Dirty Words: Christian

I want you to understand something very clearly. There are large segments of the population that will look at you as a Christian as some sort of brain-washed, militant, unscientifically minded, insane, fool. You work with some of them. You shop with a bunch of them. You dine with them at restaurants. They are pretty certain that you are crazy and that there really is no supreme being. They'll lean on lots of things to prove their point and some of them will even sound reasonable and possibly plausible, but in the end their favorite point of contention is the corruption and most fanatical parts of Christ's church...some of the people who yell "I'm a Christian" the loudest.

Because the church and Christians throughout history have given those with dissenting views plenty of ammunition with which to argue their points, the responsibility falls upon the rest of us to maintain an alternative example for them to see. Think about this...Jesus came for the people with opposing views. He came to share a different message than the one the religious establishment of the day was giving. He sought out the hurting and the sick. Those who were feeling hopeless and alone. He didn't ask for anything in return.

Somehow or another, people calling themselves Christians have consistently managed to jack that message up and twist it around and accomplished nothing other than to push away the very people they are supposed to be reaching with Jesus' message!!! I honestly don't understand it. Where is it that Jesus says we need to be dressed in skirts and suits to hear God's Word? Where is that is says we need to turn our noses up at those who hold opposing views and tell them they are hell-bound? We are here to listen to their story and then share ours. And we wonder why they look at us like we're fools...

If we hope to make that word, 'Christian', seem less like a dirty word and more like something that everyone else in the world will want to be a part of then we have to start taking Jesus' teachings to heart. We need to be treating our fellow man with love and respect, not with anger and insult. I leave you today with some of what Jesus had to say to the religious leaders of the day (known as the Seven Woes. Listen to His words and contemplate whether any of it applies to you. Let's show 'em that Christians aren't psycho elitists after all...what do you say?

All from Matthew 23 NIV

You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. (verse 13)

You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. (verse 15)

You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (verse 23)

In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (verse 28)