Skip to main content

An Open Letter To All My Unbelieving Friends

To all my unbelieving friends,


I’m sorry. For so many things.


I’m sorry for not being brave enough. Sorry for not being the kind of friend you need the most. I’m sorry for letting so many opportunities slip by while being well aware that it might well be the last one. I’m sorry if you felt safe and secure and if you’re placing your trust in all the wrong things.


And I’m sorry for knowing better and yet not doing better. I apologize for having the treasure of the good news—the only thing you need!—and keeping it all to myself. All because I’m not brave enough. All because I lose the battle that’s first fought in the mind. Sorry for being weak.


I’m sorry for knowing that you don’t know Christ—and acting as if that’s okay for now. As if we still have time when, in reality, that’s never guaranteed to us. Sorry for knowing that your image of God is something different from the God of the Bible—and not telling you all about it. I’m sorry for failing to point you clearly to the one truth that matters. To the true Source of life. 


I’m sorry for being articulate about every societal issue there is but failing to engage you with the heart of all issues, which is an issue of the heart. Your heart.


I’m sorry for being so competent to pull up every historical record relevant to the conversation at hand, but deliberately failing to address the gravest record fo them all. Your record.


And I’m sorry for all the times I could’ve warned you that man’s two greatest problems—your greatest problems—are a bad record in heaven and a bad heart here on earth. I’m sorry if I don’t have the zeal and the guts to tell you how dangerous is the path and life that you enjoy and with which you feel so safe. Sorry for not being able to break it into you—that your religion cannot save you. That you can never be good enough. That it’s only Christ as you beg Him for forgiveness in repentance and faith who can give you life, and life abundant.


Sorry if I wasn’t able to deliver the message—the only message I live to send. I’m sorry for letting you pass the gospel message by. This one’s on me and my cowardice, fear, and paralysis.


May God be merciful and make me brave, more loving, and more honest.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Salvation Testimony

[I presented this testimony earlier this year to the congregation for an evangelistic night. An evangelistic night is a vesper service modified to accommodate the sharing of the gospel to unbelievers, and one part of it is the sharing of the members' testimony of how God saved them. I was one of the first ones to share.] A friend once asked me just a few months ago for my written testimony when I applied for this church. I didn’t think there was any problem, but when I thought more about it, I realized that my testimony I wrote for the church 6 years ago is not something I could share anymore. Not because my salvation story then wasn’t true, but because a lot of God-given, life-changing lessons happened after I was saved. I guess the first thing I realized is that testimonies are always changing because God never stops writing our story. For this afternoon I would like to share who I was before I knew God, what God did to save me, and what God taught me after being saved. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Overfamiliarity Breeds Contempt

  July 8, 2021 | 11:15 AM Overfamiliarity breeds contempt. I don’t know why I feel this way, but I feel tired of being a friend and then being discarded whenever I’m not convenient to be around anymore. They don’t say it, but I think at some point everyone thinks that of me. When it’s limited slots, I’d be one of the first people to go. Excess baggage they’ve been just able to keep around the dock when the storm wasn’t hitting yet, but one of the first cargos to go when the waves become rocky. I don’t really resent them because I would also do the same to myself—throw myself out the window the moment I don’t contribute anything to the table if only I had the choice. Haha but I’m stuck with myself. But yeah, I feel like I’m that add-on friend people just befriend because anyway, I’m already there. I just happened to be in the same circle because a friend plus oned me at some point, and now they’re pretty much stuck with me. Arielle’s friend. Someone's church mate. Always s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Faithfulness in the Lens of Genesis 24

    Faithfulness is denotatively defined as the quality of being steadfast in affection or allegiance; to be firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty; to be true to the facts, to a standard, or to an original. (Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, n.d.) This term nowadays usually has the connotation of simply staying consistent with what one has originally said. Faithfulness, however, is not simply staying true. The word faithfulness is derived from the Hebrew word ‘e-meth— a word contracted from the Hebrew word ‘âman, which means to build up or support; figuratively, to render firm, to be permanent, or quiet.   Being faithful, then, according to its Hebrew origin, is about one’s trustworthiness. To be a faithful person is to have certainty in truth. In the Scripture, the word “faithfulness” appeared 75 times, with “faithful” appearing just about as much—78 times. If one searches for all the occurrences of the word ‘emeth in the original translation, ...
Post a Comment
Read more