I walked out of class and was immediately taken back, I heard these so called Christians spewing hate claiming to be vessels for The Lord. My first reaction- to laugh. I rolled my eyes and thought about how stupid these people were. That was until I noticed other people's reactions. They were all making fun of these men, and mocking them and then I heard the worst part "this is why I hate Christians". I stopped and I thought "this isn't what Christians are and I know that, but these people don't" and I realized the people speaking, also genuinely believed they were preaching God's word. I realized my initial reaction was wrong, they aren't stupid, they are ill-informed and anger isn't what I should be feeling, I should be sad.
I should be sad knowing that my amazing God is so totally misunderstood by people who claim to know and love him. I should be sad knowing that their confusion leads to the negative stereotypes people believe about actual followers of Christ. We are all sinners, and it saddens me to see these people completely believing that our sins are any less sinful than the next man's. This feeling of sadness soon shifted to passion; this series of events fueled a fire in me- if I want people to know what He actually stands for, it is my job to show them.
God is peace.
He is the peace you feel when you sit down for a cup of coffee and devotionals. All of life's worries fade away when you welcome God's presence; prayer is the key to peace. The overwhelming feeling of peace is a huge part of being a Christian; we are not at peace when we are at war with others.
God is love.
He is family and friends; he is the feeling of home. He loves us like no other and teaches us to pour that love into others. That love is the reason we feel safe in The Lord. That love is what leads "outsiders" to feel welcomed in Christ. We are in the position, as Christians, where we have a duty to welcome everyone with open arms and love like Jesus loves. I love my brothers and sisters in Christ, even if they misunderstand what God really expects of us. I love those whose sins are different than mine because God loves us all.
God is forgiveness.
One of the most important characteristics of Jesus is forgiveness; to be Christians, we should understand that we have to forgive others because He has forgiven us. It is not our place to pass judgement, we can only love and forgive and pray that God has done the same.
God is freedom.
Forgiveness is freedom, and I am totally free in Christ. Jesus died to free us from our sins, all we have to do is accept Him and live for him. As Christians, we express our freedom in Christ by passing it on to others and praying that they choose to receive his goodness. We don't have the authority to choose whether or not someone should be freed from their sins. Christ will set you free, and we have a responsibility to help lead you to that freedom.
God embodies all of these qualities and more, which means Christians are supposed to as well. It is our job to set the stereotypes straight and live the closest to Christ as we possibly can. I will continue to try to embody all that God is and let Him be totally visible in me because that is the only way a difference will be made and people will be reached.
