As I stated then, I write this from one Christian's perspective, but if you see anything that rings true in other traditions, I hope that you will take it with you.
Be honest about where your faith, religion, or worldview falls short or where you think it could fall short.
Some seem to be afraid that admitting any imperfection, mistake, or unanswered matter on behalf of their belief system is akin to admitting an inadequacy on the part of the divine. Consider carefully where the two are differentiated. In Christianity, for example, let God be God; if I were to serve my religion before God, I would be committing idolatry. But it does not blemish the reputation of God to profess that God is capable of so much more good than a religious community is, or to clarify that religious people are far from perfect even if they believe in a perfect divine. Nor does it discredit or devalue a religion.
I knew a family who believed in keeping a vegan diet with great conviction and openly advocated it to others. When a mutual friend first became a vegan and was not feeling well, however, they gave her supplementary B-vitamins without telling her what they were. They never explained to her that there was anything her new diet may lack or even what foods she would need to emphasize to get the nutrition she needed. I'm not against veganism or vegetarianism, and though I do not specifically follow these diets there is much in them which better informs my nutrition. But I do take issue with false witness; knowingly failing to be openly honest with this woman was a risk to her health and wellbeing. That simply is not just.Consider context. Be willing to approach people in different ways, respecting their own experiences and understandings.
A personal testimony may speak volumes to one person, while quietly living out your faith may be all it takes to pique someone else's interest.
I once led a youth group meeting on peer pressure. I wrote down a whole slew of activities, one per slip of paper; these ranged from fairly obvious offenses to morality or self-care (cheat on a test; take prescription drugs that weren't prescribed for you) to the most benign of hobbies (ride a rollercoaster; read a book). I gave the youth the direction to work together to answer this question for each item: "Would you tell a friend to do this?" and to place it beneath one of the signs on each wall of the room: "Yes," "No," "Maybe" (i.e. depends on the situation) and "Don't Know" (i.e. group is not familiar enough with the activity or can't reach a consensus, like a hung jury).As they worked, it became clear that this exercise was less about whether a particular activity was good or bad and more about whether it was something they would recommend for someone else and under what circumstances. If they had trouble, they could reverse the question to consider: "Would I want someone to tell me to do this?"
They found that even telling a friend to "read a book" - what might seem like the right answer of "something Mom and Dad would want me to say" - actually depended on the book, depended on the friend, depended on the friendship. They knew that they interacted with different people in different ways. In a dualist system with only the option of whether the activity was good or bad, they may have stuck it in the good and wholesome pile and moved on. But they were allowed to consider context; they were even allowed not to know. After some deliberation that bad boy got slapped onto the "Maybe" wall, right up there with "ride a rollercoaster."
Be willing to be honest about your own mistakes and difficulties, past and present, and to discuss issues that often go unspoken or against the grain of public opinion.
What does your faith do for you? How does it change or sustain you? Why does it make any difference to you at all? It is one thing to describe a jailbird conversion - "I did those things then; I follow the law now." That may be very significant and perhaps a powerful crux of your story. But it is another thing to share how you are being shaped, transformed and renewed in everyday life. Consider the effect of your beliefs on aspects of your life that are not neccessarily condemned by society, or are even encouraged and justified in your culture. If you hope to explain why your religion is different from others, you're not going to accomplish much in discussing how its tenets forbid murder and stealing. So does the U.S. government.
That youth group meeting on peer pressure I mentioned? One item was "ride in a car without enough seatbelts for everyone inside," something in the strange position of not being advisable but being widely practiced and socially acceptable. Our discussion on this made an impression on one teen in particular. The next time she was carpooling to a church event, she got someone else to give her a ride rather than get into a crowded vehicle. It was about more than the legality of a seatbelt issue or saying "this is a rule that I follow because I am law-abiding." It was about the consideration of the lives of all of the people traveling that day, a statement that she valued her life and the lives of her family and friends. It's about understanding that "consequences" are not mere punishments for doing something bad, but also the results of actions.Of course we do things that social consensus considers all right or "just part of being human"; we make mistakes and errors in judgment. But if we don't discuss those that we see cause not to do, especially those that society would be willing to forgive us, then we conspire in creating the illusion that those consequences (results) do not exist - until they happen, and we suffer for it. But sometimes it takes re-evaluating one's own practices and habits to get to the core of belief and avoid hypocrisy.
For another example, I offered my own experience of prejudice toward another person and what it means to me that my faith should not only hold me accountable for that but provide a glimpse of a better model. You can read about it here.
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