I am glad Jesus was not a Christian.

(I debated about this post and almost did not post it, it is out of my comfort zone but it is what I think and feel and since this is my blog here goes nothing!)  :)

Over the past several days I have become very aware of the fact that I am very glad Jesus was not a Christian.

You see we as Christians have a major problem.  We judge.  We condemn.  We harbor unforgiveness and bitterness.  If someone hurts us we often have the tendency to hurt back.

But even more than that He knows we have this problem too...He tells us many times in His word what to do:

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, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her. -John 8:7

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. -Romans 3:22-24

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.  -Matthew 7:5

My heart hurts to think about this.  Because I am guilty of throwing stones, of not removing the plank from my own eye.  Of talking about people who are "less than" what I think they should be behind their backs. 

 Judge.  That is what I often do.

But I am learning that it is something we can change, I can change.  

We each have choices.  And we are going to make good choices, and we are going to make bad choices.  And sometimes you are going to make what you deem as a good choice that I have deemed a bad choice.  

Drinking, smoking... lying, overeating... tattoos, cursing...now to some of you each of these choices are different, some good and some bad.

But they are just that.  Choices.  Your choices.  My choices.  Your consequences.  My consequences.  

No. One. Elses.

Because in the end it is not about what I think, or what you think.  It is about what He thinks.  

And He tells us over and over again in the New Testament we are free.  Because of what He did on the Cross...His blood shed for you, for me.  

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. -Romans 8:1-3

He extends to each of us, His Children, grace and mercy.  I love the definitions of grace and mercy:

grace-  the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

mercy- compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender.

Freely given.  Kindly Forbearance. 

No Judgment.

No Condemnation.

Freedom.

Just LOVE.

Instead of trying to make Jesus more like us as often times we try to do....

Maybe, just maybe...

We should work harder at trying to become more like HIM.

Part 2.

Comments

[lauren]

wow - thank you for being obedient to the Lord's promtings and sharing this. Beautifully written - I'm so glad I found you!! Be BLESSED!

[Patty Wysong]

So much truth here, Christy!!
Hugs!

[Dawn]

Thanks for posting this, I found it because a friend posted a link to it. It warms my heart that there are so many who are determined to find a 'better way' than religion and long instead to follow the one who is 'the way'.

[Paula]

Great stuff Christy, and, like the all of the people above, thank you for stepping out of your comfort zone. We must speak freely and boldly in the Lord, and you have. This post has resulted in renewed vigour to be more like Jesuus. Thank you! Paula

[Lisa]

Christy,
I am thankful to read your thoughtful post; you rightly have pointed to the fact that Jesus was not called a Christian. He was referred to as the Way and His followers were followers of the Way. I find it rather amazing that so many believers neglect the fact that His anger and radical demonstrations were toward the religious, outwardly pious of His day. Hmmm I wonder who that would be nowadays?

[christa]

Bravo!

[Brook]

Amen! What a wonderful post Christy!

I have dropped the Christian label when referring to myself as well. Our pastor refers to true believers at Christ followers. So I've adopted his jargon.

[Leslie]

Glad you decided to post this! It is so so so true! I am so happy that Jesus called us not to follow His fan club, but to follow HIM.

Ya know I love ya :)

[LaDonna]

Thank you so much for sharing from your heart Christy! :)

[Christy Klein]

Amen & Amen!!

Our family just recently left our home church of almost 10 years because of this. I understand there will be hypocrites wherever you go... even church. We are human and have a sinful nature. But what I was running into was beyond hypocrisy... the "Christians" in our church are becoming down right Pharisaical.

My former church calls every version of the Bible, other than KJV, a perversion. They teach that they are all watered down and that the KJV is superior. They look down their noses at all who would use another version. I say that's placing limits on God. God can speak to my heart through whatever version I decide to read... He cannot be put in a box or confined to one type of Bible.

My former church would gasp in horror if anyone in the congregation got a piercing or tattoo. Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, after all. But isn't that between me and God? Do I need my church family to be the Holy Spirit for me and tell me what I can and can't do in order to be a "real Christian"?

I've had ladies from my former church look at me with poorly concealed disgust for wearing pants. I've been ignored, in fact, by some of these "godly ladies" because they caught me wearing my jeans to WalMart on a cold day. I'm sorry, where in the Bible does it say that I HAVE to always wear a skirt? I do prefer skirts, but I also have a free will and can wear something a tad warm if I see fit.

And don't even get me started on going to the movie theater or contemporary christian music! Big NO-NO's where I come from.

I am very thankful for my conservative convictions and standards. But nobody has the right to look down their nose at me any more than I have the right to look down my nose at them... even if our standards are different. It's between me and the Lord. He is our ultimate authority, guide, and example. We should be living to please Him, not other "Christians".

I do not mean to sound so negative about church. We are looking for a new church. I believe God wants us in church. But I am seeking a church family that places more importance on sincerity and authenticity, rather than perfection.

Not sure why I ranted about all of this. I guess I'm still a tad frustrated with the behavior I've seen. Sorry for the super long comment. I guess I needed this.

[Andrea]

I'm so proud of you for going out of your comfort zone! You GO, girl! :D

[Crystal Renaud]

LOVE THIS. well done. and quite timely for own life right now. not only do we judge others, but i think we also judge ourselves a little too harshly. where's the grace?

[Lois Lane II]

This is a beautiful post, and I agree 100%. But we have to be careful to walk a thin line...I have friends who don't go to church because of hypocrites in the church, but my sole reason for going to church is to worship God with other believers -- not to worry about the hypocricy with other people.

Can you tell this is something I deal with a lot? lol

I think this is a major problem with the church today -- the condemnation, that is. If people don't go to church, they're heathens. If they drink, they're heathens. If they gossip, they're heathens. If they curse, they're heathens.

But who is perfect? I'm certainly not, and it's through Christ's love that I am justified and able to get into Heaven. And thank God for that!

[Chere]

Amen, Christy. I know how it feels to step out of your comfort zone, believe me, but I'm so glad that you did with this post.
Reminds me of that Ghandi quote - "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
Not only do we judge each other, we judge those who haven't yet become CHrist Followers and our harshness turns them away. My cousin has that bumper sticker on the back of her truck and it's so sad, because she has been so hurt by Christians she has no interest in this Christ person who supposedly makes them act the way they do.
I'm bookmarking this :)

[Joanne Sher]

Oh, Amen! This is SOOO true. And SOO good. Was wondering where you were going with this, and this was excellent.

[David]

Those last three lines nail it Christy. Except take out the "maybe, just maybe..." bit ;)

Thanks for posting it an not letting it disappear!

I don't have a problem with labels. The fact is I am a disciple of Christ, and Christian is a single word that sums that up. It might be tarnished - but we live in a tarnished world. Better get polishing with that Jesus cloth - or something.

[alihsee]

I'm glad you posted this! Always go with your gut! :) Me? I'm a Christ Follower :)

[Kristen {dancing in the margins}]

"Preach it!" yells the newly tattooed Jesus lover! ; )

A few weeks ago I called my Mom up and declared "I'm no longer a Christian!" After she shrieked in desperation and began pleading for my eternal soul ; ) I calmed her down and said, "I'm just a girl who loves Jesus. I'm done with the labels, Mom. I can't take it anymore." And I meant every word. For weeks now I've been calling myself "a girl who loves Jesus" because I see how we tend to take our labels and hide behind them. We take "Christian" and instead of using it to foster love and compassion and mercy and grace we use it to block the world from our "protected" community. We protest with it and we use it to exclude. Breaks my heart. Maybe if we stopped calling ourselves a label, and started cutting to the heart of this faith we might be more apt to do the thing for His glory. Maybe if we weren't so worried about being perceived as "good christian girls" we would be more focused on becoming "like Jesus". And then...maybe we would.