Whoa...

Today was an intense Sunday school class at my church. It was good. It was eye-opening. Here's what happened.

This girl who just recently has been baptized (last week, actually) brought some visitors to church today. They were different looking, which was fine. It didn't take long into the lesson, however, until we found out they weren't shy nor did they share our faith. One of the girls, who had short hair, at one point called a group of girls (of which I was a part of) out for giggling when someone halfway sarcastically threw out the idea of someone worshiping trees as an example for something. She kept emphasizing that people need to respect other people's religions, which is true. But she pointed us out kind of as an example of disrespect which was hard to not take offensively. It was rude, but you couldn't react negatively.
Then we got into understanding other religions, which in a way goes hand in hand with respecting them. If you expect non believers to listen to you about God, you need to be willing to listen to them about what they have to say. And it's important to be educated in the beliefs of other religions so that you know what you're up against and can know how to approach the topic of God without offending them. All of this was a big discussion the whole time between us students.
Of course, that brings me to my reflections on all of this. That whole thing made me realize how... how sheltered I am. You know? I live in this little bubble of Christian friends at a Christian school where I think that I am a good enough example of Christ when in reality... I've never experienced anything except people agreeing with my faith. I've never had to face any discrepancy when it comes to God. And when you're surrounded by Christians your whole life, it's easy to sit around and talk about being prepared to share your faith... theoretically. But that's all it is. Theory. It's like in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (here I go haha) when Umbridge is teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts yet never lets them practice it. She says "The Ministry believes that a theoretical understanding is enough to get you through your OWLS." It's the same thing. We private school kids have never had to worry about our faith at school. At church or in chapel, we may have a lesson on witnessing but nothing that is said in there is the same as actually doing it (which, of course, is hard for me to say since I've never actually done it. This is just what I feel from today).

Phew... anyway.... long story short, I learned a lot today. The whole hour of Sunday school was so intense because you could tell God was working something... yet the girls didn't seem convinced of anything. I hope they come back next week. I will surely be ready.

So pray. Pray for those girls, that they will come back and that God is whispering in their ear. Pray for a chance to show God to others (that is different than sharing God, mind you). And praise Him for today. It was good.

With love and peace,
Sarah