So …

I just started Law School.  That pretty much means I just sacrificed my social life (which for all intensive purposes we will pretend existed in the first place, since moving to Ventura, CA).

Reading and analyzing is the name of the game.  It’s a difficult game, but God has definitely given me grace for the place.

I am not only learning about various court cases, but I am also discovering what types of people attend law school.

Not only do I examine briefs, but also the students in my class.  It’s interesting to discover the why behind my classmate’s heart to do Law.  I am seeing more and more that I am nothing like those who work around me … Since I am a Christ-follower, I guess this is a good thing.

However, recently I have come to the conclusion, that if I (as a Christian with a completely different thought process) do not learn to speak the “LANGUAGE OF LAW,” these people will never have a common ground on which to discuss or even debate with me.  My belief system will never be taken seriously if I do not learn how to communicate in a way they will understand.

The other night during prayer, my Pastor Jude prayed something I needed so desperately.  I had just completed my first day of Law School and felt as if someone had dumped me in the Middle of Afghanistan and told me to ask for directions to get back home.  He prayed that God would give us the language of Medicine, the language of Law, the language of Southern California … etc.  He was praying that our “Christianese” would not turn people off from wanting to know our God; instead, we would be wise enough to meet them where they are in life and have the Divine Power to SPEAK to them in THEIR OWN LANGUAGE.

Think about it, what would it be like to have someone come up to you, full of purpose to communicate how they felt about a particular issue … but they spoke French?  They tried and tried to explain, they became emphatic with emotion and used every hand gesture they knew to make their point, but they never got through to you?

That is how a lot of unbelievers feel when they meet Christians.  They may admit we have a lot of heart, a lot of passion in posing our points (sometimes too much passion), but they do not understand what we are trying to say or why we are trying to say it.

This past week, I became the first student in class to debate with our very funny, intelligent, self-proclaimed Jewish Professor.  He told us to imagine ourselves on a new planet where we must make up new rules for our society.  He asked the class what we would do if two of our male citizens wanted to be married…

The class all said, “Live and let live, they aren’t hurting anyone!”  Our Professor was seriously bummed that no one wanted to debate with him.

I of course did not agree and said so.

He grinned, then proceeded to ask the class questions like, “do you all want to live in a discriminatory society?  Do you all want to be thought of as bad people because of your race, gender, religion?  What if someone said you were a bad person because you are black?  How is race any different than being Gay?!”  It was getting heated in the room and all I could do is hope to God that He would show me how to respond knowledgeably without saying something stupid like, “Jesus said it’s wrong, so it’s wrong.”

When he was finished painting a very ugly picture, I asked him if he wanted my opinion on the issue or a synopsis of the opinion in our court cases.  He said, “we are just talking Ms. Edwards, tell me how you feel.”

This was my opportunity to either fail miserably in the defense of my beliefs or show that you can connect law with God’s truth.

I replied, “I have many friends who are Gay, Bi-sexual, and simply confused about who and what they are.  If they wake up tomorrow and make a decision to go “straight,” they can do that.  I, however, cannot wake up in the morning and decide to be any other race than what I am.  That cannot change no matter how I feel.”

He stared at me for a moment.

Then a lightbulb seemed to go off.  He said, “Hmmm, that was good.  I’ve never thought of it like that before.”  Then he proceeded to defend his point a bit more …

My heart was singing the hallelujah chorus!

I didn’t have to quote the 10 Commandments, I didn’t have to defame those who struggle with sexual identity, I simply had to present what I have experienced without compromising my belief that same-sex marriage is wrong.

That is the difference between myself and my fellow law students.  They desire to be the greatest law professionals they can be.  My aim is to point people to Christ, through using the LANGUAGE OF LAW.

Thus, my thought process going forward is this:

Be Knowledgeable- (Know the Facts and Heartbeat of the Law)

Be Compassionate- (Bring Educated Information to the Table, in LOVE)

Be Excellent- (Take NO Shortcuts.  Do Everything Well)

If I do those three things … if anyone does … you can be sure that when we stand up for our God and His ways, our audience will be more RECEPTIVE and less DEFENSIVE when we present our beliefs.

Paul says it best.

“…I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ].”

1 Corinthians 9:22b

Catch the Wave,

Victoria