Chapter 1:
One of my closest friends at Central is an outsider. Though I have never called her an outsider, I use what she calls herself. A “dirt worshiping tree hugger.” Besides her, I know several people who are not of the Christian faith. What I tend to hear is that they believe most of the people that are Christians are hypocrites; this may be for one reason or another. Also they see that many people are trying to force them to change their views. With today’s teens and college kids, this will only push them away.
I think one of the best ways to show that Christianity was not meant to be safe is to share the stories (from both the Bible and Today) of Christian’s who have lost their lives or that have been put into life threatening situations just because they are carrying a bible. In some countries just carry a Bible is enough to get mugged or put in jail.
We should prepare new Christian’s to just live a Christian life. Do not go out and tell all of their friends that they need to convert now. The best way to get an outsider in the new generation to get over their stereotype of Christianity is to just live the way the way the bible tells us too. If their friends see the positive change in the life of their new Christian friend, they may become more open to ask about what brought about the change. And through them asking, it allows the Holy Spirit to enter their hearts and began to work.

Chapter 2:
My response to the idea that was expressed by the outsider, (pg. 26) was not one of surprise. I know full well that many outsiders view Christians in this manner. And I believe that this is because we, as Christian’s have not changed with the time. I am not saying that we need to change our faith. The authors clearly show that if we acted as Christ did in his time, there would not be such a large amount of people with a negative view of Christian’s. I believe that people come to these views of Christianity because we act harshly and try to force people to follow what is in the Bible. We follow what is written in the Bible because the Holy Sprit guides us to do so. But for one who doesn’t have the Holy Sprit, it can be seen that we Christian’s are forcing them to act a specific way.
The biggest example of how Christian’s have become known for what they oppose is through our political stances. The Church as a whole campaign’s aggressively for Pro Life and Anti-gay legislation, which leads to the view that we will not accept anyone with the opposite view. In reference to the unChristian form of faith and FUMC of Port Huron, I cannot say. We talking about Christianity, I rarely use Church. I prefer to talk about my personal faith and the life and teachings of Christ. (If asked to do so, if not I usually try to act my faith as best as I can. And when confronted I will explain that I am a sinner and fall short of the perfection of Christ.)
What I just said above can relate to how I can act as a Christian to change the view of our Faith. I cannot act superior to outsiders, but show them that I fall short of perfection just like them. Therefore I am not isolating them, but showing them they are not alone. As well as it gets rid of the view that we are arrogant. If we act like Christ, then grace will be shown to others and they will become more open to hearing what the Bible says as truth. And until someone is willing to learn about Christ, any “preaching” will be seen as negative.

Chapter 3:
There was one line that really hit me while reading this chapter. And that is what I would like to be the center of my observation. “I figured that people wouldn’t listen to u until we got off our high horse and became real to them.” (Page 56.) This really sums up what I got out of this chapter. Out hypocrisy is not from professing our faith and then not being able to live it. The root of the issue is that we believe that because we are saved, we are then better than outsiders.
We would be able to reach more people if when we talked to others about our faith, we show them the love that Christ is showing us. It is our mistake that we say we are perfect because Christ made us that, because we are not perfect. And outsiders see that, we cannot reach perfection no matter how hard we try.