Introductory Blog

Hope Linam, Second year sporting staffer, Pawprint Liaison

Growing up in Christian schools my whole life has given me more opportunities to further my faith than I would in a public school. But, many times I’ve questioned how I navigate in a Christian environment because personally I haven’t been faced with an opportunity to spread the gospel to those who don’t already know it.

Of course, I’ve been faced with faith challenging situations in my life, and I’ve developed a greater faith in the Lord through conversations I’ve had with other Christian friends, but is that enough? I tend to wonder how to better myself within a Christian environment besides leading by example and spreading my testimony.

I love getting to share my faith with others and develop and grow friendships due to a common ground that we share. And, I am encouraged by engaging in conversations that lead to me challenging others in their faith, but I never feel challenged in my own faith within this so-called “Christian environment” because for the most part, we all believe the same thing.

Obviously, Christians will have disagreements and will be able to grow from those and guide one another toward a Christ-like lifestyle, but how am I supposed to be truly challenged in an already heavy Christian environment when certain views on the Christian life are expected? If we as a body of believers are all supposed to be striving to set the Christian example and live out a life pleasing to God, how do we not remain stagnant in our beliefs when everyone we are surrounded by is essentially striving for the same goals in regards to Christianity.

The bottom line is, where do we go from here? How do we pursue opportunities in a Christian environment that challenge our faith and relationship with the Lord? How do we pursue growth within the Christian environment, to ultimately equip us for when we are not in a Christian environment? If we find ourselves becoming complacent and not in constant pursuit of a deeper relationship with Christ simply because the social norms of our environment already expect us to be ready to face life without the Christian bubble, how will our faith survive outside of the Christian environment if we aren’t challenged within it.

If you choose to follow along with these blogs, I will be going deeper into Christian topics that challenge myself and hopefully challenge your faith and push you to grow your faith and relationship with Christ.