in the burning....
I have been thinking alot lately about the explosive growth of the early church, and what the logistical, evangelical, and theological reasons are behind their rapid growth. It is, I believe, mainly because of two reasons: faith and persecution.
The faith aspect is simple. If you had been on earth when Jesus was here, even if you werent a Christian, I'm sure you told your children about the entire ordeal. And for the church that the apostles started, they had all witnessed the events of His death and resurrection stories, the miracles, etc firsthand. I'm sure that is an aspect of the church that hardly diminished in the following generations. I think it would be hard not to believe in something that everyone around you acknowledges happened. Now as for as the theological implications of those events is to be debated.....
As far as persectution goes, when you constantly have people in your face, questioning you, poking fun at you, you actually might have to stand up for yourself, take pride in what you believe, and make an arguement.
For this reason alone, I sometimes consider transferring to a different college. I go to LU now, and I would never leave for a trite reason such as the dress code, RA's, etc, but for the simple fact that even though I am learning, I'm not being challenged; my faith is getting no work-out.
I am so grateful and blessed to be at a place that is so dedicated to the teaching of the Bible in every aspect of life, but it almost seems to me to be nullifying my faith a bit. I know what I believe and I know why, but faith is like a muscle; if you dont exercise it, it becomes weak. There is an assumed pretense that EVERYONE at Liberty is a Christian, which i know for fact is not true. However, the general assumption is such, so that everyone falls into a state of comfort in just "knowing what they know" and not ever having to worry about anyone seriously questioning "why?"
This relaxed Christianity is what bothers me... I guess this could be associated with the "Liberty Bubble" as far as LU students never stepping beyond the bounds of their Christian friends, or church relations, classes, etc. So it comes to no surprise that when someone who is not a Christian, or does not come from a conservative background, meets one of these people, their first impression is mainly negative, and the student is percieved as close-minded yet naive in the area of proving/arguing/discussing what they believe.
The whole issue of spoon-fed Christianity is an entirely different issue... Naivety in doctrine, yet prosthelytizing the masses...
long update, however maybe to someone worth reading...
thanks
-J.