Gene wrote: when I tried during a serious discussion-to give my idea of how personal experience, spirit of truth, adjusters functions as my religious experience he calls me narcissistic.
First of all, this type of person is generally not interested in your ideas or your personal experiences. In my experience it’s a total waste of time trying to share your personal insights unless you attend the same church and confess the same ideology. The only way to “crack the nut” is to give your total, complete and undivided attention to the other person’s expression of his/her ideas and experiences; really listen. And while listening, actively strive to find something you can accept as true, then share that with one another without setting off alarms. Eventually trust develops and you can expand gently.
But, you have to have genuine interest in the other person’s beliefs and you have to have a truly solid understanding of your own in order to do this. You let the other person do all the talking, you agree and participate gently on areas of mutual agreement, and stretch the conversation to allow a little more truth to creep in without disturbing the guard dogs. It’s a stealth maneuver, but it only works if you are gracious, sincere and confident without being cocky.
In regards to being called a narcissist, consider the fact that most evangelicals believe that all religion comes from the heart, not the head. “Head” religion is science to an evangelical and science is scary. “Head” religion is also philosophy to an evangelical, and philosophy tends to dampen the emotions which is anti-religious in their world. “Heart” religion is all about feelings, not thoughts. A God who is interested in your thoughts is a strange God to an evangelical who is primarily guided by religious emotions. Emotions have a tendency to get frothy or fanatical, so you have to be very, very careful not to arouse them in the relationship. You have to sneak logic and reason in gently without disturbing the “sentinels surrounding the sentimental citadel”, if you get my drift. (I love alliteration.)
I would ask your son if he believes in the Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, and if the Holy Ghost has anything to do with the soul. If he believes that the Holy Ghost is the same as the Comforter, or Helper, then he must accept the idea that the Comforter is in contact with the soul. For an evangelical, the soul is the seat of religious emotions, not religious thought, so talk up the Comforter in ways you can both relate to in terms of helping the soul with religious feelings. That’s one way to reveal that God lives within a person and can be contacted personally. John writes that Jesus specifically sent the Comforter to guide people in all truth. How does your son think the Comforter does that if not within the mind? But be careful about the mind thing. Call it the heart, or soul, but not the mind. Few people realize that the soul is part of the mind, so don’t go there. Not even all TUB-ists understand that . . . so, it’s the HEART, baby . . . HEART-TO-HEART.
John 14:16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to you.
John 15:26 When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
John 16:7-8 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment;
John 16:13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.
I have the exact opposite problem with my sons who are analytical and philosophical. They have enormous problems with the God-of-the-Heart thing. They think God is a mathematical formula . . . which pushes all my buttons the wrong way because they deny the personality of God. (It’s my fault because I sent them to a parochial private school which probably put too much stress on the personality of the OT God.) My discussions with them have to be MIND-TO-MIND, and that is okay by me ’cause I’m good at that. Not so good with the touchy-feely, save-me-the-sinner, happy-clappy, praise-craze, crowd. Really don’t like that stuff . . .
Good luck.
