My Moral High Ground

My penultimate post of the day, I promised I would dedicate to a friend of mine, for the sake of anonymity I shall call him ‘Ojneb’.

The hardest part about living as a Christian isn’t the self control, it isn’t the sacrifices, it isn’t the stereotypes, it isn’t even the religion. The hardest part about living as a Christian is knowing people that don’t.

When somebody changes your life around as drastically as God did with mine you want to tell the whole world. Like falling in love you long to shout it from the roof tops, proclaim it from the highest mountains,spreading his word and love. Unfortunately it soon divulges that not everyone is as super enthusiastic about your new found salvation as yourself and your high spirits are quickly dampened. Dont get me wrong, most people are wonderfully accepting and respectful if not a little scathing, but suddenly you realise that unless they know this love for themselves they will never truly understand. Your heart breaks.You may have your own name safely stored in heaven, but the people around you, the people you love and care about, know little or nothing of what that means.

Evangelism is a tricky character, we rarely hit the mark, being either too intimidating or too nonchalant. We fumble over badly memorised Bible passages and then end up saying something we never intended, offending everyone in close proximity (this could just be me). With ‘Ojneb’ the situation is slightly different, he knows the whole salvation spiel already. I met ‘Ojneb’ briefly when he attended the first Christian Union meeting last year, he never came back. As I have said in previous posts, it troubles me that students don’t come back to the CU, so one night after probably a few pints too many, I end up near interrogating poor ‘Ojneb’ as to why he doesn’t bother. Expecting the usual responses of “too busy”or “not my scene”, my jaw hit the floor when he told me he’d become an atheist.

I can just about handle trying to evangelise to be people who have never known God, but to someone who has known God and totally turned their back on him, I did not have a clue where to start. In all honesty I still don’t, but having opened this can of worms I won’t walk away until he finds God again. Yes Ojneb, you will find him again.

What do you hope in? For many of us its the usual things, happiness, health and peace in this life. But what about those less fortunate? the hungry? the homeless? what hope do they have when those simple pleasures can seem so unobtainable?

Hope 2008 is an initiative of the churches of Britain and Ireland which is helping to demonstrate Christian faith in action and to explain the meaning of that faith in villages, towns and cities throughout the UK. On their site they suggest five different ways in which to offer people hope.

• Hungry

Hard to imagine that in wealthy countries like the UK and Ireland that there could be people going hungry. But there are. The reasons are complex. But does it matter how they ended up hungry? Let’s just “be the hope” to them! Oasis is doing just that. Why not join them?

• Stranger

A stranger is a friend we haven’t met yet! One way to “be the hope” is to befriend someone that others don’t care about. For example, The Marylebone Project gives homeless women a shared community and sense of belonging and helps them into independent living.

• Naked

Vulnerable people are often exploited by deceitful and violent people. Stop The Traffik is a global movement working to combat the fastest growing global crime, people trafficking. Visit their website to find out about the issues, and how you can “be the hope” to those affected.

• Sick

We may not be nurses or doctors but we can still help people who are sick. Only 2% of people have basic life saving skills; if more people did then more lives could be saved. St John Ambulance helped with this film and need volunteers. Click HERE to find out more.

• Prison

Hope in prison? How can we can “be the hope” for people in prison? One way may be Restorative Justice - click HERE to find out more or read about it on the Prison Fellowship website (PF helped in the making of the film).

If you want more information on how to give hope to others, why not send off for your free copy of recipes for hope.