# Questions for Christians. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2001, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875 "2001-02-26T01:38:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/21 "2001-03-02T16:58:16Z")
I think this thread has been characterized by a minimum of potshots, and for that I’m glad. And by and large I agree with **FoG** (for once!) (Of course, it helps that **Lauralee** passed him the crib notes ;)) And **fHg** , it’s good to see you over here. Bunch of threads your opinion would be valuable additions to, mostly in this forum. My responses to the questions: **1. Why do I have to do this publicly?** You don’t. However, the whole idea is one of entering into a life-transforming relationship. “Accepting Jesus” is more like getting married than anything else in everyday life, if you don’t mind mixing a few metaphors. Given that, your everyday life is going to change. Because part of what you buy into is to **be His witness**. I hasten to add that that does not mean to go around doing your best J.W./Mormon knocking-on-doors impression --unless that happens to be what you feel called to do, and get confirmation of. That’s among the most useless forms of witnessing I know of – virtually everyone responds by rejecting you and the message you’re trying to bring. But maybe you feel called to speak out against the death penalty, or abortion, or the local gambling club, or whatever strikes you as something that is just plain wrong. Maybe you feel called to sit down with the unwashed and unloveable and show them the human caring that’s missing from their lives. Whatever it is, you need to be doing it in Jesus’s name. And in so doing, you’re of course in fact witnessing for Him. If you decide to affiliate with a local church that expects some kind of formal, upfront commitment rite, you do it proudly, as someone He has called. But no, you’re under no obligation vis-a-vis Him to do any particular kind of commitment. You may be so obligated, as regards your neighbors, as His loving friend privileged to let people know that you are. But that’s between you and Him, and secondarily you and them. **2. If only God knows that I love God, do I still get into heaven?** What Lauralee said. Technically yes, practically not really – because you will (presumably) feel it important to let people know. (I say this because in my experience most people who do decide to commit to Jesus **do** in fact get that sense of needing to make it public.) Besides, part of his instructions are: > [@](#): > > Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven. \*\*3. If someone Loves God, can that someone do bad things (pay for abortions, swear, fornicate…) and still get into heaven? \*\* Sure. Happens all the time. The general idea, however, is that you start feeling guilty about doing “bad things” – and that’s the prick of conscience, God working within you to help you fight what might be moving you do act against His will. Let me note that your moral choices are the ones you feel called to by Him, not necessarily what somebody whips open a Bible and quotes verses out of context to prove to you are “bad.” This **repentance** is not to be confused for one moment with guilt and self-denial. That would be a disgusting way to work. To take “fornication” from your list as an example, God knows darn well that she is a gorgeous woman and you’d just love to jump her bones – He made her gorgeous and gave you a sex drive, after all – but the idea that you’re **enjoying** your new life in Him far more than getting your rocks off in a transient pickup with her is the key to this whole principle. And, of course, He smiles on the idea of you and she finding each other the human being you’d like to spend the rest of your lives with, and committing to each other for a lifetime, and then enjoying sex as He intended it to be – the physical celebration of the love you share. Much like **dogsbody** said over on the Seven Deadly Sins thread, nothing is specifically wrong; the sins are **perversions** of God’s good gifts. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/22 "2001-03-02T17:15:49Z")
**Falc** , I’m sorry if you think it was over the top, but I stand by my position. I mean, look at how someone I’ve **never even heard of** addresses me for the first time: > [@](#): > > Yeah, all us fundies should stop calling everyone who has zippo understanding of a belief in Christ an \*\*\*hole. Great insight. _thumbs up_ Right. Because it’s not like I or my wife have ever **been** Christians or anything, so we sure have “zippo understanding of a belief in Christ.” And certainly it doesn’t pay to, you know, know something about someone before you say something that leads to a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease. I can’t think of a better word to describe Wildest Bill, FriendofGod, JerseyDiamond, and all their cohorts. People whose minds are completely closed to new information, who obstinately refuse to ever consider evidence contrary to their premises, who are pathologically incapable of learning anything new . . . seems like a perfectly appropriate word to me. ---
**Author:** ![Freedom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Freedom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freedom)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/23 "2001-03-02T17:44:37Z")
> [@](#): > > I can’t think of a better word to describe Wildest Bill, FriendofGod, JerseyDiamond, and all their cohorts. Over-exuberant? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/24 "2001-03-03T00:40:15Z")
[Alan Greenspan voice] I cannot abide Irrational Over-Exuberance! [/Alan Greenspan voice] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/25 "2001-03-12T06:49:33Z")
Thanks to everyone for answering the questions. I appreciate the time you’ve taken. Here are some things that stick in my mind: > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by JerseyDiamond_ > What God expects from us is to try to stay away from sinful things… > If we mess up, you just ask God with a sincere heart for forgiveness, he is forgiving… > As for fornication, We should not be having sex before marriage, but if we have, we ask for forgiveness and try to do better… > The bottom line is to do the best you can. No body can tell you if you’re going to heaven or hell. You’ll know somehow, just by the relationship you have with God. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by puddleglum_ > However, if we continue to do things God hates willfully and without remorse, how can we say that we love God? > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Lauralee_ > It’s not about public prayer or doing good works in front of others, just about being willing to acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord in front of others. > According to the Bible, it’s not possible really for you to love God and for only you to know it. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by FriendofGod_ > You are so changed by God that it’s just naturally obvious to those around you… > God comes into your life and _changes_ you… > He literally gives you a new nature and set of desires. You _want_ to do the right thing and don’t _want_ to sin. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by pldennison_ > He’s right – if the bulk of the fundies on the SDMB are any indication, you become an a\*\*hole. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Polycarp_ > If you decide to affiliate with a local church that expects some kind of formal, upfront commitment rite, you do it proudly, as someone He has called… > Let me note that your moral choices are the ones you feel called to by Him, not necessarily what somebody whips open a Bible and quotes verses out of context to prove to you are “bad.” This is how I am understanding your responses: Becoming a Christian involves loving God, and giving one’s life to God. Whether the “rebirth” occurs publicly (with Baptismal pools or ceremony) or privately is a matter of choice – one should follow his/her heart. Once the person Belongs To God, (s)he will _choose_ to do good works and follow the will of God. If (s)he truly loves God, then (s)he will be able to resist the temptation to sin. The Christian who truly loves God will be open about this love, but will not make a tremendous public show about how righteous (s)he is. The exceptions are those “witnesses” who feel called to share their faith with others, and to “save” the souls of others. Loudmouth holier-than-thou Christians aren’t really Christians, but they do inspire extreme displeasure in others – who call them “fundies” and “a\*\*holes.” According to what I’ve read, I don’t truly love God. Why else would I be guiltlessly desire to indulge in fornication? Since I (apparently) don’t love God, I must not be a Real Christian. I still love Christians, though. I suppose I should keep searching for Truth – just not in church. Thanks again, to all of you. ---
**Author:** ![Lauralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lauralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lauralee)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/26 "2001-03-12T15:37:08Z")
> [@](#): > > If (s)he truly loves God, then (s)he will be able to resist the temptation to sin. _Yikes!_ This isn’t what I meant at all. More like, if (s)he truly loves God, the (s)he will **try** to resist the temptation to sin. Everyone fails. It’s part of being human. Perfection is not a requirement of Christianity. > [@](#): > > Loudmouth holier-than-thou Christians aren’t really Christians, but they do inspire extreme displeasure in others – who call them “fundies” and “a\*\*holes.” This, also, is not my experience. I’ve found that more often than not, the loud variety of Christian is a _new_ Christian. They’ve got this brand new faith, and a real desire to do something with it, but not the learning (and I mean Christian training here) to do it effectively. It’s not in the least bit unusual for them to be called fundies or a\*\*holes, though! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2001, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875/27 "2001-03-12T16:28:38Z")
**dlb** made an analogy between publically declaring your love for God and publically declaring your love for your girlfriend: > [@](#): > > Why do you have to say you love your girlfriend publicly? Why do we have public marriages, as opposed to very private ones? We _do_ have private marriages. It’s called eloping. Not everyone gets married this way, but some do. > [@](#): > > Why do young people go around holding hands and making out in the park? Because it feels really nice. 😉 It also says to all other would-be suitors that your girlfriend is _taken_, so keep your cotton-pickin’ mitts off 'er. And in a way, the Christian who goes around publically bleating about his/her Christianity in an insistent fashion has the same effect: most everyone else around him/her loses interest in getting involved with this person’s God. > [@](#): > > If only your girlfriend knows that you love her, do you really have a relationship (get into girlfriend heaven)? What do you think? It only takes two to tango. Or horizontal-lambada, for that matter. And if doing the horizontal lambada doesn’t qualify as “girlfriend heaven”, I don’t know what does. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-for-christians/55875.md?page=1)