bjerktree

So I’m blog-hopping the other day (you know—when you go to someone’s free blog and click on the “Next Blog” button in the top left- or right-hand corner), as I do once in a while. Anyway, after skipping over several Portuguese sites in a row, I come across one—in English—that catches my attention. The snippet of profile given says that the author was “sent by God to Africa to help out in any way she can. . . .” Missions grab my interest, so I decided to stay a while on this girl’s site. Upon reading, I learn that she is working in Africa with a charity project that is a kind of orphanage for kids affected by HIV/AIDS. Since I’m not exactly sure what vein of Christianity this project is based upon, I will not give a whole-hearted endorsement right now; however, the idea and its values seem good.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve thought it would be awesome in many ways to run/work for an orphanage somewhere. Nevertheless, the project itself is not what I write about today. Something else I read on this particular blog got me thinking. It seems that a famous British film actor and his family recently visited this orphanage, causing a local (African) newspaper to run an article on their visit/the project (and the blog author to post said article on her site). The article quotes the actor saying that his time at the orphanage was “an amazing experience, as [it] is a place which is true to the values we are trying to introduce in our children.” It seems as though this family made the trek to Africa for something other than publicity, which I find admirable, since so many famous people do this kind of thing solely to boost their public images. However, reading this made me wonder again why people who desire to instill good values in their children do not take them to a solid church that teaches young and older alike the principles found in the Bible. (Now, I don’t know whether this particular actor attends a church or not, but I can’t say that I believe many of them do.)

Pondering this question led my mind to another thought—do Christians ever share the Gospel with actors? The same question would apply to other famous people, too, I suppose. They get all caught up in the glitz, glamour, and sin of their lifestyles, and it seems unlikely that they would have much, if any, close contact with true Christians. But these are people who need Christ, too.

Could they be considered an unreached people? Do any Christians even want to reach them? How would Christians reach them?

If there are film actors (or at least one) who admit to wanting to instill Christian values into their children, then surely there must be some who would at some point in their lives be willing to learn of God’s gift of salvation. Would some even accept it?

Possible? Yes. Probable? I don’t know.

So Christmas is over, but the reason Christians celebrate this holiday lives on every day for eternity. Christ, the world’s Savior, was born over 2,000 years ago and remains alive today. Pretty amazing when one thinks of it in human terms. Hard to comprehend even. But believing, by faith, in Jesus Christ really is no different from believing, by faith, in Santa Claus. A child believes in Santa Claus because someone (or multiple someones) told him about a supernatural man who brings gifts to all of the world’s good children—and coal to all of the bad—in one night. The child has faith that what he was told is true, choosing to believe what he was told. He trusts, and he acts out his faith by trying to be good (sometimes), putting out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve, and listening for sleigh bells in the sky as he falls asleep on the night before Christmas. Santa is good, omniscient, and righteous.

Faith in Jesus Christ is like that. One believes in Him because the Bible (and often multiple someones) tells him about the supernatural God who loves him and wants good for him and about the Son sent from God to redeem him. That person then chooses to believe. He must have the faith of a child. He then acts out his faith by loving and forgiving others, prayer, and many other things. God and His Son Jesus Christ are good, omniscient, and righteous.

So, what’s the difference? Jesus Christ is not proven to be false after one believes in Him for several years. We don’t find out one day that His existence was all a lie. He is today and will remain exactly as the Bible describes Him.

Does a child believe in Santa by blind faith? No. His parents and society show him Santa in the mall, on TV, in cards and toys. God shows Christ to man in the Bible, personally, and through the lives of others.

Why then must a Christian’s faith be blind?