Since getting here to Mercy Ships, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I've found that being here is strengthening my faith, but not in the way that most people would think. I grew up in a wonderful Christian home, something I am very thankful for. A close knit Church family and being home schooled meant that I lived in a very small world.
Since coming to Africa, I have learned so many things, things about the world, things about people, things about me. As I spend time with people, I learn about them, their lives, their beliefs. And as I learn about other's beliefs, I've started to question my own.
I'm not questioning what I believe, I'm questioning why I believe.
I've talked with those who believe very differently from me. And when I do, I disagree. And when I disagree, I'm trying to figure out why I do.
One of the things that I've been looking at is the way we separate our faith from our lives. The way that we chose to live out our faith, but only in the areas that please us. We tithe, we pray, we go to church. That is good. We give our Sundays to our God. But what about the music we listen to? What about the movies we watch? The things we talk about?
Gandhi once said ''I would be a Christian if it wasn't for the Christians!'' What did he mean by that? For a faith that seems to pride itself on loving one another and being merciful, that doesn't seem to make any sense. If we were to act out our faith, every moment of every day, not just on Sunday mornings, then don't you think that the world, not to mention our lives, would be a better place? Why do we take Christianity out of politics? Don't we want our leaders to exhibit love and mercy? Then we would we banish the very morals we claim to support? If we take Christianity out of our schools, then what will we teach? If we take Christianity out of our movies, then what will we see?
Why would we separate our lives into sections, those which we will live by God's rule and those which are our own? Didn't we give God all our heart? Then why do we insist on blocking him out from our day to day life?
I believe that if we tried to live the way we believe, every day, every moment, every aspect, then maybe we won't claim the title of hypocrites.
