A girl with no conviction about the Bible but calls herself a Christian?
vs
A girl who's very passionate about Christianity but has bought into any combination of false doctrines? (EG prosperity teaching, emergent preaching, misinterpretation of spiritual gifts that sound more like wiccan practices, etc)
dear folks, me , id take the woman who was passionate for CHRIST .. if she has a teachable and willing to be taught spirit to her.. lots of new folks dont have the understanding and get it right alot.. they go by what theyre taught or what they read and understand.. but if theyre willing to listen and accept correction you got summin then... and then theres one thing you cant teach anyone.. and thats passion for CHRIST... one either has it or they dont.. so if you can just get her on the right track that lady will do wonderful things for the kingdom.. and her passion will rub off on others..
curious as to who decided the woman who called herself Christian is not committed? What scale is being used to make that determination? This is not the first time the question has been raised.
There are some doctrines that DO NOT subscribe to boasting about how strong their faith is. I think cattleman can site the exact verse, and the meaning. Raised a strong Lutheran, it was frowned on to announce and or proclaim how powerful one's faith is, and certainly not to publically draw attention... now somewhere there is a middle for the two extremes. In my mindset, i just can't talk about how committed i am to Christ in my profile, just can't, afterall, i know and He knows, which is enough for me. AND i really don't appreciate people i hardly know questioning me on my depth of love for Christ (or judgement day). Please this is not to infer something personal from the question... i find myself thinking this ever so much in the last couple weeks from these forum chats.
the appearance of boastfulness can actually be witnessing... that is not the point i am raising :)
While there are differences between the emerging and emergent church, they both stem from the heretical belief that we can win the lost to Christ if we blend our beliefs with their culture. For example, in our culture it's offensive to tell someone that he is wrong; so the emergent church has stopped telling people that Christianity is the only truth and instead tell people it's the truth that works for them. It's damnable heresy. Don't touch.
Hi Golden,
Paul let's us know there is both no condemnation now for those who are in Christ (meaning the judgement that will condemn the lost to torment); and he also tells us that we have no boasting because Jesus paid it all. So, when I talk about a hypothetical girl who's statement of belief isn't matched by conviction, I'm talking about alleged Christians who acknowledge belief in Christ but do not submit to His authority in their lives, who are embarrassed about His word, who live out fleshly desires, or who lacks a zeal for Christ and love for His saints.
There are many people who are passionate about their good works who could be part of the first group of people (in this case women, though you're welcome to answer the question and substitute men). For example, at one church I knew a girl who was a student leader, lead a small group, and participated joyfully in outreach; and when anyone would try to share something amazing God either showed them in the word or was doing in their lives, she would get uncomfortable because she knew her zeal was after a christ of her own making and was not after the Christ of God and the Bible. Romans 10 speaks about the zeal jews like the pharisees had for god that fits this pattern.
Hope that helps ;-)
Oh, um, I hope no one minds that I've posed the question and haven't answered. I think, like Cattle, it's hard for me to unconditionally say which is more of a stumbling block for me.
I would say that both are turn offs.. but if its just as knowing as a friend, I'd say the girl who does not have conviction but calls herself a christian would be my choice. I guess if someone is teachable its that person. Though its not easy to say that that person is teachable.
However I would say that though the second person is passionate about Christianity she is passionate about it because of the wrong things. It might perhaps be that she does not have real faith at all but is passionate about Christianity only because it promises all the good things. Once she learns that Christianity is more of a religion which promises trials and tribulation, she might give up. And many of the people who are after prosperity gospel and false doctrines often are not even ready to hear the others position. Many times they think of others are the poor believers who don't have enough faith to grasp and get the promises from God.
But if the passion was for CHRIST and following his ways and loving him, then its a different thing. As far as the passion is for Christianity, its not good, because there are different versions of Christianity, but Christ is only one and to be passionate about him is a wonderful thing! In that case the person who is passionate about Christ would win hands down :)
Well, this applies to men also, not just for girls, i guess.. lol..
She calls herself a Christian but has no "conviction." Big whoopy doo! Calling yourself a Christian is meaningless without "conviction." All you have said about her is that she "calls herself a Christian."
Now I don't know what you mean exactly by conviction but I assume there is a lack of excitement, passion, and depth of faith; that she rarely, if ever, even reads scripture or anything spiritual. That she probably attends some boring church somewhere, if at all.
Why should such a woman NOT be a turn-off, whether she is Christian or not? Only passionate and spiritual women are attractive to me.
As for the second woman, I have never heard of the term "emergent preaching" and I am not a fan of prosperity teaching but the woman is on the right track and that is good enough for me. She is positive, full of faith, passionate, and - let's hope - willing to continually learn and understand. She has conviction and is probably a dynamic woman. She may be misled about some things but who isn't? We are all learning and imperfect.
I also happen to know from previous discussions that you are an anti-charismatic so I know there is a strong bias in you when you describe the second woman.
So - hands down - the first woman is a turn off. The second woman is not.
Both. Im a competitive guy, and I want a girl who challenges me in my faith, rather than trying to drag her up to my level if that makes sense.
GIRL 1 - a person who says they are a christian but doesn't read the bible, is like a person who says they support a football team but dont know the game scores, own any of the kits, doesnt know the player names and is hard pressed to even know where their home ground is! Yes, they may be a supported, but their not invited to my house to watch the game. They will be asking "what's that mean?" and "Who's that?" the whole way through.
GIRL 2 - a person with poor theology suggests strongly they have poor foundations. The waters have already come and their house has moved away with the water. They have already moved away, and will move again.
BOTH can be helped with many hours, but they would want to change, and God has to be in it.
You would do better trying to find a wise girl who doesnt need fixing.
