Did you see my post from yesterday, about the e-mail from Pakistan?  Have you had any chance to consider how you would respond to such an e-mail, outlining and explaining the basics elements of the Christian faith?  I had a couple of people remark to me about the scenario, basically encouraging me to take the e-mail seriously and give it a thoughtful response -- but I didn't get much direct feedback about what kind of content might be included in such a "thoughtful response."  Of course, whether you post your thoughts on the internet for everyone to read or not, I really do think it's an interesting and valuable exercise to consider.

At any rate, I thought I would let you know how I responded to the e-mail in question.  Here's what I ended up sending back to Mr. Chand:

Mir,

Thank you for your e-mail.  I'd be glad to help you learn more about Christianity.

Do you have access to a Bible?  If you cannot find one in print, there are also on-line versions of the Bible, for example:  www.biblegateway.com and www.biblija.net (which offer translations in various languages).  Reading the Bible is really the best way to learn about what we believe.  The most essential part of our faith is based on the life, teachings, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, and a good start for reading about these things might be in the Gospel of John (which is a part of the Bible).  The Letter to the Romans (another part of the Bible) also does a very good job of explaining the basis of the Christian faith along with things like prayer and worship.  These sections of the Bible would also help a lot with answering your question about how you could come to believe in Jesus and become a Christian.

If you come across any questions in your reading of the Bible, I'd be glad to try my best to answer your questions.  I pray that God will guide you into all wisdom and truth…

Eric

So what do you think?  Is that a good response?  What would you maybe add?  Or take away?  Or say differently?  What are the most essential elements of the Christian faith?  How would you go about communicating these essential elements to someone from a different culture, with absolutely no church background?  What might it look like to be a Christian in, say, Pakistan -- as opposed to the Netherlands or the United States of America?

Like I said, I think it's a valuable exercise to consider.