A Good Christian

In leading up to starting a blog, I took many notes on different topics to have a lot of material to work with. This week while looking through those notes I found the first ever Christian based piece I ever wrote a couple of years ago…..

A Good Christian is not someone who boasts of being a Good Christian. The Good Christian knows himself to be a Bad Christian who can do better. If we could all stop, look ourselves in the mirror and say, “I am a hypocrite, I am selfish, and I could do better. But today is a new day and I will do better.” The world would be a much better place.

Jesus came to establish the Kingdom of God on “Earth as it is in Heaven”. We anxiously await his return but he is waiting on us to establish his kingdom. We worship our Lord the prince of peace while advocating and supporting wars, death and killing. Jesus cured the sick and the lame, but people turn a blind eye and avoid them in fear of catching their illness or assuming the doctors will help them. Jesus himself “had no place to rest his head” yet we let the homeless have no shelter. Jesus fed 5,000 with five loaves of bread, we can’t spare a crumb. If Jesus was to return tomorrow what kind of World would he be returning to?

We can do better, I can do better. I am a hypocrite, I am selfish but tomorrow is a new day and I will do my best to be better.

-God Bless.

 

What is the True Church?

Last week I wrote about how, my mother’s priest spoke of division in church but as soon as I told him I was going to another church he criticized the denomination of that church. Today I want to talk about the arguing over the “true church”.

So many of us argue over who is the true church, and in doing so behave so far away from Christianity. These people miss the beauty. Heaven is going to be unsettling for a lot of people. Imagine the beauty of all the different denominations, languages, races, combined into one beautiful service. It sounds extraordinary but instead so many want themselves to be right, their ways to be right. These people are the same people when I have brought up the lateness of the hour and seem terrified of the idea of Christ return. It is because they have built a kingdom for themselves and are afraid to lose their earthly things. We must move past that because nothing we have built on Earth can compare to his Kingdom. What kind of world is Jesus coming back to? A house divided cannot stand, so certainly a kingdom divided will also fall.

God doesn’t care about the size of your church, Jesus said, that when two or three gather in his name he is there. Rags or riches, he knows what it is in your heart.

Have a blessed Week

Church Unity

One of the bigger problems I see in the Christian community today is the lack of unity between the denominations. Many Catholics and Orthodox will flat out tell you that their way is the only way. Many Protestants will point out what is wrong with how Catholics and Orthodox worship. Some go as far as calling Catholics, “Satan Worshipers”. Seriously google it, it is wild stuff.

One of the hardest denominations I’ve been around was Orthodox. I went to an Orthodox Church as a child and they always made it a point to show how old their beliefs were and their lineage. Many scoffed at the idea of any other denomination and some in the church would give smiles to other Christians, listening to them but finish with a “why you’re wrong” statement. As a matter of fact Orthodox in Greek translates to “correct belief” or “right opinion”. Of course I had many great interactions with Orthodox Christians, don’t get me wrong, but today I am just writing about division that I have seen.

I recently had a disheartening experience at my old Church. My father (who was also no longer a member of the Orthodox Church) had recently passed away and at the request of my mother I attended her church one Sunday. The priest gave a sermon about unity in the church and banning together. He talked about the crisis in Syria and how many Christian’s are being killed for their faith. However the problem was he kept saying we need to save “Orthodox” Christians, he only talked about unity in the Orthodox Church and the crisis for “Orthodox” Christians. I talked with him afterwards, he began by telling how sorry he was for my loss but as soon as he found out I was going to a different church, he began to point out how the Orthodox Church was before my church and how he couldn’t believe I left his church. He even criticized the fact I wasn’t getting married in his church.

I asked him “What about unity in the Church?”

He said, “There is plenty of unity in my Church”.

Then he turned his back on me.

It’s unfortunate that people behave this way over theological differences. God made it pretty simple for us on how be Christians. The two most important commandments are, love the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Why are we fighting over human made traditions?

God is looking for praise and for us to glorify him through works, we need to show the World God is good and make it a better place. We are the body of Christ, not the leg of Christ, or the arm but the whole body. Every part of the body has different working parts that are essential to a person. The same should go for the Christian community. We all have a purpose to God.

As far as arguing over how people worship, God is looking for praise and love. He is not looking for the how, he is looking for the why. He wants us to love him.

Differences are okay, but there is no need to argue. Pastor Steve Cioccolanti (you can watch him on YouTube at Discover Ministries) pointed out that there is 4 Gospels covering the same story. We have 4 different perspectives on Jesus’ mission. Different perspectives are okay but tearing each other apart over them is not.

Let’s all focus on using our abilities to glorify God, coming together and loving him.