Wake up thou slumbering Christians

I am beginning to wonder about Christians in general. The perception among non-believers, is that Christians are hypocritical snobs. They see us proclaiming our faith while in sin. They watch as we tell them to fill their lives with things that are of God, yet we fill our lives with things that are of this world. We tell them secular music has negative messages and will affect their mind, yet we listen to the same. Christian artists claim their art contains Christian messages, but even other Christians can't see that message. We are extremely defensive of ourselves, yet we don't defend the Almighty when we fail. We preach that 'sinners' and backsliders need to get right with God while we don't truly know Him. We tell others that we are to love our enemies, yet we get bent on revenge. We know that there is a thin line between loving someone as God loves us and not only accepting their sin, but going as far as condoning it as well.

Memo to Christians:
The Bible is pretty clear if you take time to actually read it instead of relying on the opinion of others. We see the crucifixion of Christ as our salvation, and that is correct. We miss, however, that fact that it is much more than that. It is a new covenant, yes. It does not take away the spiritual significance of the Old Testament. Even Jesus himself said He did not come to change the law, so how can Christians claim that he simply made the Old Testament a history book?

His sacrifice is also a way to show us that God is in control and we, as humans, are not the authority. Prior to Jesus' resurrection we had to go to a priest or participate in some ritual sacrifice. His blood erases only that need for intervention between God and ourselves. He stated that the only way to the Father is through the Son, not the Pope, not the latest Christian author, not Buddha or Shiva or Mohamed. It is through your communication and the sacrifice of the Son of God, not 'religion' or a ritual sacrifice or works. His death was the death of all that and His resurrection was the resurrection of our relationship with God and the purity which we tore apart with the thought of power and control.

If you read the Bible on your own, it gives God the chance to make it relevant to your life through the Holy Spirit. You will find that only one lived a sinless life and He still bore all the sins of the world. The stories of disciples questioning God's ways and committing acts of sin such as cutting off a man's ear, doubting that Jesus was real after the resurrection, and denying that they knew Him should be enough to know that we cannot live a sinless life. Paul told us that he failed and that the toughest race was that against himself. Moses threw down the ten commandments and broke them. He struck a rock out of anger and God still brought water out of that rock. Gideon thought so highly of God that he told God to pick someone else to go into battle with. Jesus rebuked many, including His disciples, for their sin. For all his greatness, David committed adultery. Are you starting to see a pattern? Let me pose another question. If we could simply believe that Jesus is who He is, confess with our mouth and become perfect, living a sinless life, what would be the point of the sacrifice? His blood washes away our sin when our personal judgement day comes and we stand before God. That blood is not meant for this world. Next time you hear an unbeliever or backslider complain about Christians and their hypocrisy, think about it. Their words are merited in truth. Does this mean God condones sin? Should we? NO! Should we judge others based on their sin? NO! Love the person, hate the sin. Showing love for the sin or hate for the person is wrong.

A perfect example is that of homosexuality. In general, Christians show either hate towards the gay community because of their frustration, or we show love for the sin by actually condoning their lifestyle and preaching that it is OK. Neither is correct. We should be loving them and inviting them to our Father, yet standing firm, without anger, on the Word of God that show clearly that it is unacceptable. Both the Old and New Testaments clearly state that it is an abomination, not just a little off, but an abomination. The New Testament even tells us that God left them because of this and other sins that are very prevalent and widely accepted in our society.

Christians are a funny group. Everywhere you look, different ethnic and lifestyle oriented groups stick with each other. You see black buying from black owned businesses, gay from gay, Jewish from Jewish, tree-huggers from organic and green. Why do Christians decide to wear a Metallica t-shirt instead of one that promotes God? Why do we listen to Eminem instead of someone who gives God glory through their music (and there is a Christian artist for every style of music you could think of). Why do we hang art in our houses that pay tribute to drugs or movies or individuals instead of something that is obviously sending a strong Godly message? There are Godly choices in every form of entertainment. Sometimes it is more expensive and harder to acquire, but it is only that way because Christians don't support them. Next time you buy a Christian book, buy it at your local Christian bookstore instead of Wal Mart. I believe most Christians do these things out of fear of being called out for being a hypocrite. Maybe if we lived our life differently, preached the truth instead of preaching that we are above or better that others, more people would come to know the Christ and we might even feel better about ourselves.


-Grimm