"Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary, use words..."
This phrase was the phrase on the back of a Teen Bible Quiz sweatshirt my sophomore year. I thought it was a good phrase, never really understood it until a couple of days ago.
About a week ago, my boyfriend and I had an argument about the same thing that we argue about. The only thing we argue about, religion. For the record, he is saved, but he thinks that what he believes is "mormonism." The only problem is I know more about his "religion" then he knows about Mormonism and Christianity combined. So when I say something in a conversation with him like "we argued about whether or not satan and Jesus are brothers" he says, "well the answer is obvious, no they aren't." So I reply, "really? cause mormons believe that they are..." so he says, "well maybe they are..."
See the problem? He doesn't know.
For a while I felt like his complete salvation was on my shoulders, as if I was plan A and there is no plan B. That may be the case, so I should not live my life as if there is a plan B, but that doesn't mean that whether or not he believes the right theology is on my shoulders.
You see for the longest time I was trying to show God's love, but when I get anxious and want to speed God up a bit, I present my case to him with logic and he just backs out because he can't defend himself.
You see in this rare argument that we had a couple of weeks ago, he told me that he's never coming to my church, he's never gonna be a Christian. I told him, I'm not asking him too - because that is something God has to do inside of him... not something I can just simply ask Tyler for. His response was something like "good because I'm not..." and I put down the phone and stopped listening.
I was really upset by our conversation. Which became obvious as we said "goodbye and I love you." He did apologize the next day, but it made our conversations silent and full of tension.
Two days after the argument, my best friend Chloe texted me and asked me what was up. I told her what had happened, and after stating my case, telling her that breaking up isn't an option. She told me that I can't think of his complete salvation and change in theology as something that is completely up to me. God has to do that work in him!
Lastly, she ended with... "remember, 'Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, use words...'"
That hit me right between the eyes!
My very goal, entering the relationship was to show him God's love and by that, I watched him slowly change into the amazing man he has become. However, I started bombarding him with facts when I started to get impatient - which is all the time now a days.
The whole "I'm right and you're wrong" strategy doesn't go well with someone when you are trying to get them to change their mind about something they themselves don't know much about.
That phrase that she gave me, reminded me how I thought I was going to handle the situation in the beginning. Pray for him, show him love... let my life show God's love, and show that he is working through me.
When I abandoned that, I abandoned all progress that I was making!
So I know I am only a freshman in college, but here's my advice for anyone who is praying for a non-believer... or believer, but their theology is skewed...
Preach the gospel at all times!
Then... ONLY if it's NECESSARY...
Use your words...
-Bec
This phrase was the phrase on the back of a Teen Bible Quiz sweatshirt my sophomore year. I thought it was a good phrase, never really understood it until a couple of days ago.
About a week ago, my boyfriend and I had an argument about the same thing that we argue about. The only thing we argue about, religion. For the record, he is saved, but he thinks that what he believes is "mormonism." The only problem is I know more about his "religion" then he knows about Mormonism and Christianity combined. So when I say something in a conversation with him like "we argued about whether or not satan and Jesus are brothers" he says, "well the answer is obvious, no they aren't." So I reply, "really? cause mormons believe that they are..." so he says, "well maybe they are..."
See the problem? He doesn't know.
For a while I felt like his complete salvation was on my shoulders, as if I was plan A and there is no plan B. That may be the case, so I should not live my life as if there is a plan B, but that doesn't mean that whether or not he believes the right theology is on my shoulders.
You see for the longest time I was trying to show God's love, but when I get anxious and want to speed God up a bit, I present my case to him with logic and he just backs out because he can't defend himself.
You see in this rare argument that we had a couple of weeks ago, he told me that he's never coming to my church, he's never gonna be a Christian. I told him, I'm not asking him too - because that is something God has to do inside of him... not something I can just simply ask Tyler for. His response was something like "good because I'm not..." and I put down the phone and stopped listening.
I was really upset by our conversation. Which became obvious as we said "goodbye and I love you." He did apologize the next day, but it made our conversations silent and full of tension.
Two days after the argument, my best friend Chloe texted me and asked me what was up. I told her what had happened, and after stating my case, telling her that breaking up isn't an option. She told me that I can't think of his complete salvation and change in theology as something that is completely up to me. God has to do that work in him!
Lastly, she ended with... "remember, 'Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, use words...'"
That hit me right between the eyes!
My very goal, entering the relationship was to show him God's love and by that, I watched him slowly change into the amazing man he has become. However, I started bombarding him with facts when I started to get impatient - which is all the time now a days.
The whole "I'm right and you're wrong" strategy doesn't go well with someone when you are trying to get them to change their mind about something they themselves don't know much about.
That phrase that she gave me, reminded me how I thought I was going to handle the situation in the beginning. Pray for him, show him love... let my life show God's love, and show that he is working through me.
When I abandoned that, I abandoned all progress that I was making!
So I know I am only a freshman in college, but here's my advice for anyone who is praying for a non-believer... or believer, but their theology is skewed...
Preach the gospel at all times!
Then... ONLY if it's NECESSARY...
Use your words...
-Bec
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