Watch the news, read online articles, walk the streets, and this is what people are saying about Christians. Well, with the exception of the t-shirt thing, that's just my own personal issue...
I went to Google and typed "Christians are" in my search bar. You know what popped up as the top searches?
Christians are weird.
hateful.
fake.
annoying.
mean.
wrong.
hypocritical.
deluded.
not persecuted.
Yesterday I went to Warped Tour for the very first time. After they opened the gates, we (Cody and I) went and sat under the pavilion to plan our day, and look at the line up. While we were sitting the first band of the day began to play. Their sound was good, so we kept listening. The front man dropped a few "f bombs" among other profanity. At a heavy metal show it is expected. I don't mean that to say I approve of that kind of language, but in that scene where faith based bands play with all kinds of musicians, I've learned to tune some of it out. But there were some things I just couldn't tune out. As the band goes to play the last song in their set, he starts talking about this country and making very passionate statements about legalizing abortion, gay marriage, and a very vulgar remark about the Bible. It made me sick. It was offensive. It made me angry. At first I was angry that he would make a remark like that on a stage. A remark about a book I've been taught from for as long as I can remember. But then my anger switched. Though I have no desire to ever see that band live again, or listen to their music on my free time, I wasn't angry at him for what he said, I was angry at what people have done to the name of Christianity.
I grew up in church. I went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night, and watched Gospel Bill on Saturday mornings in between. I went to every VBS my church hosted. My parents drug me to revival meetings during the week as kid. I memorized scripture. I sang the songs. I preached to my stuffed animals. I knew who Jesus was. I believed in who Jesus was. As I've grown up I have come to realize who He is. What He has saved and healed and delivered me from. But the one thing I have learned is that I'm not perfect, and that it's okay. Christians are people. People aren't perfect. The God we serve doesn't expect us to be, and doesn't want us to be either. When Jesus came to earth over 2000 years ago, he came to establish a new law. For so long Israel was under such strict law, and Jesus came to abolish that. He took all the laws and combined them all into two. Love the Lord and love people. When you do those two things, everything else follows. So when I hear Christians given the names they are. When I see Christians given the reputation they are, it hurts me. No where in the Bible does it say you are better than someone once Christ saves you. No where in the Bible does it say you now have the right to judge someone for who they are or how they live. That's God's job. Your job is to love them. Your job is to shine the love you've received to them. Then, let God do the rest. He does the life saving, not you. He does the life changing, not you. I can't tell you how many times I've been at work and handed a Bible pamphlet and told "you look like you could need this", because I have a ring in my nose and gauges in my ears. That's not my God. Countless times I've heard remarks about the Heavy Metal I listen to being "Devil Music". But some of these lyrics, some of these words are words that have transformed my life. I've been judged for having tattoos. Told that tattoos are a sin. Do I believe I'll go to hell for having tattoos? Sure don't. That's not the God that I serve. The God I serve, the God I love, the God I have surrendered my life to doesn't look at the outside, he looks at the inside. He is a God of Love. Mercy. Compassion. Second chances. Third chances. Peace. Restoration. Hope. Forgiveness.
Something needs to happen. It isn't fair that a small group of radical crazy people claiming the title "Christians" get to be the voice for us all. But I know it will only change when a group of people powered by the love of Christ inside of them dedicated to showing the world Jesus Christ in a different way. It isn't a new way, it isn't in any man made book or pamphlet. It isn't in any words we could think of to say. It's the way He made His mark in this world. It's reason people still choose to follow Him thousands of years later. It's choosing to live a life dedicated to loving others. That's how Christ lived His life, and that's how I strive to live mine.
