Question for those who the rest of your family is still Jewish [open]

[christianmomof3]

How do you deal with and care for your Jewish family members without offending them or alienating yourself from them?
I am not referring to immediate family, but to aunts and uncles and cousins and such.
My family knows I am Christian and some of them are kind of ok with it and others are not ok with it and my uncle seems to be trying to ignore it and pretend it never happened or something.

Anyway, I have a cousin who is a year younger than me and I have prayed for her over the years. I had tried sharing the Lord with her in the past, but was not successful. I still pray for her. And she recently shared with me something that was important to her that she had prayed about. I know she would not have told that to anyone else and she shared it with me because she knows I have a relationship with God and that I would understand and care.

She called me last night because her mother has lung cancer. I wanted to start praying for her and her mother right then on the phone with her, but I felt that I could not because that is not something she does or would be comfortable with and it probably would have either changed the subject or ended the phone call. As it was, she spoke with me for almost an hour sharing her feelings with me. But, I felt very restricted and restrained because I could not share Christ with her. I just prayed silently as I listened to her and wanted to share something of the Lord, but He did not lead me to do so.
:sigh:
I will keep praying for her and for my aunt as well.
I feel like the reason she called me rather than my sisters is because of the Christ in me. I think she feels that she can speak to me in a way that she cannot speak to them and it is not because of me, but because of the Christ in me even though she does not identify it as such. Yet, I feel that I cannot speak Christ to her the way I would like to because it would change things, be a blockage to our communication or cause offense.
:(
Does anyone else have this kind of thing with their family?

[ContraMundum]

Well, I never say anything much religious to them these days. I keep the peace, and pray silently. I know lots of Christians would call that wrong, but it works for me.

[LadyGarnetRose]

Why can't you?

I have Chabad members that will listen to me for hours on end if I could talk so long without my throat going dry.

There's a joke, I'm going to butcher it so, I'll get to the punchline... "I sent you two boats..."

Praying for your family.

[simchat_torah]

why do people have this deep need to convert others and their beliefs?

[christianmomof3]

why do people have this deep need to convert others and their beliefs?
I don't want or need to convert them.
I just want to share the comfort of the Lord with them.

Of course I would also like to share eternal salvation with them and I pray for that, but I cannot change their minds, only the Lord can do that.

I would not try to reason with them trying to convert them.

But, I would like to share the Lord's love and comfort with them.

[ContraMundum]

why do people have this deep need to convert others and their beliefs?

Human condition. Part of being who we are.....I mean, that's why places like this exist in the first place. People debate, discuss, and challenge each other, but really they're just looking to connect.

I think all strong ideologies and religious thoughts are powerful forces in our lives that drive our self-identity and we seek to connect to other people at that firmer level as part of our inner need of social identity and acceptance.

[ChavaK]

I think all strong ideologies and religious thoughts are powerful forces in our lives that drive our self-identity and we seek to connect to other people at that firmer level as part of our inner need of social identity and acceptance.

I agree with you totally...but why the need to
convert others? Why not just socialize with those
who are of like belief? By trying to convert
someone we are trying to change their self-identity.

[christianmomof3]

I agree with you totally...but why the need to
convert others? Why not just socialize with those
who are of like belief? By trying to convert
someone we are trying to change their self-identity.
I guess that may be true if you are trying to convert someone to a religion.
But, to share the Lord as eternal life with them is not trying to change their self-identity, it is giving them the gift of eternal life. It is giving them a way to know the Lord intimately as their life, hope, faith and peace. Sharing Christ as our God and savior is not the same as converting someone to a religion although many people do try to cobine the two.

[simchat_torah]

Human condition. Part of being who we are.....I mean, that's why places like this exist in the first place. People debate, discuss, and challenge each other, but really they're just looking to connect.
I can completely understand this need to connect, need to interact, and need to dialogue. I guess what I fail to grasp is the need to convert. As age comes upon me, I've begun to view religion as a deeply personal issue.

Don't get me wrong, I love to dissect history and theology with my fellow humans ;) But this deep desire to make everyone just like me, to make them convert... it suddenly seems quite foreign to me.

-Yafet

[onefaithfulservant]

why do people have this deep need to convert others and their beliefs?
As Christians, we have a responsibility to preach the Gospel to every living creature. It's a commandment given to us by Christ.

[WildHeart75]

Simchat,

I think if the OP was really trying to 'convert' her family she would not have been so closed mouthed about the Lord when talking with her.

Christianmomof3,

I have had similar things happen to me, when talking with my family sometimes the Lord keeps my mouth shut and I really want to say something to them so bad but for whatever reason He won't let me. So yeah, I know what you are talking about. I'll be praying for you and your family.

[simchat_torah]

I think if the OP was really trying to 'convert' her family she would not have been so closed mouthed about the Lord when talking with her.
Oh, it wasn't really a commentary on any specific individual. More or less, a pervasive trend in the religion as a whole.

I think part of it was sparked by my sister moving out of the country to be a missionary.

There are two types of missionaries. There are those that fight for social justice, fight poverty, and feed the hungry. I can see how good can come about by helping people out of the squalor of third world living, as their lives are made better. But this isn't the case for most. The vast majority of missionaries fall into a second camp. They collect tens of thousands of dollars, often put their own families at risk of life and limb, merely to attempt to "convert" others.

Lately, the idea has just become so foreign to me. It seems empty and pointless.

As well, just surveying history, some of the greatest persecution has come as a direct result of this deep desire to convert others. Millions of lives over the centuries have been lost out of this need to convert.

I used to think like onefaithfulservant. But now it just... seems like a distant memory.

heh, there's no argument I'm really making. I have just begun to shift my thinking, and really question the value of this urge many feel.... this compelling desire to convert others.

Why do you feel this way? Do you think it is something unique to Christiainty? Or religions as a whole?

-Yafet

[christianmomof3]

Oh, it wasn't really a commentary on any specific individual. More or less, a pervasive trend in the religion as a whole.

I think part of it was sparked by my sister moving out of the country to be a missionary.

There are two types of missionaries. There are those that fight for social justice, fight poverty, and feed the hungry. I can see how good can come about by helping people out of the squalor of third world living, as their lives are made better. But this isn't the case for most. The vast majority of missionaries fall into a second camp. They collect tens of thousands of dollars, often put their own families at risk of life and limb, merely to attempt to "convert" others.

Lately, the idea has just become so foreign to me. It seems empty and pointless.

As well, just surveying history, some of the greatest persecution has come as a direct result of this deep desire to convert others. Millions of lives over the centuries have been lost out of this need to convert.

I used to think like onefaithfulservant. But now it just... seems like a distant memory.

heh, there's no argument I'm really making. I have just begun to shift my thinking, and really question the value of this urge many feel.... this compelling desire to convert others.

Why do you feel this way? Do you think it is something unique to Christiainty? Or religions as a whole?

-Yafet
I think that would be a different topic, and a good one. Perhaps you can start a different thread on that.

[ContraMundum]

I agree with you totally...but why the need to
convert others? Why not just socialize with those
who are of like belief? By trying to convert
someone we are trying to change their self-identity.

It's inbuilt into every religion- even those that claim no need or command to proselytise. Whether we rescue the sinner from himself or his sins, or whether we need to make everyone agree with us, or whether we think we have "truth" that we just wish others could see and share, it's all the same. I don't like it, but that's the way I see it.

Just like politics.