Christians

So, I wanted to clarify something I think has come out a few times in my blogs. From time to time I complain about the things Christians tend to do. Like judge in the name of "accountability."

And yet, I am proud to say I love and follow Jesus. I am a Christian. It's like this song "Down in Flames" by Relient K.

Let me pause to clarify
Because I'm sure you're asking why
I stand before you and proudly claim
To be part of what this song proclaims


I'm part of the problem, I confess
But I gotta get this off my chest
Let's extinguish the anguish for which we're to blame
And save the world from going down in flames

The body of Christ has issues. It has problems. It's full of people who sin on a daily basis. I'm one of those people. I don't claim to live the Christian life perfectly, nor can I say I've never done the very things I complain about. I have. Many times.

And sometimes, this group of sinners, including me, do things that don't represent Jesus well. Unfortunately, those tend to be the examples of Christianity that tend to stick out. They get a lot more press. And even in individual lives, negative experiences just stick more than positive ones. So even though most of my Christian friends and acquaintances have not met me with judgment, those that have seem to be the ones that I remember more.

But I think Christians are capable of accomplishing amazing things for Christ. For all the times Westboro Baptist Church has shown hatred rather than the love of Christ by picketing at gay people's funerals, there's this: Christians who went to a gay pride parade to apologize. Not to condone anything, but to show love. Because that's what Jesus did with almost everyone he met. He showed love and compassion to the cheating tax collectors. The adulterers. The prostitutes. The outcast lepers. The only people he fought with were the ones that thought they had it all together. He couldn't help them because they didn't think they needed help. They just thought everyone else did.

There are some Christians, like those from Westboro Baptist, that act like that. Everyone else needs help, but not them. And those are the Christians who stand out. But those aren't the people who make up the body of Christ. When I read about strippers picketing on the church lawn after its congregants had picketed at their club, I cheered for the strippers. Because I don't think that was strippers vs. my fellow Christians. I think it was strippers vs. haters. And hate has nothing to do with Jesus.

But most Christians I know aren't haters. They aren't perfect, but they want to do what's right. They want to show Jesus' love. So don't take my complaints as general statements about what Christians are. I complain because it bothers me so much to see us as a group being less than what we can be. All I'm doing is trying to extinguish the anguish for which we're to blame so that together, we can do amazing things to show the world the love of Christ.