How I came to live “God’s Perfect, Eternal Life”
I was raised to be a traditional Christian. One of Christianity’s key principles is, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.” I was taught to believe that most people were basically decent and wanted to be fair, and that if I would be kind to them, they would be kind to me.
But as I grew older, I learned that most people face many problems and obstacles that lead them to compromise their standards of decency and fairness, and resort to selfish practices which are unfair to other people. As a result, I decided that Christianity was an idealized way of life, but it was impractical in the day to day reality of the world. Although I never stopped wanting to be a kind person, I decided that I needed to protect myself from selfishness in other people.
I was baptized in the Alliance Church in 1972. I have taught Sunday school, served on a church planning committee, visited shut-ins and served as a director of “Acord”, a Mennonite-founded organization that worked to redirect young offenders from incarceration into a path of rehabilitation.
I still felt safe as a traditional Christian because most Christian leaders seemed to say that believing in Jesus (as an attitude) was enough to save a person.