From governments right down to individuals there are those who call themselves Christian who have not followed the teaching of Him who they say they follow. Even some churches wholeheartedly embrace practices Jesus Christ said God hates. They have stopped reading their Bibles to find out what God approves and they seek the approval of their peers.
So if somebody or an organisation has offended you that claims to be Christian please look beyond their hypocrisy and consider Jesus Christ Himself. If you have never read His actual teachings for yourself we expect you will be amazed at their relevance for today. (The famous sermon on the Mount can be found in Matt 5-7 & Luke 6.) Our object here is not to lead you into an association with any organisation but with the God who loves you.
We need to appreciate though, that disciples of Jesus are work in progress. Not every one who discovers Christ gets all their negative attitudes and behaviour patterns sorted out in a single day. The posh word for this process is called sanctification and it is a process. But it should not take years and does not make offensive behaviour acceptable. However a stumbling believer who needs help should not be included in the same category as those who actually run “Christian” organisations and have no intention of following many of the teachings of Jesus Christ.
There are some who think quite wrongly that you are a Christian because of who your parents are or what nationality you are. Jesus quite clearly taught we must individually accept Him as our personal Lord and Saviour. It has been said that before God we are all equal therefore He has no favourites, but I am persuaded that we are all His favourites we just need to do what He tells us to do to bring us into the reality of it.
Many think that if they do certain things and generally live a good life then if God exists surely He will not have any grounds to reject them at any judgement. That is not what Jesus taught. His credentials are truly staggering. Please consider the actual Bible record, not just anecdotal hearsay, about this man’s life and His offer to you.
Many like to portray Christianity as trusting in fables and myths but quite to the contrary true Christian faith simply trusts what is true. The so called scientists who have control over the established scientific world of our day, who ignore blatant incontrovertible evidence contrary to their “religious” convictions, have made the theory of evolution their God. They rejoice in their self deception. Do not be deceived by them.
Being a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ does not mean you have to go to church or give lots of money away. It is far more personal. It is allowing God to take out of your life detrimental attitudes and behaviour patterns that you are unable to control yourself and to let Him create in you true love, joy and peace. You may want to go to meet with fellow believers after that and even give money away but it should never be done out of obligation but only because YOU want to.
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