Real Christians are loving.
Real Christians aren't judgmental.
Real Christians cherish all life.
Real Christians don't worry about offending people.
Real Christians care for Creation.
Real Christians know that Man is set apart.
Real Christians will support Christian music/movies/media.
At one point in time or another, I have heard all of these, from varying sources. And in many ways, they are all true, but many are not quite so black and white.
See, we as humans really like to make everything as easy as possible. If we can sum up our faith neatly, without getting down and dirty, we are delighted. It makes loving God so easy! And more importantly, it makes us feel smug because we can define what Real Christians are based on our own gifts, abilities, and already established world views. However, when we dig into God's Word, and I mean really dig in, not just read to find things to justify what we already want to think, we discover that being a Real Christian is anything but tidy.
See, the people God has to work with to further His kingdom are all a mess themselves. Some of our problems are actually biological- we snap at people when we're hungry, we are accidentally thoughtless when we are tired, and our American culture has convinced us to be slender and busy at all times. However, we cannot negate that most of our problems can be traced back to the sin that caused that beautiful angel to be banished from God's presence- pride.
Why do we argue over things with other Christians? And I'm not talking healthy debate, because that is extremely important for our growth. I'm talking about arguing and belittling and declaring what Real Christians are. Have you ever heard someone say what a Real Christian was and have it NOT be something that they themselves believed or how they consistently behaved already? Me, neither. We take pride in knowing that we understand the Bible or the Holy Spirit. We are the Pharisee in Luke 18, whose prayer of gratitude is that he is not as bad as everyone else, and that he obeys God appropriately.
Here's the thing. If we love our neighbor, what does that look like? First of all, it takes work. Work that might cut into our Dr. Who binge on Netflix, or cost us money we wanted to use on cute shoes. Work that requires we set aside ourselves, not go and help the bare minimum so we can pat ourselves on the back and say we did something Good, but actual work. We need to listen to people's stories, even if they drone on and on like Ben Stein's character, or if their story is rife with bad choices and obvious character flaws. Did we apply and interview to gain Christ's grace? Neither should we be stingy with ours. When we listen to people's stories, we can know how best to love them. Sometimes that means supporting them and finally being someone who doesn't cast stones. Sometimes that means speaking difficult truths that they won't want to hear. Sometimes it's not judging someone, and sometimes, it is.
We need to show respect to each other. When Jesus was crucified and even the thief on the cross near him was mocking him, did He hurl sarcastic zingers at him? Nope. We like to do that, because it makes us feel smarter than people who make fun of our beliefs. Which can be traced back to pride.
We need to stop cherry-picking the Bible to serve our own purpose. This means you. Yeah you. And this means me, too. We can justify just about anything if we utilize our concordance for that purpose. But that won't make us Real Christians. God's Word is strange and mysterious and confusing and obvious and complex. Don't let anyone tell you what it says without reading the whole of it yourself.
I know many people believe that some Christians are more worried about not offending people and are therefore offending God. But if we are unkind and unloving to people- people that God loves enough to give over His Son for- wouldn't that offend God? There is no one-size-fits-all answer. It IS appropriate to be gentle with people, sometimes. And it IS appropriate to call people out on their behavior, even at the risk of offense, sometimes. If we are letting active love be our guide, we will know when to use which.
Real Christians are humble. Real Christians seek after Truth, even if it means changing what they've always believed. Real Christians love God. Real Christians love others actively.
I'm not a Real Christian, not yet. But I am a disciple of Jesus, so there's hope for me.
