|
What is it that makes a Christian? What do we think of when we think of a Christian? Most think of a nice person who thinks of others and does community service. A lot of people think of a person who says how others should live but don’t live their lives the way they tell others to live. This is something that annoys both Christians and non-Christians alike. Now this is where I say I'm not a minister so you can't fire me. I will tell you now that this may be offensive so if you get offended easy I'll apologize now. I'm going to be telling you what a real Christian is and how most people think they are a Christian but aren't. Ok first I'll talk about being nice. Most people think that being a Christian is all about being nice to everyone in every instance. And that’s true to an extent. To help you understand what I mean I have a jokeish skit to tell you. ''An atheist was walking through the forest admiring the wonderful thing Evolution had made. As he looked at the great trees, and beautiful streams he felt a since of wonder. He looks up to see the giant eagles and feels the wind he is in complete awe. Just then a twig snaps behind him, he turns to look and sees a 13 foot tall bear. The man turns and runs. He takes a look back to see if the bear is still there and it is. It's only 10 feet away now. When he looks forward again he trips on a root and falls to the ground. The man rolls over trying to stand back up but it's to late. The bear grabs the man's shoulder with one hand and raises the other to strike the man in the face. The man cries out "Oh God help me." Just then time stops. The wind stops blowing, the eagles stop in mid-flight, the stream stops flowing, and a great deep voice from above says "How dare you ask me for help now you who has refused to believe in me you who have told others I don't exist and now you’re asking me for help that doesn't make much sense." The man replied "Ya that would be pretty hypocritical don’t it? Maybe you could just make the bear a Christian things would be good." God said, "If that's what you want so be it." Time started up again the wind was blowing the eagles flapped and soared again the stream trickled down the hill and the bear loosened his grip on the man. The man said "Thank God." Then the bear backed up knelt down and said "Lord, thank you for this meal you have provided.'' Now that's funny we laugh but I think many people think kind of like that. you see if the bear was a Christian then he would be nice and it wouldn’t be nice to eat someone. But what the man forgot was what’s nice in his eyes is not nessasaraly what’s nice in Gods eyes. And that’s the kind of nice we as Christians strive for, to be nice in Gods eyes. Infect that’s the only kind of nice that matters to me. To most people it would not be nice to tell someone there doing wrong and they need to get there life straightened out and get right with God. But we are told to do this; this is the right thing to do. Christianity is not about doing the nice thing it’s about doing the right thing. Sometimes the right thing isn’t always nice but we're still called to do it. I don’t at all mean that we should be mean about anything we do. We should do the right things as nicely as possible. None of these things make us a Christian. Most theses are good things to do, but it’s not what makes us a Christian. Now I’ll talk about what people think you need in a church, to make it a church. And how that makes them not a Christian. Do churches need to have pews, or a steeple, or stand glass windows? Is that what makes a church different from another building. Here's an example of some Christians who don’t know what it is to be a Christian. A lot of churches are getting rid of their pews and switching to chairs. Well almost every church including Sturgis church lost lots of people. People who think a church must have pews and must have a steeple. Those people must not have read the same Bible I have. Jesus spoke on the side of a mountain, in the street, and the first century Christians had service in houses and caves and even tombs. Not churches with pews and a steeple and stained glass windows. Now I'm not saying those things are bad but I am saying that's not what makes a church. A church is a place where Christians gather to worship and learn about God. These people that think like this are not true Christians. True Christians don’t care about their surroundings they just care about worshiping and learning about God. It’s not where we do this but how and why we do this. The thing that should be most important is giving God glory, and if you’re too wrapped up in how you and your church look then you seriously need to get your walk with God straightened out and find out what Christianity is really about. You don’t need to get all dressed up and put on your ''church'' face. Infect if you have a ''church'' face then you have problems. Now I’m not at all saying that you can’t get dressed up I usually do, but I’m am saying that it’s not nesasairy. God sees us in our grubs and he love us the same as if we were dressed to go to a fancy ball. Threes no dress code at real church and if you've been to or go to a church that says you must be dressed up in a serten way, I’ll tell you straight up that that’s not a church that God blesses or loves. Real Christians know that we must stay united as one, for the body of Christ is one. And if we separate and argue with one another than we are not acting as Christ taught us to. And when we don’t act as Christ taught us, we're not being real Christians. I would even argue that we're not true Christians when we're arguing with one other. Now I’m not saying that we can’t disagree with one another but we must do it in a way that encourages one another and it can’t come to the point that we divide the Church. Division is not what Christ wants. There can be no division in Christ’s church, for there is only one Body that is Christ. So why do we have so many different types of churches. I would say there are 15 to 20 main types of churches and thousands of branches off them. The main ones would be Roman Catholic, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Missionary, Nazarene, Church of God, Four Square, Church of Christ Christian Church, and Pentecostal and that's just some of the top "main stream" churches. This is something that I hate. It annoys me to no end. Church's split for retarded reasons; the simplest, dumbest things churches split on. I know I've told most of you this story but it's so stupid I'll tell it again. "I'm not sure where this church is but there is this church that wanted to have a mural of the garden of Eden painted on one of their walls and when they started painting Adam and Eve the painter asked if they wanted to give Adam and Eve a belly button or not and the two men supervising were in disagreement of whether or not to give them belly buttons. One said yes, the other said no. So they had a congregational meeting and asked if they should give Adam and Eve belly buttons or not. And of course they could not agree. About half the church said yes and about the other half said no and a handful said it makes no difference. So they went ahead and gave them belly buttons and so many people got mad they left the church and started a new church that believes they didn't have belly buttons. And hares the best part, they went ahead and painted over the mural because it was causing too much dispute." Now how retardedly retarded is that? This is a big thing. You may laugh but it’s seriously the biggest problem in Christianity. Every time a church spits more people are turned ageist God. When we show we can’t stay united as one church in the name of Christ Jesus our foundation, we create flaws in the church. And when we create flaws in the church we're saying that Christianity is not the one true way to Heaven. I mean if we as Christian can’t stand form in our beliefs and steadfast to one another, others will think that it’s just another realign, not the one true way to heaven. Would you all agree that we are divided? Would 110 different translations of the English indicate we are not united? Would 45 different types of churches in Sturgis say we're not one body? Why are we so divided? Why are we in so much disagreement? I'll tell you why. It’s because we've let Lucifer take control of our world. He got his first foothold when the Roman Catholic Church started and he got one more foothold every time someone tried to brake off it. I will say that the early Roman Catholic Church did take the word all over the world. But they did it in the wrong way and because of the mistake of making a different church then what we had before. The one Christ made. Satan has so much to use ageist the church now. Because we couldn’t stay together as one. Roman Catholic Church foot hold #1 husit church #2 Zimbwiny churches #3, and so on and so forth. Untie you get to us now, foot hold #1,000,000,000. He can do so much harm to the church. And it’s because he has so many footholds. So what can we do? Well the only thing i think we can do is start uniting together as one body as Christ tells us to. And if would have stayed like that we wouldn’t have had this problem in the first please. We need to look at one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Not just people that go to a Church of Christ Christian Church, but all Christians. This way we can take away the devils foot holds and bring Christ bake to all the churches. But how do we know who a Christian is. In this case I’m talking about people that call themselves Baptist or Catholics, or Methodius, or anything else. These are still follower of Christ as a howl but how do we know who the true followers of Christ are? So if we are in an agreement that being nice is not what makes us a Christian then what does? Is it giving away lots of thing to the needy? Or is it doing all kinds of work for helpless people? How about making people happy? What about being good on Sunday and when we're around our "church friends''? Aversely none of these things make us a Christian. Most theses are good things to do, but it’s not what makes us a Christian. So what is it that makes us a Christian? Why don't we see what the Bible says makes a Christian in 2 Corinthians 10: 23-24 it says "Everything is permissible - but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." Ok, so we can do whatever we want but it’s not always beneficial or constructive. We should be striving to do good for others. That is what Christ says to do. Lets skip ahead a little to 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greek, or the Church of God. - Even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good, but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ." So it's not doing a food thing that makes us a Christian. It's doing things in the name of Christ and for His glory not ours. If you see a Christian doing good things for others and devoting his time to serve all those around, but he takes credit and looks to see how he can get praise from other for what he did, I can and will tell you that that person is not a Christian and he's doing no good for Christ. Now I'm not just talking about doing things, I'm also talking about praying. If you act like your praying so people will think better of you or pray loudly to yourself, you are not a Christian. It says in Matthew 6: 5-8, "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 men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard by their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." Now I don't think he's saying you can't pray out loud when your in a group of Christians and your asked to pray (like here at church), I'm pretty sure he's saying not to go out in town, stand in the entrance to Wal-Mart praying as loud as you can. We are to do the things we do for God, neither so that God knows we do them nor so our friends or family know. Our realigns deeds are best displaced when they’re not. The only one that needs to know is God. Now I’m not saying we must do everything in secret, I’m just saying if we’re not doing it souly for God were not doing it For God at all. Those who make a show of there praises to God have gotten all there going to get here on earth and they will resave nothing from God in heaven. Christianity is not about being showy, or about the thing you do. But at the same time its not about hiding our faith. Yes we should not publicly anouns our prays and deeds so all know that we did them and we good Christians. its more than that, its trying to do the right thing in every sichowation. Christianity is all about using the gifts God gave you to give God prays and glory. Its about telling more and more people the good news of Christ, not so we can say look i brought 20 people to Christ but just so 20 people know the good news. Its about helping those in need, not so we can bring them to Christ but cuz there in need. If that not way your a Christian then your not a Christian for the right reason and when you’re not a Christian for the right reson your not a true Christian. Its not the name or title that separates us from the rest of the world, its what we do, how we do it, why we do it, and who we do it for and who gets the credet. That’s what makes us different from the people who do nothing and through out the title Christian. Now if your thinking why would someone say any of that? its cuz id would rather tell people what Christ says we are to do. and if you feel like i was being to picky and we can go half way with the Christian thing I’ll tell you again that you can’t, its all or nuthothing with Christ. If your thinking you know I haven’t been doing this right, and id really like to get straitnd out with the Lord then id invite you to come forward and tell God you’d like to put him first in your life. If you think you haven’t been a true Christian then come and try aigen Gods always here to take a truly repented heart back. so as we sing just come forward and give your life to Christ. |
Comments
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by Alex Paul
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by