Christian Legacy
Christian Legacy
When I look back at my 36 years, 20 of which were estranged from God, I can now see the pattern in my prodigal story. . . I can now embrace my Christian legacy. . .
I was raised by a loving Christian mother. I cherished church and Sunday school, and related to the simplicity of the Gospel. I pictured Jesus as a caring Shepard with a little lamb over His shoulders, and when I was scared, I prayed to God the Father for protection. After reading Ephesians 6:10-18 with my mother, I decided that I wanted to “put on the full armor of God” for myself. On my knees, I gave my life to Christ when I was seven-years-old.
By the end of 7th grade, I labeled myself a “hypocrite” and stopped attending church. By the end of high school, I called myself an “agnostic” and was totally removed from spiritual things. By the time I graduated from business school at Georgetown, I had converted to “atheism,” because I believed that maintaining an agnostic label was itself hypocritical. By the time I graduated from law school at Berkeley, I was a practicing “atheist,” operating in accordance with my own intellectual brand of materialism, naturalism and relativistic morality.
Through prayerful investigation (and insight from my mother), I have discovered three primary factors that contributed to my fall from God:
(7th & 8th grade)
I exercised my developing intellect by asking questions about everything, including Christianity and the “meaning of life” in general. Unequipped to deliver the evidence, my church family relied on the axiom, “you’ve just got to have faith.”
(high school science curriculum)
I went to public high school and absorbed the latest “scientific discoveries” that removed the need for God. Since science was “fact”, I saw the Christian worldview (as presented to me) as “silly” and “wishful thinking.”
(peer pressure and philosophy classes)
I went to a Catholic University where I was required to take liberal-thought theology and philosophy courses. Without evidentiary foundation in Christianity, I used the opportunity to create my own “religion” of materialism and moral relativity.
I now understand that prodigals don’t have to become prodigals in the first place. By definition, Christianity comes complete with all the answers and evidence to address all of the above “crisis points.” The key is to deliver the answers and evidence and equip others to do the same. This is now my passion and my God-given outreach. This is now my Christian legacy as a Prodigal Son.
Link to www.AllAboutTheJourney.org
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