to me in this light.
After searching, I decided to be a Christian because Christianity is the only worldview that offers forgiveness, love, justice and redemption. God knows of my sinful nature and so He has provided a ransom for my life. Through my faith in Jesus, my old sinful nature is done away with and I'm freed from sin. It is only in Him that the meaning of life is found and outside him, there is no life and relationship with God. It is through Jesus that I have the assurance of my salvation, I know my final destination. I know that life isn't meaningless neither does it end in death.
In Islam, I could never know whether I qualified to enter paradise after my death because entry into paradise depends on my goodness. My bad and good deeds must both be weighed to determine where I spend eternity. In Hinduism, I never know how much sin I have to pay for and how many lifetimes would be enough to pay for everything.
In Christ, I know why I have a sinful nature and how Jesus has taken care of this nature because he decided to take my place and receive my punishment! I am justified and cleansed because he gave his life for me. I'm a new creature who is growing in her new nature and life.
While I respect all other worldviews, I believe that everyone needs Jesus. You don't lose anything by making Jesus the Lord of your life; you rather gain everything and become who you've always been meant to be. I respect all worldviews but that doesn’t prevent me from sharing the truth with them. Jesus is the only way to God, there is no other path that leads to salvation.
There is a scenario that one pastor used to explain the truth of Christianity, let me ask you the question he asked;
if you’re walking on a road and then, you get to a point where the road branches into two; and there are two people at this point where one is dead and the other one is alive, who would you ask for directions from?
The answer is so obvious, isn’t it? I’m a Christian because Jesus is alive. It is an undisputed fact that Jesus died and rose again and continues to live. Do you know that the gospel could have been dismissed and crushed in its early days if the authorities could have produced the body of Jesus? In order to rubbish everything the Apostles and early believers were testifying of, they only had to bring the body of Jesus to uncover their lies but the authorities and people of other faith couldn’t because the tomb of Jesus was empty. Jesus is alive! For those who say that Jesus was substituted on the cross, don’t you think that the authorities in the day the Jews, the Romans and other unbelievers could have easily used this to shut the mouth of the early Christians?
Just think about it, why would many people especially the apostles who had been with Jesus die for a lie? Why would they insist to the point of death that Jesus Christ was alive? They chose to die than renounce their faith because they were bearing witness to the truth, Jesus is alive.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched--this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 1 John 1:1, NIV
There is no name given under the heavens that a man should be saved but Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the one you need today. I’m a Christian because Jesus is alive and answers all my questions. If you doubt me, I give you an invitation to sincerely pray and ask Him to show you the way to God.
