An interesting conversation

This is the conversation I've been having today, notice now long winded I am....*sigh*

K:
So I was curious as to what you were going to say when we were talking about not giving L his gift until Monday and offending people.

B:
I was going to say that I think that Christians shouldn't be so darn offended all the time that people don’t worry about us. We have new life in Christ and therefore understand things that are not of this world that non-believers can"t understand without that relationship with Christ. Therefore, our reaction to keep fighting and winning the battle is useless. To me it causes nothing but more estrangement between believers and non-believers. I’m not saying don’t stand up for your faith, I’m not saying when people are talking to you about Christmas don’t be absolutely clear that we believe that it’s about Christ’s birth.
But “shaming” people for not allowing us to have a Christmas tree as opposed to a non-denom tree is pointless. We all want to talk about our faith, but we should be living it too. Jesus met with people that were followers of the law but not of God and he didn’t spend his time trying to make them believe they were wrong, or argue semantics about the name of a day. He loved them, he lived in community with them, he lived faith in addition to speaking about it.
If Christians are going to be vindictive and manipulative about bringing in all religious ornaments when they were specifically notified that the company is having a non-denom holiday celebration then what message does that send? I became a believer because people took the time to invest in my life, to listen to what I had to say and because believers gently spent time with me and lived out what it was they read in the bible. I did not become a believer because someone hung a nativity on the Christmas tree at the bank I worked at. I did not become a believer because people passive aggressively threw God in my face time and time again because they were going to push me towards him.
I’m not saying that people can’t come to faith that way, but it is by far the lesser of percentages you know….and coming from where I came from before I was saved, every single forced celebration pushed me farther and farther from Jesus because I didn’t want to be pushy and righteous like the people witnessing to me.
Not saying you are like that in even the slightest bit.
But Jesus, to the point of dying on the cross, didn’t get offended except when someone spoke out against his father in heaven. So who are we to be offended because we can’t say Christmas when we are certainly more then free to still celebrate the joy that is in a relationship with Christ in every way. No one’s blaspheming God by taking away the word Christmas for 40 hours a week, no one’s persecuting us for faith by calling it non-denominational tree. But Christians are still so offended that they have to go to battle and fight the fight with non-believers? I don’t buy it. They’ll know we are Christians by our love not our battle tactics.

K:
honestly, I was bothered by it more than I thought I would have been and more than I would have liked to have been. I remember our pastor preaching one Sunday about how easily offended we are. Or maybe that was you telling me about your pastor? So yeah, after I had my fit about it, I realized how much I really over reacted. And while I see your point where Jesus wasn’t offended when he was crucified and endured all that He did and I agree with that and what you said about living among those who were followers of the law.
I am bothered by the fact that this country has come away from the beliefs it was founded upon and that it seems those concerned with being politically correct cannot see why the holiday originated. All other holidays, be it they are the non-religious holidays, we certainly remember why we have the holiday and reserve time to reflect on that. At times it seems that they are just pushing the Christian holidays farther from the truth, you know? And I’m sure you’ve heard this point argued before but if a country is founded upon a certain religion, or the official religion of a country, people who move or visit there expect to see those religious traditions or expressions of faith. But when it comes to America, the melting pot, it’s hush hush about religion, when it’s the freedom of religion and speech that draw a lot to America. There, I think I’m done…

B:
Well, America is the melting pot. While this country may have been founded by Christians per say, it was founded based on the melting pot ideals. That people can come here and be free to express themselves whether it is Christian or not, whether it is protestant, catholic or whatever.
I don’t know exactly. I think that Christians spend so much time worrying about what will make them feel better and doing nothing to help other people feel better. It may just be the outreach kick that I’m on, but until we all asked M no one asked anyone why they were offended. We all just complained about being offended without thinking that M may have been one of the people that was happy that it was a non-denom tree you know.
I mean, I get what your saying. If America is the melting pot then why isn’t Christianity included. But America wasn’t founded to be a Christian community. That’s a misnomer perpetuated by the evangelical republicans that like their way of life. Not that all evangelical republicans are the enemy, but I’m saying.
Christians want to say that America is Christian only, that’s what we’re founded on and that’s what we should be. But that hasn’t been true for a very long time. Yet Christians keep running into the same wall the same way to try to change that. Passing laws, trying to stop congress from passing laws that threaten their system of religion that suits their needs and lifestyle, I don’t recall a single place in the bible where Jesus went before the Sadducees and petitioned them to pass a law that proved he was the Messiah. He just was. He didn’t need laws or approval, or consent to be the Messiah because that was the entirety of his being.
I think that it can be a tricky line to walk, because I agree that we should defend our beliefs. But God is God is God is God you know. He’s not changing no matter what happens here on earth.
The bottom line to me is that how are we going to argue the significance of Christmas to people that don’t even acknowledge or know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the One True Living God? It’s like trying to convince me that the sky is purple. It’s obvious to me that it’s blue, if I can’t see the purple because I don’t view the sky through the lens of perception that you do then all we’re doing is arguing about something insignificant. Should you be talking to me about the lens that you’re viewing the sky through?
I mean, if people don’t know Christ, then how can they see the things that believers see? Christ is the lens that we all view the world and it’s behavior, thoughts, beliefs etc., through.
Why are we arguing semantics and other superficial opinions when the one belief, or opinion, that should and to me does count is the questions, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? If the answer to that is no then everything, everything else should fall to the wayside until we can help that person find their relationship with Christ. To me anything else and we’re just missing the point.

Now, I will amend all that to say, that between believers, you, me, S, I have no problem with those debates and conversations. Heck, we can debate the meaning behind one word in the bible, the difference between predestination and free will, if the 10 Commandments should be on the court house lawn, and so many other things until the day we die. I love that stuff. But that stuff, it gets in the way of non-believers finding a relationship with Christ, understanding that humans are an imperfect representation of the pure love that God has for us. Those peripheral debates and conversations about who is more right or more offended, they fall to the wayside when someone comes to belief in Christ as their savior. God doesn’t celebrate because someone was right, someone was most vindicated in paying back an offense.

And that's about it for now. I'm waiting for the reply, but she's talking weddings at the moment : )
I'm all riled up on a soapbox about this now and nowhere to direct all that energy....so aren't you all lucky!