Change

A young American and a young man from India were attending an International Conference. During a break in the proceedings, they found themselves talking to each other about religion. The young man from India was very hostile toward Christianity, and the young American was trying to discern the reason for the hostility. “Is it something in Jesus’ teaching that turns you off?” he asked. “No,” came the reply, “It is not anything like that. The thing I resent most about Christians is that they are not Christian.” He went on to share some of the unloving, dishonest treatment he had received at the hands of professed Christian people. Christianity, of course, has no monopoly on this kind of thing. But that young man had hit upon the one aspect of Christian discipleship that is the key, really, to whether or not our Faith has made us happy: Has it made a difference in the way we live? When we encounter God in Christ in an…