I'm a Christian Now: Tayt Thomas

My name is Tayt Thomas, I’m 22 years old, and I am a Christian. This was not the case, like, a month ago. Or maybe it was. Well, right now I know that I’m a Christian, whereas a month ago I was not saying that or believing that, and, if the Lord wills it, I will continue to say and believe that I am a Christian. It feels weird to be reading over this, and seeing those words- “I am a Christian”- after something like 8 years of not thinking I was one.

Part of the weirdness of it definitely comes from having been in limbo for so long. For the time that I was saying I wasn’t a Christian, I wasn’t also saying, “I’m an atheist,” or “Jesus Christ was not raised from the dead.” I was more saying things like: “I don’t know if Jesus was raised from the dead,” or “I think there’s a God, but I don’t think I know much about him,” and those kinds of unsure things.

Well, after being invited into the community at The Wesley and accepting that community, I was then surrounded by a bunch of people who did believe things like “I’m a Christian,” or “There’s a God, and I can say this and that about him.” Not only did they believe these things, but they also were trying to live a lifestyle that was a direct result of this (and what is told by Jesus), by showing me love and trying to bring me into a relationship with Christ. Eventually, after being around these people for a while, I became a Christian.

To be a little more detailed about how I came to Christ, I’ll explain a little further. I was raised in a Christian family in North Louisiana. Well, when I got to high school, I realized through an experience at a church camp that I wasn’t sure if Jesus was raised from the dead, and I wasn’t comfortable with telling myself that I was a Christian, so I stopped considering myself one. This continued as I went through college until I  started going to The Wesley. While there, I met several Christians who lived and acted the part of Christians, and they were also pretty cool. As they made the effort to become my friend, I saw the different ways Christ was working in their lives and pushing them. At the same time, they also pushed me towards finding out my relationship with Christ. I told many people that I wanted to be a Christian, but I just wasn’t sure Jesus had risen from the dead. After many talks and much encouragement to do the Christian things- to pray, to ask for faith- I started believing that Jesus Christ had died and had been raised 3 days later. I will say, that it wasn’t even so much that this had happened, but that he did it because he loved everyone in the world, and that really did it for me. So now, after having been at The Wesley for a little more than a year and a half, I am a Christian.

While I’ve been writing this post, I’ve thought of the story of the paralyzed man who was lowered through the roof by his friends in order for him to get to Jesus:

Luke 5:18-20

“And behold, men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they sought to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith he said, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’”

I think this is a pretty good example of what the friends I’ve made at the Wesley have done for me, and what we should be doing for everyone else. During the time that I was in limbo over whether or not I believed Jesus rose from the dead, I was talking to one of my friends about having faith, and he talked to me about this story, saying that maybe my friends' faith was enough. Without the faith of my friends, and all of them to encourage me to seek out Christ, I’m extremely doubtful that I would be a Christian today.

This is not to say that the only way to Christ is through having Christian friends; Christ does approach people on their own. But with the world we live in, we have been told to go out, and people cannot hear the good news and have a relationship with Jesus without people telling them about him. We have been called to make disciples of men, not by spreading the word and leaving new Christians to figure the rest out, but by building personal relationships with people and actively participating in their lives.

Having a lifestyle that makes this inconvenient or hard is not an excuse. Unfortunately, most of the jobs offered in American society don’t give us the opportunity to regularly meet new people that we can make intimate, lifelong relationships with. Probably, what we Christians should be doing then, is dedicating our energy to someplace where this can happen, like a church, perhaps. Or maybe getting some hobbies where we can enjoy the life we’ve been given and meet new people to form relationships with. And, honestly, I don’t think this way of life where we are only going to certain places, seeing mostly the same people everyday, is anything new, and so maybe shouldn’t be seen as so different from what Christians have been doing for a long time. People weren’t traveling everywhere all the time in the ancient world. We have a lot more in common with ancient Christians than we probably think, not least of all that we’ve been called to do the same things. As a college student, this is pretty easy for me to say because of all the free time I have, but I do hope that now, and as I become an older Christian, I continue to do what Jesus has called me to do and help bring other people into a relationship with Christ.

Tayt Thomas is a senior at Louisiana Tech majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies. Kind, patient, and easygoing, Tayt’s presence at The Wesley has been a huge source of encouragement to our community. He enjoys camping, bird watching, video games, and sci-fi media. Tayt is a tremendous blessing to us, and we love him dearly!