The Fight Against the Faithful

One of the things that struck me, in coming out of a recent experience at a church retreat, was one slightly common theme that was voiced as an answer to the question, "Why are you here?"  Of our small group, three of the younger ones all commented that our worlds outside of church, (media, relationships, work, and others) are becoming more and more openly hostile to those of us who have faith.

As a result, we mentioned that we felt under attack - personally, and most important, spiritually. For me, it is so bad that I don't share things like "I went to mass," when recapping weekends with coworkers as I know how many of them think about religion and people that practice it.  They're openly hostile, and not in an insignificant amount.  They think those that believe are rubes, and that religion is anti-intellectual and for the ignorant.  And those interactions, compiled one on top of another, leave me feeling beaten down.

I know we're all called to evangelize.  But how exactly does one do that with the environmental deck so stacked against the faithful?  I have enough problems at work; do I need to wage a religious fight as well?  It's something I've been wrestling with ever since the retreat, and I have no answers at this time.

About all that I know for sure is that they world is absolutely giddy about pointing out the hypocrisy of the lifestyles/actions of those that profess to be religious.  There is no better way to get a story to the headlines of the news or a blog than to claim religious ideals and then act in exact opposite of those ideals.  Hence, I feel like my evangelism needs to be focused on living a life that others can point to without finding much fault.

Does that mean I'm not a sinner?  Hell, no.  It is just that I have to work harder to live my life like an example of the good that religion can create.  

As my tenet of my faith, I believe that having faith creates a better person.  And I truly believe that.

Now I just need to execute.