I see a lot of posts around the internet from non-Christian and Christian alike on how we are meant to be as Christians. I'm yet to agree with any. We shall see it might happen. This post has been churning/turning over in my head for a while. Its what I do when I can't sleep... sit and think. Lots of not sleeping... lots of thinking.
I am a Christian.
Not perfect. Not polished. I don't have the answers to every question, or every problem. Sometimes life sucks; sometimes it shines. Sometimes it just happens.
The reason I am a Christian has nothing to do with me thinking I have everything right, or that I am somehow superior, actually completely the opposite. I don't have it all together, in that I find I need a third party, I need something bigger than just me, and I need the help. In a nutshell I know I need God because I don't have it all together.
I used to live this life in tight restriction of rules and regulations. Very black and white kind of deal. What was right was right and what was not was not. I see a lot of Christians still living this, and I suppose it is fine for them. Over the years I have found I cannot live to that standard myself, let alone hold others to it. There is a lot in understanding that God never treated the sinner with contempt, He treated them with grace. So that is what I aim for - grace, love, respect, and patience. I am not here to thump people over the head with a belief they struggle with; or even with my own beliefs while they struggle with their lives. I'd rather listen and hear them, rather be patient and kind. Strange I know.
I meet so many Christians who in one breathe berate the non-Christian, and in the next can't seem to make the same connections in their own lives. I am not even thinking of specific people, just my several years experience talking to people online.
So. I am a Christian. I make no apology for that. Please show some respect to me, don't berate me for what I believe any more than you wish to be berated for what you believe. A little respect goes a long way. While I believe certain things, I make the promise here and now that even if I state them in a black and white format, if you want to talk to me I will listen. If you want to yell and scream, I even listen to that. Yet at the same time, Id like the chance to talk to you in the same way. I am not perfect though, I fail at being patient sometimes; I fail at even sounding Christ-like sometimes too. I fall, face first if you like, and that just makes me a normal human.
I completely understand that this post pretty much might offend people. Right now I don't really care about that. I really am sick of seeing people post things which generalize one group or another. Real people, real lives, real hearts are on the other side of the screen reading what you post. If you can't say it to someone's face- then maybe don't go posting things at all. As for me, I am just as you find me - it takes me a little while in real life to warm to people. I am not perfect, and I am just me.
But I am a Christian. I do believe in God. I do believe He has a plan and a purpose, and an overall direction for my life. I believe that I am not perfect, and that's why God sent His son to take my place - because I sin and sin is the crap that cuts us off from God. It is anything we do that shifts us away from Him. It isn't one thing, its not a specific list which only a few blessed people have, or a list which contains a huge generalized ideal; there is some of that, don't get me wrong, the Bible has a list of 10 specifically... but the Bible (and yes I do follow the Bible) also contains the following idea: the thoughts we think are as bad as the acts we do. So if you think it its as good as doing. In a nutshell.. no-one is perfect. We all sin. We all miss the point, think the thoughts, break the connection.
But God in great wisdom made a way for us through His son.
I am a Christian, I make no apologies. But it isn't because of you or your actions, I am a Christian because of me.
