We're are all aware of the Westboro Church, and we've all sometime in our lives ran into a sidewalk preacher on campus with a sign claiming that everyone is going to hell. It's upsetting to see Christianity being represented like this when we know our faith is based on love and acceptance. We're always quick to say that Christianity is under attack, but to be brutally honest I don't completely blame people some of the people for attacking Christianity. Before I got saved myself, I was born in a Christian home and was surrounded by Christians all my life. I closely observed the Christians around me and how they treated the world, one another, and treated me, and I can say some experiences were positive, and others not so much. I was judged, I was isolated, and I was brought down. Christians are supposed to be a representation of God. Having such a negative experience with the people who claim to love and know God, I expected God to be the same way as them. Sure I believed in God but I wanted nothing to do with the religion. Coming to college and learning about Christianity myself, I learned that God is nothing like that and that we need to do better.
We Need to Learn to Love One Another.
As said perfectly in 1 John 4:7-9,"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." Yet why is it that there is so much hate passed around in the Christian faith? Of course not ever single Christian is marching around holding a picket sign saying "God Hates Gays".But it's also the little things that matter. The things that you may not think matter, do matter. The way you talked negatively about that girl to your friends can be an example. She may not have heard it and it might have seemed harmless to you but your friends are watching the way you live and treat people. Another example can be the way that nobody made the new guy at church feel welcomed. What everyone else at church didn't know is that he's in a very low place right now, and needs love and God more than anything else.
Maya Angelou once said,“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” People will always remember how you made them feel, that's why it's so important that we go out of our way to show others the love God has shown us. We're told in 1 John 4:19-21, " We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command:Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." We have to love one another, and those of the world with the same love. In Matthew 22, Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment and Jesus said the first was to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. The second greatest commandment was to "love your neighbor as yourself." We need to share genuine love one another because we love God. We can't question why there's so much hate in the world when we're part of the problem. We are supposed to be the "salt" and the "light" of the world. We're supposed to preserve the world.
Stop Judging One Another
Like Miley Cyrus said in one of her biggest hits "only God can judge us." I'm not sponsoring Miley but she's completely right with that line.Christians it's not our job to judge others. That job belongs to God, and God alone. Our only job is to share the word, love God, and love one another. Matthew 7:1-5 states, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." We are not better than the next person. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," as said in Romans 3:23.
We are all sinners, regardless of if we've repented yet or not, we are still sinners. We only judge others to raise ourselves and the reality of it all is that us judging others is only bringing ourselves lower than the person we're judging. That's why it's crucial that we don't judge one another because we ourselves are not perfect. We are only saved by grace through faith. God has plans for his people. In the bible Jesus never hung out with the "righteous," his main friend group consisted of murders, adulterers, tax collectors, and etc. Some people's present day experiences may one day be their testimony and God knew that. Some people's time hasn't come yet. Other may never accept the gospel, but God has given us them free will to choose whether to love him or not. Regardless of whether a person chooses to accept the gospel as the truth or not, it's still our job to love them. Even though we accept their choice, we must continue to stay true to what the bible says regardless of whether it's the popular opinion or not. We can't sugarcoat the gospel to peoples liking.
Be The Salt & The Light
A good friend always told me that, "you may be the only bible that some people read." What exactly does that mean? It means we have to live our life by example. We represent Christ, and everything we do is being watched by the world. Some people may never pick up a bible or step in a church, but they'll remember the way you carried yourself and that image will forever be ingrained in their minds as a representation of Christ. We need to live our lives asking what would Jesus do in every situation, and act accordingly. Our lives need to glorify God. We can't preach one thing, and live a completely different way. That would only make us liars and hypocrites. We can't expect the world to live in a way we don't even live ourselves. Of course, we will fail from time to time, it's inevitable, we're human it's our nature. We have to do our best, though, and if we fail we know that God's grace is enough. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:13-16, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."
So Christians I know we can do way better than this. Nobody will ever want to come to Christ if we're not setting an example. We have to be more aware of or our actions. We can't just sit down and watch God to be portrayed like this. We know that God is the greatest love in the world and that through our actions we can share that love to the world.
