Youth Celebration (Part 2)

Continued...

Q5: I want to be a Christian, but what if I change my mind?I want to be a Christian, but I’m afraid that I can’t “get out” if I suddenly change my mind. Is Christianity difficult to get out off like, say, a gang or cult?

You don’t have to go to court or get thrown into a detention centre for “counselling” indefinitely, tat’s for sure! But don’t “try Jesus” like drugs or chewing gum either – “Just try, try and see if I like it”.

Consider seriously who Jesus is, what He stands for, what He teaches. It's about “giving all that you are for all that He is” so count the cost before you leap.

Q6: Premarital sex - why not? Christians just want to stop our harmless fun. We agree that we shouldn’t sleep with whomever we like, but if we are already in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship and we love each other, why can’t we sleep with each other? It’s just an expression of love. And even if we break up, it’s worth it—the experience was wonderful and it strengthens us. As the saying goes, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”

A hug or kiss can also express love, but sex is designed to be so much more. It’s for two people who give themselves completely and exclusively to each other. That’s what you say in a marriage – to be spiritually, financially and legally one. Sex expresses that covenant made in marriage. Christians shun premarital sex not because they see it as ‘dirty’ but because they see it as sacred, beautiful and precious. Better rather to have loved in eternal, complete and exclusive abandon.

Q7: Abortion - why not? Christian’s don’t know what it’s like.Christians generally say we shouldn’t abort babies. But why not allow abortion in special circumstances, for instance, if the foetus has a defect or if the mother cannot raise the child or it was a result of a violent rape? Christianity just simply makes rules up without being in touch with real life.

Ouch. Of all people, Christians oughta know about rigid rules that are not compassionate. Because Jesus frequently scolded the Pharisees for exactly that. They impose harsh rules that is a burden to the people and dont lift up a finger to help them carry it.

For example, Sabbath was meant to be a day of rest from labor and be refreshed in worship and fellowship. But the religious leaders of Jesus' day start to make up rules that you can’t even heal a suffering man on Sabbath?! Jesus told them that the Sabbath was meant for people, not people made for Sabbath.

In other words, rules are made for life to flourish, life is made to keep rules per se. But on the question of abortion though, we must first answer a fundamental question: "What is the unborn? Is it just a lump of tissues? Or is the unborn a human being?"

If the unborn is not human, then who cares what you do with it? But if we are talking about a human life, then abortion is about taking a human life. And rules that protect human lives are not oppressive, but compassionate and humane.

So unless you get that, abortion doesnt make sense. yes there may be some tough moral dilemmas in which abortion is ethically permissible. One example is when abortion is needed to save the life of a mother. It's still taking a human life, but in order to save another human life. These are complex situations that we have no time to go in detail. Rape is a heinous crime of violence, but two wrongs don't make a right. Aborting the child is to enact another act of violence.

We can explore these issues in a later forum, perhaps. But don't lose sight of the fundamental question that human unborn child/life is involved here.

Q8: Is God really here in difficult circumstances?Christians say that they feel God is there with them in difficult situations. Aren’t they just telling themselves a lie to make them feel better?

I'd understand this question to be about the sheer subjectivity of ‘feeling’ God, you cannot verify it. Hope I get it right. For example, if I claim that my late granma appeared to me in a dream, there's no way you can verify if it's real or not. It's something that happen in my dream that you have no access.

But what if Granma appeared to me at Sunway Pyramid skating rink at 12pm, in front of 100 witnesses? Now that's something public and open you can check out.

Is God with us in tough situations? Consider the cross when in a public way God incarnate took our suffering upon himself and identify with us. That's something out there in the open, that the world could see. God is with us. In our darkest hours.

It's an interesting notion about the ‘feel better’ projection of religion to meet our psychological needs, but if i were to create a god to soothe my loneliness, why cook up the idea of a holy God who “interferes” with our happiness? The God who is all knowing, all righteous and judges sinners is too traumatizing. I'd invent a god that is all loving, hugs me when i'm down but never 'campur tangan' in how i run my life, who i sleep with when things are going well. Isn't that a more convenient invention?

Q9: How does God help us? Christians say, “God will supply all our needs” and “God will take care of you”. How does (the Christian) God take care of our troubles? For example, I have problems in school, in my family, with my boyfriend or girlfriend, with a lack of money, and so on. Will He be able to solve all this for me? If yes, how?

I guess we set ourselves up for a big disappointment if we trust in God with the expectation or demand that He wud be our one stop problem solver from zits to the perfect boy/girlfriend. It doesn't work that way.

If we're not careful, our motivation to be a follower of Jesus is actually in being more interested in God’s gifts than in the Giver himself. It's like marrying someone because you are more interested in the wedding ring than in the person you are marrying. God does answer prayers but often in ways we dun expect. Prayer is not a substitute for common sense either. Sometimes, the way God helps us to get good exam results, for example, is not by changing the mind of the examiners but by dealing with us, changing us to be a more diligent, humble and eager student. We shouldn't rule that out just bcos it doesnt come with spectacular lightning and thunderbolts.

Q10: God helped me, or is it coincidence?Christians sometimes thank God for things that happen (e.g. they found a good parking spot). Isn’t it just coincidence that the good thing happened, and not because God did anything?

Personally I wouldnt want to make my ability to find a good parking lot as a measure of God's goodness. At Menara TM (where I work), it's so unpredictable that my spiritual life will daily oscillate between 'thank God!' and 'why me, lord?'

But there is also an underlying point here that our understanding of 'what is ultimately real' color the way we look at evidences. You know the story about someone sees a glass as half empty while another sees it as half full.

For example, if someone got sick and you pray for him and got instantly healed, one could always say that its a coincidence if we are already convinced that miracles cant happen. But if there is God who works all things for our good, then we believe in providence - that we can see Him at work to heal not only in spectacular miracles but also through ordinary means like doctors, medicine, events, the body's natural healing abilities etc also.