Tuesday, August 26, 2008
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Too Young to Follow Jesus?
from Shwaah_gurl
My boss at work, Raj, tells me that I'm too young for religion. I don't quite know what to make of this.
Is he telling me this just because I requested Sundays off, so I could make it to a church that lies in far-off Brooklyn? Or is he telling me this because he doesn't even take his own religion seriously, and doesn't believe that I should either?
He's told me before that he's a Hindu. But I don't believe he's devout, or not as devout as his wisened, joke-cracking father. (I love that guy!)
Every morning, when we open the restaurant, the first thing my boss' father does is bless it. He lights his stick of Indian incense, and takes a stroll about the entire place, front and back.
I love watching him do it. It reminds me of those special moments you get, when you're alone with the Lord. It doesn't matter what the weather's like...the sun could be gently caressing your face with warmth, or the rain could be gliding down the curves of your skin...you just close your eyes and enjoy His majesty. That's what watching him is like. The meticulousness of his faith reminds me of the beauty of my own.
And so my boss telling me that at my age (17) I'm too young for religion is something that puzzles me...in fact, it makes me want to laugh.
It's such a conundrum.
I told him that being faithful is something one chooses for themselves. No one can force it on them. They could be ushered into faith as children and taught to be good little devout Christian-soldiers, but at some point in their lives, they're going to have to wake up and decide for themselves whether living for Christ is worth it to them.
And I think it's worth it.
So Raj, I'm not too young for religion. I'm not too young to hear what God has to say to me through his disciples of the church. I'm not too young to consider baptism, and I'm not too young to know that I won't truely consider it as an option until I'm ready and fully willing to devout myself, mind, body, and soul, to the Lord.
And I'm definitly not too young to realize that I have been given unique gifts by the Creator and that I'm not too young to use them. All I can say is, that no matter our age, God puts trials and tests before us. It's up to me and my faith to see it through.
Have you ever been told that you were too young to grow in your faith? Have you ever been put down for trying to explore the word of God?
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Comments (158)
No and no ... though people have questioned from time to time and I welcome that ...
At some point, a person would be too young to fully grasp the meaning of religion and scriptiral intricacies.
Someone seventeen-years-old could be far beyond that point.
I don't believe the parents' religion should be taught to minors, or children. It strips them of their religious and intellectual freedom and makes it psychologically almost impossible for them to believe anything else.
If you don't see the injustice of this, assuming christianity is correct, imagine if you had been raised muslim, or jewish, or some other religion. You would have a 1 in 12 chance of ever believing in anything else, and a more remote chance of ever being christian.
No, but I think it's a good idea that you listen to your heart...you are *not* too young...
@agnophilo@xanga - From what I understand it isn't so much "teaching" as fearing the word of God. You have to frighten 'em at a young age and lay down the law, othewise those little heathens will do crazy stuff like think independently,question authority, and respect reason. Its all just a slippery slope really.....
I like your av and your "handle" btw! I assume you like to question religion as I do? Agnophilo--awesome. Beats a homophobe anyday!
@agnophilo@xanga - If it made it psychologically impossible to believe something else, then the church wouldn't be losing so many young people. Clearly, the number of children of Christians who lose their faith is incontrovertible evidence that being taught a certain way doesn't meant you will necessarily stick with it.
The incense is for their gods..why would you want to be anywhere near that stuff?...my mother-n-law does it all the time because she is a shaman. Her spirits fill the house when that happens. I've had confrontations before because her spirits didn't like the fact that there was a Bible in my room.
He's lying. I bet all his kids are Hindus too. Ask him. What he meant was you're too young to be Christian.
@Pickwick12@xanga - I said psychologically almost impossible. 1 in 12 children grow up to not go to the same church and believe in the same religion as their parents. Stop twisting what I say so you can argue against it.
@SandraDeeDees@xanga - Haha, until the end of the first paragraph I thought you were serious. Poe's Law, heh.
You are never to young to follow Jesus. as for those of you that critasize chritians and tell us we have closed minds ect. I would encourage you to ask yourselves if your minds are not closed to us and why do you insist on being a part of a group that is christian if you hate it?
@agnophilo@xanga - Sorry. I missed the word almost. My bad.
I still don't agree with you because I've seen so many fall away. In fact, I believe that in the latests statistics, more young people lose their family's Christian faith than keep it. Going to church does not mean that a person retains actual Christian faith.
I am in no way attempting to twist what you say. Whenever we have a discussion, I feel like you personally hate me. I don't hate you, but I do like to have intense discussions. Because you value reason, I would expect that you would as well. I didn't mean to twist your words; I never mean to twist them. I want to know exactly what point you are making so that I can discuss it accurately.
"Give me the boy until he is seven, and I will give you the man." - an old Jesuit saying.
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings which are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." --2 Tim 3:14-15 RSV
I think a lot of people underestimate the intelligence of children and their ability to distinguish between truth and error. Case in point: Anybody here still believe in Santa Claus? Even though your parents taught you to?
NO, Jesus said let the little children come to me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven
My 7 and 6 year old ask Jesus in their heart at VBS this summer
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga - Side issue, but actually my parents taught me from the earliest age that Santa wasn't real. They didn't believe in telling your children something that wasn't true and wasn't the real point of Christmas. They didn't trash on Santa Claus; they just said he was make-believe
They're not ogres, either. They gave us a lot of fairy tales and nurtured our love of fantasy, but they wanted us to know the difference between that and reality. If I have kids, I plan to handle it the same way.
(They did tell us to keep it on the downlow and not tell our friends Santa wasn't real)
@Kristenmomof3@xanga - That is totally awesome! Congratulations to you and your family!
I could probably see if you were in your infancy or toddler years. Other than that, how can one be "too young" to follow Jesus or God? I never heard that before.
I think first you have to ask why someone is too young for anything, really. Why are people too young to drink or smoke? Why are people too young to go to a PG-13 or R rated movie?
Actually, there are some Hindu traditions that don't encourage children to take part in religion. The last girl I knew who was involved in a tradition like that couldn't actually be initiated until she was 25. The goal, at least in her case, was to keep people from making that kind of commitment without considering that it might not be the right decision for them.
On another note, why did you send me a friend request? Do I know you?
i don't think you can be "too young" but as you grow older, you figure out the real meaning of your choices right?
@Beautiful_adaneth@xanga - Well, thank you for informing me that he was "cleansing" rather than "blessing". But I haven't had any confrontations with spirits at Subway...yet?
But Raj has no kids. Nor is he married.
You have such an interesting situatin though...does your mother-in-law ever give you problems becauase of your beliefs? And what about these confrontations?
I'd like to hear.
^_^+
@Pickwick12@xanga - Actually, my parents did pretty much the same thing. Makes a good illustration, though.
@Shwaah_gurl@xanga - Your instinct to laugh is spot on. There is an age at which children liken God or Jesus to Santa or the Easter Bunny. Great things, but hardly understood. When children attain the age of reason, which you have certainly done by the age of 17, they can truly understand their faith. Your boss has an opinion of religion that has likely been shaped by his own life. It is good that you don't let his experience negatively influence you.
@agnophilo@xanga - It is the duty of parents to raise their children in their faith. That does not remove the child's free will once adulthood it reached.
@agnophilo@xanga - Exactly.
When you raise children to believe as truth these dogmas, you are essentially robbing them of their choice. Talking to a child about ONE religion, without mention of any others whatsoever, is brainwash, plain and simple.
hey my name is kimberly ann and i live in illinois usa.. im a christian and i love to read my bible and hang out with my friends and family.. i love jesus with all my heart and soul.. hes the best thing that has happend to me... i enjoy going to church every sunday its good for me to talk to other christians at my church.. thaanks kimmiekim_2005