Sermon on the Mount with Coworker

[robertmidwest]

I have a coworker who claims to be atheist. On thing he brings up quit a bit is The Sermon on the Mount. He states he knows very few “true” Christians because so few really follow the Sermon on the Mount. His opinion anyway.

He is not a bad coworker. He is hardworking and honest. He did have a challenging youth. So I have an interest in helping him.

The other day I walked by his desk and he was going over the Sermon in a bible he keeps at work. I think his atheism is more for attention.

Any ideas on helping me connect with him? We work the same shift and get along. I don’t want to go full bore and alienate him. Soft sell works better. I think Sermon on the Mount is the connection. Any good studies anyone can recommend?

 

[pianistclare]

The message is one of HOPE.
In that era, people were very limited as to what they could achieve or partake in by class.
That’s why the message of Christ “Love one another” (and ACT like it) was rejected out of hand by those in power and it earned Him the death penalty.

No one likes to hear that everyone is equal when you have a society that labels others as “less”. Mother Theresa is a great example of one who lived the Sermon on the Mount.

She expected everyone to have and tried to give everyone she encountered DIGNITY.

This is the message.
One that I think no one can argue with. Do people follow this? No. Not in many places. But we are called to be that example. We are called to promote hope, equality, kindness, compassion, empathy.
Christians, I think really do strive to these ends. It’s the other side, the prince of lies that like to twist the efforts of Christians to make them appear snooty, selfish and unfeeling when in most cases, that is simply not the case.
There are good people all over the place. Ask him to align himself with THOSE people, and see if you can both make a big impact on the lives of the oppressed.
God bless you!

 

[Stephen_says]

Bishop Robert Barron talks about the Sermon on the Mount quite a lot. You can find him on youtube or on his website www.wordonfire.com

I have learned a lot by listening to his homilies. I think the SotM is packed with things that you can talk about in a friendly way.

Another thing I want to add, but it sounds like he’s approaching Christianity as a life philosophy that is summed up on the SotM, but that does not make someone a Christian. Christianity is the belief that God became a man to die so that we might live, and NONE of us are worthy of that, no matter if we follow the SotM or not.

 

[robertmidwest]

@pianistclare
Craig is an Obama and Bernie guy so the Hope angle is a a good hook. I don’t want him getting stuck there though. It’s up to God how far this goes.

@stephen_says
He does look only on the social justice angle of faith. He is going to be more open to liberal theologians. Fr. Barron is not liberal but his intellectualism appeals to some left leaning people.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’d tell him, “You’re right that Christians don’t follow the Sermon on the Mount enough. What do you think I, as a Christian, could do to follow it better? Also, since you profess to be atheist, what drew your attention to the Sermon on the Mount?”

And have the discussion from there.
And maybe consider his feedback on how to personally improve as a Christian.

 

[1Lord1Faith]

Since he is a Bernie guy, at some point you may have to point out a fundamental distinction to him between Catholic and Progressive ideology regarding the way people behave. That distinction being the difference in social justice methodology between a Progressive and a Catholic.

Progressives require people to go along with their form of social justice…it is made mandatory through civil law and taxes.

Catholic social justice does not work this way. In keeping with the free will given to us by God, people have the choice to do, or not do, anything they want to regarding social justice… nothing is forced.

This fundamental difference forces people to constantly examine themselves, and it guides them to feel a need to educate and love the population rather than force and imprison the population.