IS CHRISTIANITY A BIG DEAL—OR NOT?

     My question for today's video post is, “Is Christianity A Big Deal—Or Not?”
     In the past, I was told by a family member, alluding to their opinion that I had a somewhat unstable nature, “You get excited”. I inferred that the family member thought that I get too excited about my Christian faith. After all, I was the only family member who openly discussed my faith, and my desire for family members to experience that same joy that I felt. Of course, I defensively retorted that I had just completed a 29-year tenure in the mental health field, during which I served as the program coordinator of an employment program.
     That family member was telling me, perhaps not directly, that they didn’t feel the Christianity in my life was a ‘big deal’. That it made me become, in a way, eccentric, and not something that person wanted to follow, at least for now.
     I think there’s a dense fog surrounding Christianity that makes it difficult to navigate. Christians from different backgrounds and denominations have so many ways of thinking about their faith that differ from others that unbelievers may sense a lack of clarity in us. Let’s face it, many of us, including myself, have had a lack of clarity for a long time about our faith. We struggle with finding the best way to live it out, and we certainly struggle, at least I do, with the best way to share it.
     I love what Paul said in Ephesians 1:18-19. I think it, as well as many other scripture verses, can help us gain clarity to navigate through the dense fog we feel. Here it is:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.”

     I think these verses hold step-by-step answers to our dilemma, and I pray for the Holy Spirit to help them to become more and more real to us. From the words of Paul, here’s what I think we need to gain clarity in our faith:

1. For our hearts to be “enlightened”.
2. To “know the hope of his calling.”
3. To understand the “wealth of his glorious inheritance” for us.
4. To grasp “the immeasurable greatness of his power” toward us.
5. To fathom “the mighty working of his strength” in us.

     I think these are some first steps we need to take to bolster our own faith. Then, and only then, can we show others that Christianity is in fact—A BIG DEAL.