I have joined an email group lately that I greatly enjoy. There are many an intelligent person causing me to think harder about how I write, and though a few of them actually want to go on and pursue a writing career and I just do it for fun and for ministry.

One of the things we have been discussing is a quote by T.S. Eliot:

"The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can
logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he
will stake his life on his belief."
--T. S. Eliot

My thoughts:
The outward proof of Christ's gospel at work in our lives is the fruit we produce in action (the act would extend further than "outward proof" if it was something we could truly and honestly show to others. Some of the heart changes I have been through are in NO way possible of my own power. I do not think that you can have one and not the other and call it proof of the gospel. We say "What would head knowledge be without heart knowledge?" But we can also say "What would heart knowledge be without head knowledge?" We are called to grow in both ways.

And I do believe that we are called to be living proof of the Father's saving grace through Christ's perfect sacrifice. We are called to "adorn the gospel with our lives" (Titus 2).

And if that is proof of the truth of Christianity... consider cults in which one commits suicide because they are so firmly convinced of their beliefs? What of Muslim martyrs? What of Mormon "elders" who give up their lives for 2 years to live in distant lands to "share the gospel." What of Japanese kamikaze pilots?

If our actions are the best proof we have, then we're pretty much the same as everyone else. It all goes back to the changed heart and mind.

:)

Just my ha'penny