"To anyone who is looking for good reasons for being a Christian, let me suggest the only really good one that I know....that in this man there is power to turn goats into tigers, to give life to the half-alive even to the dead; that what he asks of us when he says 'follow me' is what he also has the power to give, and this is the power of God that he has, that he is, and that is why men have called him the Christ."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 245-246)
One of the great challenges that comes from scripture is "to be able to give a reason for the hope that is in you." Or as Buechner asks, "for being a Christian."
So why am I a Christian? Good question. First I was born into this faith, and raised and nurtured in it. But so have countless millions of folk throughout history who would not claim that faith. I know that wherever life has taken me physically that sense of community that I find in Christian faith communities has grounded and sustained me during that time. Of course community can be found in lots of ways, there are plenty of organizations to join.
There is of course the person, Jesus of Nazareth, I didn't know him in a physical way that I would say the many friends that I have, but I count him among the closest friends I've got. And I try to emulate that friendship between us with the other friends that I have. His modeling of living as a human, in any time, one that values others and seeks not one's own glory but the glory that comes from knowing that I am beloved and beloved people know how to extend love matters greatly to me.
I don't know that I've given any reasons here to be a Christian. I do know this that if I weren't I wouldn't be who I am.
Blessings,
Ed
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