More Questions from my Atheist Friend…

Some ones that I haven’t got around to answer…

ABOUT JOY:

I’d said: Definitely JOY!! Jesus told us that He came that we might live life to the full.

But you said there are many things, that others enjoy a great deal, that you turn away from because of Christ. Christianity is the antithesis of hedonism, which could also be described as “living life to the full”. There is not much in the Bible about Jesus having fun. If you are to strive to be Christ-like does that mean you should not have much fun? Or does your joy in Jesus replace any desire for joy in other things? Does a “True Christian” live a plain and simple life of abstinence and find joy only in God?

What does it mean to be “Christ-like”? Do you take this to be limited to attitudes to others and moderation in your own life? Very few people would want to live their life as Jesus lived his. He didn’t marry and supposedly died a virgin. Priests, Nuns and Monks emulate that but most Christians do marry and have children. That isn’t being Christ-like, but it is endorsed by the Bible of course (or there would be no Christians!)

ABOUT CONFESSING:

I’d said:

If we have confessed the sin we’ve been convicted of, we receive God’s forgiveness, and guilt is (or should be) gone. If we are still guilty about the things we’ve been forgiven for, then it’s a false guilt that we load on ourselves.

But to ask forgiveness you must recognise your guilt. As I understood Washer, and his talk about the “Narrow Path” you should constantly be examining yourself, seeking out guilt to repent of. Is this intense self-criticism? If you have a disagreement with a shop assistant do you relfect on it afterwards to see if you should repent form some remark you made? Or do leave it up to Jesus to let you know if you transgress? Washer is saying you have to work hard to stay on the path. That implies to me a constant cycle of self-criticism, guilt, repentance.

ABOUT REPENTANCE

I’d said:

It is much more than remorse, and feeling sorry for the wrong. It means change.

So if you sin less does that confirm you are saved? Consider a man is prone to angry outbursts. He finds Jesus and manages to control his anger most of the time. But he still sometimes gets angry. Is he saved? Anger is probably a bad example because you don’t need Jesus to manage a temper. But I’m not sure what Jesus can do that can’t be done in other ways so it will do as an example.