Faithful Witness: Conversion or Devotion?

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I want to direct you today over to the Faithful Witness blog.  There you'll find an important reflection by my friend, Tim Shultz. Tim's latest post is on the topic of conversion and relationships and will be helpful to anyone who has been interested in my articles on Hinduism here. Tim asks a key question:

Why do we Christians sometimes expect non-Christians to risk destroying their family to convert to Christianity or serve Christ faithfully?


I believe it is a critical question that we must deal with.  I believe that by affirming and highlighting certain types of "conversion" stories, we are unwittingly advocating for the breaking down of marriages and families and embracing an improper interpretation of passages such as Matthew 10:34-39.  And that's Tim's point in the post, so please check it out.


Faithful Witness: Conversion or Devotion?: "What is Jesus saying in these powerful scriptures?  He is calling us to whole hearted devotion that is so supreme and predominant in our lives, that it may actually cause people in our family to break relationship with us. This level of devotion may cause people whom I love to leave me, but it should never cause me to leave them . . . . In this scripture, Jesus is calling us to himself in a devotion of heart and life that is total and complete.  Hindus refer to this devotion as Bhakti, devotion to God that is from the heart and which commands my entire being.  That level of supreme devotion makes any other relationship in my life seem like nothing, less than nothing, in comparison to my devotion to Jesus."