Today i wondered about the various people who went to my bible college (both in my year and otherwise) who are no longer, as anyone can tell, Christians (I seem to remember a stat that says that in any year at a bible college, within a decade, a third will no longer be going to church).
I wondered what they had to change.
If someone only looked at my possessions, they would be able to tell that I'm a Christian.
Last night i (finally!) put the majority of my music onto my new ipod. Of the 515 songs, about half would be, at least, nominally Christian.
If i stopped being a Christian, those songs would be awkward to listen to. Do i purge my ipod of religious tunes?
I also have a lot of books. Like $10,000+ worth. And the vast majority of them would be of little interest to a non-believer. I have plenty of bibles and commentaries and reference books and "spiritual literature." What do i do with them? Give them away? If so, why? Why would you share books that held a truth that you no longer hold to be true?
I have hundreds of files on my computer including previous sermons i have given, bible studies that i have written and heaps of apologetic what-not. Do i delete them all?
What do i do with the draws of files that i have stored? Or my college notes? Or the storage containers of knick-knacks from the last 15 years that i was connected to a church?
Do i need to find a new radio station in my car since the sixth FM option is a Christian radio station?
Do i need to become a rabid fan of Sunday night television? Do i fall in love with "So You Think You Can Dance?" because I'm now at home to watch?
(Let's pretend that it could be the case) How much do i need to alter my Facebook page? Do i simply change the status or de-friend anyone associated with my previous faith? Do i act as those i used to go to church with are now almost dead to me? Do i spurn their attempts to contact me and erase them from my mobile phones?
Do i now get in contact with people who used to go to church? Do we need to drink copious amounts of booze in strip clubs since we are raging pagans?
Finally, who do you tell about your de-conversion? Are you more evangelistic about your abandonment of faith than you ever were about telling people about Jesus?
2 comments:
"Do we need to drink copious amounts of booze in strip clubs since we are raging pagans?"
That line made me laugh. But in all seriousness, the rest of the post raises some interesting thoughts, such as do we have an inside and outside life, where we read and listen to Christian things at home, or in the car, but outside look like the rest of the world? And how do we successfully engage with a culture that no longer respects, or even understands the Christian 'culture'?
and in terms of other Christians falling away don't forget to get all your Christian tattoo's surgically removed..
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