Being Christian On Day One

Being Christian (Day One)  Written in June 2019…. (actually just the first paragraph) I wasn’t sure how or if I should finish it.

I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on Sunday, September 30^th, 2018.

Being overjoyed and very excited, I told everyone that I could find and of course, wrote the news on my FB wall. Everyone “liked” and “loved” it and most of my “friends” were happy for me commenting on this and that. I enjoyed the conversations and felt very encouraged. Even at work the next morning a few people that I knew as Christians were congratulating and welcoming me into the family (so to speak.)

“You People”

It was all so wonderful (even surreal) and I was filled with the Holy Spirit as I went about my work. That is until a co-worker (let’s call him Taylor) said that he saw the news on FB and was waiting for an opportunity to ask me a question. Taylor said, you know Dennis I ask all of (you people) one question that has always bothered me, but I can never get an answer. Of course, I had to respond, what’s that Taylor?

His question was: Hey if it was ok for Adam and Eve’s children to marry each other why can’t brothers and sisters marry each other nowadays? (I cleaned up the language)

Wow! for a seasoned well-read Christian this question might not present much of a problem however, I had just become a Christian the day before. But, I recognized a trap when I heard one and I knew from sales training to respond honestly and as best I could. I also found the Holy Spirit was with me because I responded: Taylor I have often wondered that same thing but I became a Christian just yesterday and did not suddenly become a Bible scholar overnight. I do remember that there were laws that applied in the Old Testament and then there were new laws established in the New Testament. That’s the best I could do and promised to find a better answer for the both of us and let him know the following day.

Oh my goodness!! Being a Christian might just be tougher than I thought. This is my first day and I asked myself, is this how it’s going to be all of the time? I felt a little bit intimidated. Then I thought that I better get busy finding some answers.

This was a subject that I didn’t feel comfortable asking people about. When Taylor posed the question to me I first wondered why a person would be interested in the subject to start with. But I also realized it was a test or “trap” that he had admittedly used before.

Hitting The “Book”

That night I found out that there is very little written in the Bible concerning this subject. The best I could tell, actually nothing until after Moses received the law many generations later. God outlawed (such marriages) in Leviticus (18:9) and declared in Exodus (15:26) that if the Jews followed his decrees they would not experience many of the diseases of other peoples. This law was not needed during the time of Adam and Eve and their offspring.

I think one could intelligently assume that there were no genetic inheritable diseases at that time which would make marriage between siblings a safe and also imperative thing as there was obviously no one else available to procreate. And procreate they did! The earth’s population grew from Adam and Eve to many millions by the time Moses received the law in 1440-41 and by this time and for varied reasons, there existed plenty of diseases and pollution.

Answering Taylor

The following day, armed with this new information I met with Taylor and relayed my findings, printed in a reasonably concise paragraph which I gave to him. Saying OK, he turned and walked away as I stood there bewildered and somewhat agitated that he had wasted my time. But he had freely admitted asking (you people) this question before and I did suspect he was trying to trip me up somehow still, I honestly felt he wanted a real answer to his question. Being Christian on day one was tough, but day two was tough and a bit confusing.

The rest of the day and into the night I spent much time reflecting on this event and came to –

Some Conclusions

First, I believed Taylor already knew the answer to his own question.

Second, I realized that my beliefs and faith would be constantly tested by non-believers.

Third, I realized that I benefited the most from his question.

Fourth, instead of feeling intimidated, I actually looked forward to more questions.

and Fifth, I was honored to be included in the group (you people)

That was eight months ago as I am writing this and over that time my faith has been tested countless times and the questions never cease. I will never sacrifice my faith and now view each test or question as an opportunity to show my faith, give witness, and educate myself and others.