Why are you a Christian?

[TrigunX89]

Would anyone mind explaining to me your reason for becoming a Christian? This has been bugging me lately. I've had some doubt/fear about this... I can't seem to answer the question. If someone asked me, I wouldn't know what to say. I would probably sound like a fool or put them off because of my ignorance. I've started to doubt myself also. I still believe in God, and I'm sure there's a million reasons for it, but I can't explain why. So... Does anyone have any words of wisdom they can share? I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

God is the same present/past/future. Neverchanging. In a fast paced everchanging world (morally and other) this is true comfort. And we live in a fallen world. Knowing Jesus brings light to the world and gives me hope I otherwise wouldn't have. Jesus is someone who loves me unconditionally and I only have to accept him to experience eternal life with him. Also being a Christian you realise all the trials and struggles in life can be used by God for good in strengthening your character and becoming more Christ-like. Life's still tough as a Christian, but there is great hope and someone to love and turn to in both the good and bad times.

There's heaps of other stuff but at the moment that's all I could come up with.
Hope this helps a bit mate.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Because Christianity is unique and makes the most sense.

.rai//

[Slater]

why am I a Christian? Why, it's the same for me as it is for every believer; not because my intelect detected logic in what the Bible has to offer or because I found comfort in it, but because God willed for me to be one of His own and adopted me into His family as one of His precious sons. It was by no doing of my own that I came to the light; for before anyone becomes a Christian, they are blind to it. I saw the light because Jesus chose to open my eyes to it. I wasn't seeking peace or relief from sin; I had worldly peace and did not realize the burdon of sin in my life since I didn't believe it was real. But when Jesus took me as His own, then did His peace come into my life, and then did I realize what sin really was and how He lifted it off of me.

I love Christ because He first loved me.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

1. It's True

2. It makes me feel good

3. It gives me meaning

4. Makes more sense than any other religious system I studied

5. ^____^

[TrigunX89]

Thanks, guys. I've just been struggling with a few concepts. I've tried to explain it like 3 times in this post, but I couldn't get my thoughts straight, so I erased what I had typed. My first post wasn't very well-written either, so I apologise. I think in the process of trying to type my problems so many times, I've actually figured some of them out. I appreciate everyone's time and response. Perhaps I will ask more later if I have more questions, after I have had some sleep. Thanks again!

[Sammy Boy]

I think Christianity is the worldview that has the biggest explanatory power. It can explain our data about the universe, and humankind's condition, and the reality of sin in a way that corresponds to reality.

And just as importantly, faith in Jesus Christ also works.

[Da Rabid Duckie]

I became a Christian because I had a life-shattering reaction to being prayed for when I suddenly realized just how very real He was, and just how very much I needed him because of the sin in my life. There was no special reasoning, no awesome sermon, no conference or intervention meeting where He was sat down an explained to me... He just sort of waved at me, sort of like saying "well, here I Am..."

[termyt]

I don't have a choice. I can not, and still consider myself a rational, reasonable human being, defy the will of the living God and ignore the great lengths to which He went to commune with me.

I don’t understand why He did what He did but I am forced by all reason to respond to it. To do otherwise is not only ungrateful but foolish.

[ShiroiHikari]

Well, I was raised up in church from the time I was about 2 or 3, and for many years I thought I was truly a Christian, but I wasn't. I had read the book about Him, and I knew His story, but I had never met Him personally. I went to church and played the role of a Christian because that's how I was raised.

In 2001, I was about 18 years old. By this point I had strayed away from going to church and reading the bible and all that, because I was just going through the motions and it meant nothing to me.

One night, I had gone out with a very close friend of mine. It was late and we were on the way back to my house. She asked me, "How's your walk with God?" I didn't really have an answer for that question, and we got so deep into conversation that we stopped the car and pulled over to finish talking. I don't remember the exact details of that conversation now, but I do remember that she prayed for me. I prayed too, like so many times before, and then I felt His presence for the first time.

It wasn't that easy though. Something didn't want to let go of me. There was a fight, I guess you could say. But God was with us, and He's stronger than any demon.

So why am I a Christian? I made the choice based on what I have seen, on what I knew. To me, it's the only thing that makes sense. There's just too much that's happened in my life for me to turn away and say there is no God. He sent His son to save me, so I choose to live my life for Him.

[EricTheFred]

I like this question much better than the one I usually get, "how can you call yourself a Christian?"

I get that from people who derive their faith from a strict, literal reading of the Bible. I have not relied on this method since I was a child, but let me state first that I do not fault anyone who does. I simply do not.

In the words of my own brother "If you start picking and choosing what you believe is true in the Bible, you can believe anything you want to." Well, in a simplistic way that might be true, but it doesn't actually work out that way for me.

You see, I do believe that every word in the Bible is true in spirit, because the faith behind every word is true. But, as an engineer and a scientifically minded man, if I were only permitted to believe in the material, literal truth of every single word, all or nothing, than I could simply not believe at all.

Fortunately, God is wiser than me, and He found a way to overcome my foolishness.

You see, conventional science leaves no real room for God, or at least no necessity for Him. There are a few shaky spots, such as why a Big Bang ever occurred in the first place, but everything tends to hold together very well.

But, conventional science really leaves no room for a mind, either. Humans add up to nothing more than self-aware chemical reactions. And that is where I hit a wall.

You see, no matter how clever you are, even if you do manage to prove that Black is White, you will still not (with apologies to Douglas Adams) get killed at the next zebra crossing. Because it is observably not true. You may not be able to find the hole in the logic, or explain alternatively why Black is NOT White, but you can still confidently see that it is not.

And I can confidently see that I do, indeed, have a mind. Also known as a soul. Cognito ergo sum. And I know that there is no room in this physical universe for such a thing to exist. So, therefore, it must exist somehow independently from this universe.

Now, however, I am in unknown territory. I cannot understand how this is so, through my foolish science, so I must seek beyond it. Whatever I am to believe must therefore be a matter of Faith, not Deduction. I have reached the end of what Logic can teach me.

My first task then is to see if there is anything else that I can find, that lays beyond the scientific fold. Fortunately, I noticed one, (no doubt because Someone stuck it in my path as I blindly stumbled along, but it did exist.)

Love is a thing that is reduced by science to chemical reactions, and yet is obviously not merely this.

And only one philosophy, or religion, or belief, that I am aware of, ever based itself on these two principles. That Mind (Soul) transcends this universe, and that Love does, as well.

It does so by claiming that there is a God, not some vague impersonal force or being, but a Mind that is God. And by claiming that,literally, God IS Love.

That belief is called Christianity.

I mostly a Lutheran because I was raised in that denomination, so I naturally found a Lutheran church when I began attending again, but I am also a Lutheran because a non-fundamentalist viewpoint like mine is accepted there.

I am a Christian because I cannot be otherwise.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Why am I? (1) Because He first loved me.

(2) It's light of nature.

(3) I as pretty much raised that way.

[mitsuki lover]

I think that this is one of those questions that can't be properly answered without a first thoughtful consideration of what we mean by Christian.

To me being a Christian isn't simply saying that I believe in Jesus Christ as my savior.I think it goes deeper than that.

To me Christianity is as much to do with the intellect as well as the heart.

I believe not simply because I was raised in a Christian family and not simply because I believe Jesus is the Savior,but also because there are very few logical alteternatives to Christianity.

While there are plenty of good things to be found in other religions I believe that in the end Christianity is the only one that has the whole picture.

btw:I think it's alright to have doubts concerning your faith,I believe doubt is just an indication that you are taking it seriously.There are a lot of things about Christianity that I have trouble grasping and understanding and even from time to time doubt.It's just part of being a Christian IMO.

[Chiyocities]

I guess you could say I was sort of raised as a Christian, but really was not at the time into my faith. Eventually, I became a skeptic. Though in short, as my life went on, I started to realize understand that life is just too precious to exist without God. And after searching out the evidences that support the increasing reliability of the Biblical records (the Old Testament and the Gospels), I have re-started my search for God that continues to this very day as a Christian.

You see, conventional science leaves no real room for God, or at least no necessity for Him. There are a few shaky spots, such as why a Big Bang ever occurred in the first place, but everything tends to hold together very well.

But, conventional science really leaves no room for a mind, either. Humans add up to nothing more than self-aware chemical reactions. And that is where I hit a wall.

Precisely the same thinking I had when I was shifting away from being a skeptic.

[Nate]

I believe it because it's true.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Thanks, guys. I've just been struggling with a few concepts. I've tried to explain it like 3 times in this post, but I couldn't get my thoughts straight, so I erased what I had typed. My first post wasn't very well-written either, so I apologise. I think in the process of trying to type my problems so many times, I've actually figured some of them out. I appreciate everyone's time and response. Perhaps I will ask more later if I have more questions, after I have had some sleep. Thanks again!

The point is not to make your answer giant and elaborate. The simple but best answer is usually "Because it's true" Remember Jesus said we must be like children? Eh =D Now what is an answer a child would usually give

"Because it's true"

If ya believe it's true, then don't be afraid to affirm that

The skeptic will then ask "Why do you believe it is true?"

You already got the first point across, so now you can go in much deeper. Remember that their initial question is "Why are you Christian" not "Why do you believe it is True"

[Puritan]

While I would agree, Mr. Smarty Pants, that Christianity is true, I don't think your answer suffices. Anyone with any belief could tell you the same thing, and then conversation would move nowhere (an extreme example: Q:Why do you believe you are an alien? A:Because it's true.). However, I think a lot of people are hitting the imortant point that our belief comes from God. We can give intellectual arguments for Christianity (and I think these are very important) but we also have to realize that the bridge between that logic and true faith is a God-given gift. Why, otherwise, are some people Christians and some not? It it because Christians are smarter than everyone else and just understand the facts? I don't know about you, but I am definately not smarter that many of the non-Christians out there.

Why do I believe? Because God showed himself to me, as God has shown himself to all Christians, and I have no choice but to believe. The logic and facts that support Christianity help assure me that my faith is not irrational, but I believe because of the free grace of God. I think that in talking to a non-Christian one should touch on both of these ideas, some of the reasons Christianity is not irrational, but also the grace of God in giving you belief.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

While I would agree, Mr. Smarty Pants, that Christianity is true, I don't think your answer suffices. Anyone with any belief could tell you the same thing, and then conversation would move nowhere (an extreme example: Q:Why do you believe you are an alien? A:Because it's true.).

Like I said =p, once we say that "Christianity is True", the skeptic will then ask us "Why do you believe it is true?". That is when you bring in deep discussions explaining why it is true and why it relates to who you are and why you picked it.

[Doubleshadow]

Mini-version: Because I cried out to Him in a desperate situation and He answered immediately, profoundly, and unmistakably. I'm one of His now and He doesn't let me go no matter how much I mess things up.

[Gooseberry]

I'm a Christian because thinking like an atheist makes me want to kill myself.

There is no hope, no wisdom, and no love in a world completely devoid of God.

Also, if you're having doubts, study the teachings and life of Jesus as much as you can. I've found that, over time, it has helped me to overcome trying times. Also, the more I study Christ's ministry, the more Christianity seems like the right path to take.

[EricTheFred]

I finally realized what this thread reminded of. A long time ago, Cecil Adams (The Straight Dope) had a question sent to him "Why do pigeons bob their heads?'. After an insanely long series of feedbacks over the course of a year, he finally forged a letter, supposedly from a pigeon, on the subject, in which the pigeon states, unequivocably, "we bob our heads because it makes us feel good."
I suppose that's true for Christians. For some, understanding is a requirement. For others, only Joy is necessary. I am honestly envious of those of you in the "only Joy is necessary" camp. You're richer in the faith than me, for certain.

[holysoldier5000]

Lets say for a minute that there is a reality which very few people know about. It is called a reality because it is real, and even though very few people know about it doesn’t make in any less real. Ok? So in this reality a being greater then anything ventures into each and every one of our lives to be our friend and savior. Now this great being did not have to do so, because all the people rebelled and ran away from his love a long time ago. He had every right to just wipe them from the face of existence for their rebellious behavior. But lets say that this great being, for a reason called love, decided to forgive the rebels and bring them back into his family as sons and daughters. But there is one little problem that keeps him from readopting all these children. It is that all rebels must suffer the penalty for their rebellion. So the great being decides “Hey punish me instead of them,â€

[Merovingian]

I finally realized what this thread reminded of. A long time ago, Cecil Adams (The Straight Dope) had a question sent to him "Why do pigeons bob their heads?'. After an insanely long series of feedbacks over the course of a year, he finally forged a letter, supposedly from a pigeon, on the subject, in which the pigeon states, unequivocably, "we bob our heads because it makes us feel good."
I suppose that's true for Christians. For some, understanding is a requirement. For others, only Joy is necessary. I am honestly envious of those of you in the "only Joy is necessary" camp. You're richer in the faith than me, for certain.

I guess I would have to agree with the pigeons on this one.

[Kanerou]

I don't know that I have any profound reason. Yes, I was raised as a Christian. I believe that Jesus died for our sin and rose again, and the Holy Spirit has shown me the core of some of these things like he has others. I, too have doubts sometimes. My biggest reason of being a Christian is not to go to hell, so even if I do come to love Daddy (God) and have a personal relationship with Jesus, what about my motives? And despite this, why does He still love me? Why does He still care enough to try to keep me on the right track and mature me in Him? I remember asking Him at various times why He'd forgive me for such things, and He'd tell me, "Because I love you." It's hard to comprehend His love. I know my sanity rests in Him; He and the Holy Spirit have kept me sane all these years despite what I've gone through, and they've saved me from physical death as well as spiritual, be it at my own hand or natural forces. He's delivered me from addictions, and he's healing my hurts. I know I have my doubts, but obviously, He's still going with this. That helps me. He's got something in mind for me. I'm just glad He hasn't given up even though I wonder all these things, even though I've disobeyed him. In the end, His majesty leaves me in awe, and I love Him for the love He gives me. And that just answered my doubts. Thanks, Daddy. *hugs* And thank you all for bearing with me. Hope that answered your question.

[creed4]

God made himself real in my life.
As a child I grew up in church, one summer I accepted Christ as my savior and he changed my life, He gotten me through some hard stragles, and has proven himself over and over again.

[ashfire]

My being a Christian is because of being raised in a Christian home by Christian parents starting in the 50s. Times were different back then so it shows.
In my first and second years of public school in the 60s in NC the teachers read from the Bible before lunch time.
When we move from NC to MD it took awhile to find a church to be part of and it was because of my making friends with someone in school that we find a church to join.
Our church grew and had to expand the building.
Work for me got in the way of my going to church because I had to work when I would have been going to church on Sunday mornings but that does not take away from my being Christian.
As a volunteer firefighter I have attend prayer breakfasts of the Followship of Christain Firefighters.
The church that my family join has since closed and sold the building to another church group because our members moved away and got so small that it couldn't pay for the up keep or the pastor.
Whats left meets an hour away in a office building or attends other churches in the area.
I feel being a Christian and having a conscience makes me know right from wrong in todays world. I feel there are too many out there without a conscience there fore they are without Christianity.