Monday, April 27, 2015

You Call yourself a Christian?


Today, I saw this post on Facebook, on someone's page that I consider a friendly acquaintance.
This was my response:
·         Kim Danbert Hmm I don't think judging "Christians" on the actions of some is any more laudible than judging any other belief systems by the imperfect people who support it. There are many (and many) Christians who are not "snobs" and do awesome charitable works with little or no acknowledgement. As, I'm sure, there are jewish people, sikh people Buddists. I find this type of Christian bashing as disdainful as I do any sweeping generalization of any other belief system. Inaccurate and unfair.
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XXXXX: Of course, this does not go for everyone. Personally I have never been baptized into any religion. I try to stay out of the religious conversations. Although, we have a close personal friend who is going through a unique situation which would fall perf...See More
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xxxxx: I will agree xxxxx, there are so many Christians that feel better than others and judge and condemn them.. All we are taught by Jesus is to love and be loved and teach the good word.  I try to stick with that!! Nature sometimes takes over and we fall back to old ways, but what I always refer back to, is "who cast the first the first stone" everybody has problems I don't care what religion you are, but the better thing for everyone is to find the good! Not the bad  

I don't know why people feel so empowered to tell someone where their spending eternity, nobody knows that except God.
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Kim Danbert My issues, here is the sweeping generalization about a group of people who espouse a belief. How would you react if the ecard had said "Hey Jews, get your noses out of your legers, and spread some of the wealth!". Categorizing "most Christians" as hypocrites or judging is as bad as characterizing any other body of faith.

Well, I'm sure the debate goes on without my participation further. But, I did as the Ecard suggested.
Disclaimer here: I would never characterize Jesus Christ, the man, whom I believe, laid down his life for the sins of all mankind, as a "snob".
I did exactly as the ecard suggested. I got out my Bible and checked it out. You know what. In His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ did more than his share of judging people's motives, rebuking people's actions and criticizing people's mindsets.
Beginning with his own mother.
John 2:1-4
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ motherwas there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
“Woman,[a] why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
So here, I think Jesus, the Son of God, product of divine birth, is reproving his own mother for her impatience.


He scolded for not having "Godly enough" motivations among his disciples:
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

He criticised the motivations of some people praying in the temple:
[ Prayer ] “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.

Although, most people during His time and now, seemed to be in one accord on this one, He criticized the Pharisees:
 Matthew 15:7-9
 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.’[c

He rebuked a group of towns people intent on violence toward a woman caught in adultery:



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Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger.When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

He scolded some of His OWN believers for being hypocrites:
You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

He even curses a poor (struggling) fig tree:
Matthew 21:18-19
Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”Immediately the tree withered.

So, (like the comedy Central series, South Park) we can gather that nothing is too low (a fig tree), too dear (Mom) or too high (Pharisees) for Him to rebuke, reprove correct, curse or criticize.

Do I think this gives us, as his followers the right to do the same?
No. Jesus was the only begotten son of God. I think it's safe to say he may have known some things that we did not.

However, I am also a student of history. History tells me that when a specific group of people begin to be identified with specific descriptive, bullying and chaos are not far behind.
Too often I have heard and read the phrase "Christians are hypocrites", almost so casual and flip as to be cliche'.
Why be so Christian-centric about it. Most people have hypocritical moments in their lives. We're ALL sinners, no matter how hard we try not to be.
Maybe it's the violence with the ISIS organization against Christians, that makes me think in parallels.
I recall a testimony by a German gentleman who was Jewish, who was a young boy when the Nazi regime began occupation.
He told a story of being on a bus, and a man he had known in his town was sitting on a bus, when the young man boarded. This one day, the man started calling out in a loud voice, as the boy sat behind him "I smell GARLIC...Oh the stench!" (the boy was Jewish). This went on for nearly a week. Until, at last, the boy stopped riding the bus because he couldn't stand the round of chanting "Jews stink".  Then, the man remembered all the "stinking Jews" boarding a train to Auswitchz.
So maybe you do know some people who are Christians who are hypocrites. Being human beings (and we ARE human beings) , we are not perfect. We claim forgiveness under the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who sacrificed His life for we,who, invite Him into our souls.

As to the last item on the ecards post, with which I am going to make note. "You call yourself a Christian". First a history lesson:
Followers of Christ did not (originally) call themselves Christians.
1.     


The term 'Christian' was used to describe a follwer of Christ in terms of the world, from the world's point of view. The pagans at Antioch called the apostles "Christians" first (Acts 11:26; 26:28) and used it derogatorily because the apostles didn't follow the commercial world of the pagans.

I do, as it happens, identify myself to people (when asked) as a Christian.
It is a descriptor of my faith and the life-path I follow.
If, I, as a Christian, disappoint you, with my attitudes, my ill temper when I am cut-off in traffic, my lack of generosity to someone you deem worthy;
If I criticize you unfairly, or act with pride, or you feel judged by others who also share the moniker;
If my cross offends you, when you see it and remember another, by whom you were abused, wearing the same sign.
I humbly and completely apologize, for them and for me.
I ask you to understand, that before I accepted Christ, I was (and remain) a wretched human.
And only Christ and death can cure that.

Yours in Christ
Until next time
eat something wonderful
and live a life worth loving.
-Kim












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