epiphany ||| rants

rant 3 (Christianity)

This rant will mostly cover what I believe it means to be a Christian.

I say "what I believe" instead of directly saying what Christians should do because many Christians have different ideas of what it means to be a true Christian, and although I think that I am right, I hold the possibility of being wrong or missing the mark. I know that I will never completely understand the Bible, but that won't stop me from spreading what I do know. Christians are followers of Jesus, and followers share what they know. This is how followers make followers of Christ.

Apart of being a Christian means aiming towards the unreachable goal of being Christ-like. Obviously, since we're human, we are all sinners and often fall short. In my opinion, Christians who heavily judge others, cast others out, or hate others are falling short of the glory of God. We are not called to hate. The Christians who you see shouting profanities at those who do not hold their belief system are, in my opinion, sinning. Does Jesus not call us to love our neighbor as ourselves? What about the golden rule? We are all sinners, so there is no reason to hate others for their sin when you have your own. In God's eyes, all sin is equal—your sin is not greater or less than mine. It is repentance, your heart, your commitment to follow Jesus and his principles that differentiates Christians from non-Christians.

Just because we hold something to be true doesn't mean it is. I could be wrong about my beliefs I share in this rant, but I truly think they are right. Questioning what pastors preach and what scripture says is a good way to search for the truth. In the Bible, Saul (before he became Paul) believed that God wanted him to kill other Christians. Obviously, he was wrong. He was shown the truth when God blinded him for three days. After this, Saul became the Apostle Paul and, instead of killing Christians, spread the Word to nonbelievers so they would be enlightened in Jesus.

Going back to what I said earlier about followers making followers, I think one of the biggest parts of being a Christian is evangelism. If you don't know what that means, evangelism (as defined by google) is: "the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness."

If we have found salvation, joy, hope, peace, and love in Jesus, we need to share that with others.

Penn Jillette, an atheist illusionist and comedian, said, "I don't respect people who don't proselytize. I don't respect that at all. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward.... How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?"

To go off of this idea of evangelism, J.D. Grier once shared a story he had heard that perfectly describes why we should spread the Gospel. I couldn't tell it better than he did, so I pasted it down below (it's kinda long-ish, but it's worth reading, trust me):

"I heard a story several years ago about a man who was driving his car down an interstate outside of Los Angeles very late one evening. A significant earthquake rumbled through the region and the man immediately pulled his car over to the side of the road to wait it out. The earthquake was pretty severe, but over after a few seconds. So, the man pulled his car back onto the road, and took a left to cross a bridge over a river. As he was driving across, he suddenly noticed the taillights of the car in front of him just disappear. He stopped his car, got out and realized that a section of the bridge had fallen out during the earthquake. The car in front of him had driven into the chasm, at full speed, plunging nearly 75 feet into the water below.

The man turned around, and realized that several more cars were headed toward the break. He began to wave his arms frantically. But people driving across a bridge outside of Los Angeles at 3 a.m. are not likely to stop for what looks like a crazy person on the side of the road. He watched as 4 cars drove right past and plunged to their deaths below.

Then he looked and saw a large bus coming toward the break. He made up his mind that if that bus went off the bridge, it would have to take him with it. So he stood in the path and waved his arms to get the bus to stop. The bus honked its horn and flashed its lights, but the man would not move. The bus driver got out, saw the danger, and angled the bus so no more cars would go over.

What would you have done if you had been that the one to see the break in the bridge? You probably would have done just what that man did—passionately pleaded with people to stop. Would you care that other people watching thought you had lost your mind? Of course not. What you know and see makes their ridicule insignificant.

If you find yourself lacking in motivation to share with others, ask yourself: do you really believe the message? If you do, you know that sharing the message is worth the awkwardness.

It's worth anything."