A couple of weeks ago I was inspired to write my editorial article: I Do Not Believe The United States Should Label Itself a Christian Nation. After sharing it with my wife, who has similar, but different beliefs than I do, I realized that maybe I should go deeper to explain why I feel this way, so strongly. It is not just a feeling for me, but a core belief, fueled by my regard for Christ. I believe that Christ’s name should be revered much more than it usually is. I believe the word Christian should be revered much more than it usually is. When Christ’s name is on something, it should mean something. If you are not a Christian or if you have been hurt by people who have been misled or are using that name of Jesus in the wrong way, this title can do more harm than good.
Wikipedia says that Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. It is the world’s largest and most widespread religion, with roughly 2.4 billion followers, comprising around 31.2% of the world population. Of course there is a ton if variation beyond this statement because cultures and denominations create differences of beliefs and traditions. The Greek word Christianos, meaning, “follower of Christ” comes from Christos, meaning “anointed one,” with an adjective ending borrowed from Latin to mean belonging to. So a Christian is a a follower of Christ or someone that belongs to Christ.
But being a Christian means something different to so many people. In fact some people have such a skewed view of what being a Christian is that I don’t think they are actually Christians and those people make many of us look bad. I don’t want to gossip or backbite here because that makes God sad and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I often feel uncomfortable because I hear those things happen so much. In fact that is what I hated the most about the churches I have spent the most time in. We should be sharing information to pray for and edify each other but often, that is not what we are doing when we are talking to each other at church and it makes me sad and angry.
I could say that the politics around religion has gotten bad all of the sudden but I read through the gospel of John this last week and I realized that Jesus’ crucifixion was completely a political thing, so politics in church is not a new thing, I just didn’t realize it has always been there until now. Of course Christ’s death was also part of His divine plan to save believers and Jesus blatantly gave His life in every way He could. Time and time again, every chance He had to save Himself, He gave Himself to us and for that I am thankful. But just because we aren’t good at separating church and state, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try harder in order to recognize the foundation of our country’s origin: religious freedom. I believe that religious freedom means that we are all free to practice our choice of religion without persecution, which means that I need to give you room to disagree with me and have your own religion and not force my beliefs on you. Hopefully we can talk freely about our beliefs because that is how we might get to know each other without the stress of trying to “save” each other, but with the goal of understanding each other.
I spent a lot of time alone when I was growing up and even now. When I was 5 years old, I was in my backyard, under the apple trees and Jesus came to me and introduced Himself to me. From that moment on, I was never alone. Even when I didn’t know I was not alone, He was with me. Even when I forgot about Him, the Holy Spirit was with me. I have always enjoyed reading my bible and learning from people more wise than myself. There have always been times that I couldn’t hear certain messages and now I know that was God, hedging me in, so that I wouldn’t get confused by bad messages. God chose me and He has taught me many things. I have learned to hear His voice and to obey. When I was 25 years old, something in me thought I wasn’t as mature as I should be. I told God I was a 20 year old Christian but I felt like a toddler. So I challenged Him. My car had broke down and I had no way to get to church. No one missed me until it was my turn to dress the communion table. So I told God to prove His promises. I stayed away from church and waited for Him to teach me. He proved His promises and I grew faster than ever. It was so much easier to hear Him without the distractions of other people.
It has been 23 years and I haven’t been a able to find a church that I fit in. The humanity is too much for me. The showcasing or dogma or need for attention or the Pharisees stop me from wanting to return.
What I expect from churches is growth. I expect the people in the church to be better but when I visit them they are the same. I don’t need to be fed. I only need fellowship and worship. God will lead me to tithe if this is my home. He will lead me to serve when He has created the opportunity. I don’t need to be asked by church leaders. When I come to church I expect to see homeless in the congregation and people being ministered to randomly and the body moving but instead I find the same white, cookie cutter services with people that mean well but are held down by dogma or the need to perform for their ego’s sake and it makes me want to stay home and study by myself and pray by myself and give and act on the moments that God creates for me. It doesn’t make church valuable to me because no one has ever followed me home or even called until I missed my turn to serve them. This is why so many people are turned off by church; the lack of authenticity.
I am reminded by a quote by Brennan Manning that I heard on the DCTALK album Jesus Freak: The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
I saw an article the other day that explained some of the beliefs of Christian nationalists and it made me so sad that a group of people that supposedly believe in Jesus, think they should be treated special because of their beliefs; that they should have say in our government, economics, culture, education, media, arts and entertainment with the goal of power and conquest. These same people will vote in a person like Donald Trump, who does not embody any of the characteristics the bible tells us to look for in leadership but they want him because he will punish the people that are bad, he supports conspiracy theories and ideas that distract United States citizens from what is really important. They aren’t looking for a leader, they are looking for a bully that will break the United States so they can rebuild it the way they want it.
I know I am just one person. I am a woman that loves Jesus. Jesus did not like politicians when He was with us. He did not like the Pharisees. He loved them but He did not speak to them in words they could understand. He was not here for them. The rules and regulations had become of more importance to the Pharisees than the people, and that was why Jesus was here. He was here to tell the people about the love of God. He was here to show us mercy and forgiveness and healing. He was here to leave the Holy Spirit here for us to teach us God’s truth that our humanity, that seeks after lust, pride and greed was going to lead us nowhere but His love, mercy and truth would lead us to life.
Jesus was humble and He told us to serve others. He said specifically that those who wanted to be first, would be last. So I know that the beliefs of the Christian nationalists are based on confusion. The bible says that where there is confusion, that is not where God is and we must pray for these people. As true believers we can not place ourselves above anyone else. We are here to serve freely, not until we are angry and tired, but with the abundance that God gives us, so if it is too much for you, it is not your time, you need to rest. But if you have energy for this, please join me in praying for clarity in the hearts of the chosen and peace and joy to abound through Jesus Christ in His believers so that we can share it with everyone.
As believers Jesus’ name is written on us. We are important to Him. Each one of us is His church. We mean something. We don’t need a building or a body of believers to edify us. We need a relationship with Jesus. We need time in the word to learn His ways and how to hear the Holy Spirit guiding us toward truth and life. If we are able to find that in a group of believers that meets in a building, we are truly blessed, but you are also able to do this alone, or with a friend over coffee, or with a stranger on the street, or the librarian as you check out a book or with anyone that God puts in your path. You mean something. You make a difference. Be the church wherever you are. Don’t let the rules get in the way. Let God speak to you and through you. Learn His voice and obey. You can inspire the world.
Jesus changed the world and He said we would do greater than He. Let Him shine through you.
Be blessed!
Read More:
- Christianity by Wikipedia staff
- Christians by Wikipedia staff
- Tracing the rise of Christian nationalism, from Trump to the Ala. Supreme Court by Terry Gross for NPR, February 29, 2024
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
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