Did you ever visit a church and something rubbed your heart wrong? Or maybe you experienced something from someone identifying as a Christian–maybe it was gossip, deceit, or some form of oppression, or maybe flat-out hate, or abuse? Worst of all, it may have been done with the support of bible texts.
If you thought: This cant be God—and if it is I want nothing to do with *Him– you may have been right. Maybe it was People, not God.
[polldaddy poll=9942122]
If the mere label “Christian” is the only litmus test, observing some “Christian” American politicians might affirm/horrify you. How they speak about those who need extra support, or make policies that shame, divide, oppress and round-up those with different beliefs, lifestyles, mother tongues, mother nations…
Why does it seem some “Christians” care more about guns, money, power, and–according to them– unborn children, than the lives of fellow men, women and children outside the womb? –click to tweet
Is Christianity just some club or clique?
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother (aka fellow human), he is a liar. ..he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20, bible)
Love does No Harm: Jesus gives a picture of God bleeding on a cross, arguably, for those who put him there, so how can those who profess to follow him bash their fellow humans for divergent beliefs, understandings, or anything?
If I was born in another time, they would’ve burned me…
The Old Testament instructed people to love God with heart and soul, but misguided, extremist versions of this resulted in everything from Paul persecuting first Christians, to Crusades and their widespread convert or die theology.
But Jesus blew it up: Love the way I loved you.
Jesus, in a sense, took God out of the equation, and even more blasphemous, he explained God is actually in Us. (‘didn’t I say you are all gods?’ -Psalm 82:6/John 10:34)…. & ‘as much as you did for the least of these, you did for Me..’ (Mat. 25:40).
Loving, caring for, and standing up for another across backgrounds and borders, as opposed to using our might to defend guns, money, or “our way of life..” is a real manifestation of the kingdom of God/Love.
What good is it to attend church, read your bible, pray and fast,.. but not activate in a world where countless hungry and hurting men, women and children barely exist, prisoners are forgotten (and disenfranchised), orphans are overlooked, and a heap of silence and status quo shield various forms of violence and abuse…?
Where are the Christians who speak up and fight? (Proverbs 31:8).
Where are those who oppose Darkness to its face? (James 4:7 – note original Greek, “Resist”).
Where Are The Warriors?
There’s One.
The word “Christian” and the name “Jesus” makes many run for cover, so if now’s not the time to Live, not just read about God’s Heart, then when?
Where do you Stand?
What breaks your heart or fires you up? Is it homelessness, social injustice, poverty, or the oppression of LGBTQA people? Maybe loneliness, the plight of prisoners, abused kids, abused animals, environmental devastation, or bullying…? Whatever it is, be encouraged to activate your Heart and get in the ring.
Love is the Real Litmus test of a Christian so don’t be afraid to let that vulnerable yet powerful fire lose. But beware: you may no longer fit in a typical church. –Click to tweet
Don’t worry, the “Church” was never a building…
*I use He and His as pronouns for God, but fully recognize God with male and female “identity” (for lack of a better word). This is evidenced throughout the bible but most blatantly throughout humanity. 2-part post, Transgender God here if you’d like to contemplate further.
On a tender, humble God:
–Submissive God: 3 Bible Verses on Mankind’s Freedom that may Blow your Mind.
–God Like Lightening and the Path of Least Resistance
Related posts:
–When Hate becomes Acceptable and Love Laughable.. how do you know God?
–Ugly Under America’s Rug- There’s Hope for the Cleanup
–Who would you rather Rule: Jesus of a Pharisee?
Some Christians care so much about the uborn children because they are…children. People. Fellow men. And as people, they deserve to be loved, protected and respected. Love should extend on everyone.
Hi Maria, Thanks so much for sharing! I fully agree with caring about All people deeply, in& out of the womb. But we may doubt someone’s care is genuine if it stops once a person is born. For example, if a woman keeps her child, but is put down and called lazy for needing extra support (eg Welfare), and that support is very limited because of policy, plus she can’t get a good paying job because wages are kept low–not changed by policy, and health Care is a dream because certain politicians claiming to be Christian don’t believe or fight for universal health care, well… God said a tree is known by the fruits. Sometimes what we think (and hope) is genuine care, may actually be control in disguise.
Just my thoughts, warmest,
Jasmine
Awesome post, J! It speaks to me and shouts out for me. I love the Corinthians graf, the Dandelion graf. I took the poll. I appreciate the photo reference from Hidden Figures and the complete remarks of Emma Gonzalez, my newest HERO. You speak the truth about too many Americans who call themselves “christians” and “evangelicals” as they sully and soil the labels for all loving people as they loudly, proudly, arrogantly, hubristically, proclaim their hatred for people about whom ANYTHING is “different” and it’s clear they use/abuse/misinterpret the Second Amendment so they can kill whoever frightens them because something about the person is “different.” How frail, fragile, evil they are. That kind of hatred of their fellow Americans, fellow humans, God’s Children, surely will earn them a trip to hell, where they can continue their hating for eternity. These hating people who stand ready to kill people whose “different-ness” frightens them are not Christians. Ready to commit murder out of fear and gun availability, they are the worst of the worst and they should drop the Christian label, since their thieving of it repels good-hearted people who love God, love Christ, and like Jesus, love everyone regardless of any perceived “differences.”
I love the sentence, “Don’t worry, the “Church” was never a building.” The “Church” if church in this reference means Christ, is in your heart, thus Church is wherever you are, hopefully doing good for someone in need.
If hatred of others is in your heart, love is not there. And if love of others — especially those who may be “different” than you, and you stand ready to murder them with your guns if they cross your path, scaring your frail self — is not in your heart, then Christ is not in your heart. And. if Christ is not in your heart, you are not a Christian, and you should peddle your hate under a different banner, because, per an oft-used phrase, “God doesn’t like Ugly.” You are giving TRUE Christians a very bad name.
May God continue to bless those humans who love EVERYONE, as His Son, Jesus Christ, did. Listen to those people, not the ones who say they’re Christians and Evangelicals who outrightly reject Christ’s teachings to love and care for those who need it, and instead worship the cold, dead metal gunsthey clutch, ready to pull the trigger that will knowingly propel hot metal into fellow human flesh, tearing it apart, causing a river of blood, cutting down to death a fellow American, or fellow human. This is murder based on hatred and fear, and there is nothing Christian about the people who scream for the right to pull the trigger to murder anyone who “scares” them because they seem “different.”
May God continue to bless and keep those who are what He described as “the least of these” and the TRUE Christians who care for them. Amen.