How do you define Christianity?

Rules?

Religion?

Perfection?

Broken?

Stupid?

Parents said so?

Being good enough?

Good deeds?

Just makes sense?

Saving grace?

Hypocritical?

What?

For the longest time I thought I was not good enough to even think about entering the presence of God? My imperfections would be broadcasted into broad daylight and I felt ashamed of who I was and who I was becoming. My flaws were something that I grew up thinking, “Man, if anyone really knew who I really was…” I would get fingers pointed at me, “if you keep messing up like this, you are going to be like your brother who grabbed the dusty Bible off the piano.” I would sweep the things that I was bad at underneath a rug, I would hide the addictions from my friends and family. My feelings were bottled up and would continue to bottle up and when I was alone I would slowly let the fizz out of the bottle. I would put my worth in my success in school, my success in the multiple varsity sports that I played, my success in the instruments that I played and the amount of trophies on my dresser. When it came to my devotions and my personal time with God, (the very few times I did it growing up) it was something that I did out of being forced to. Spending time with God was something that I did so that I could show up to youth group on Sunday, put on a slim smile and proudly say, “Isaac did his devotions 6.5 times this week.” and as I sat down I would brush that imaginary dust of my shoulder and maybe dab on em. I would sit in the service and only take notes on the points that showed up on screen so that I could text the notes to my parents after church. I actually had a pact with one of my buddies (yes you Henry James) that we would take turns watching the screen and we would tap the other person when a new note came on screen. (man did I get quick at double tapping my home button to switch from candy crush to my notes app).

NOTE: This is not me bashing my childhood church. This is ME. My PERSONAL experience. A good portion of what happened above was BECAUSE OF ME, not by any means the church's fault. I am sure even with this note, i am still going to get a DM for me to drop this article. Oh well.

Is any of that you? Because if it is: 1) I apologize personally for that skewered vision of Christianity that you have 2) that is not what Christianity is supposed to look like 3) I do not have all the answers and I am not going to act like I do 4) I am not perfect and hopefully I don't act like I am

5) CHRISTianity is all about Christ.

Not by rules. Not by stipulations. Not by if you grab a dusty Bible or you bring your own 10 pound NKJV version (with the little section to make your own notes, hey, it’s a thing) Christianity is not about how many people you invite to church or how many people you lead towards Christ. You don’t have to be a perfect person before you come to God. You don't have to bask in perfection like a lot of hypocritical Christians do. You do not have to worry about legalistic Christians breathing down your neck observing your every move, giving you accolades when you accomplish something great and giving you a dunce cap WHEN you fail.

NO

Christianity is all about Christ.

Christianity is about what Christ has done for us, not what we do for Christ, and if you have that mixed up, prepare for some wreckage.

When you get to judgment day, God is not going to hold up a big binder of your life and flip through and find all of your accolades and then grant you acceptance into his presence based solely on the Timothy Award that you won for memorizing 4 different Awana books. God won't flip to the section where you went on 4 mission trips in high school and go, “Jamaica!?! No way mon! Come on in.” And at the same time he isn’t going to flip to the section where you didn’t make the mark. He isn’t going to flip to the time that you ignored an outreach opportunity with a co-worker. He won’t flip to your freshman year of college where you made some… intellectual decisions. He isn’t going to flip to the time where you saw that cute blonde in yoga pants and go,”HA!!! Got ‘em lusting. Sucks to be you.”

God is going to look at you and say one of two things.

(NOTE: This is not exactly what He is going to say [refer to point 3 when I make a note that I do not have all the answers])

He is going to say

• “Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into my presence”
• “Depart from me, for I never knew you”

(Insert fanfare, mad guitar solo, insane drumline, and a little synth pad that you still don't understand how it works but is sweet anyways)

You see, this is what you should be aiming for. You should be aiming to know Christ. To have a personal relationship with him. To grow closer to him every day. It shouldn’t even be a question when you get to heaven whether you knew God or not, because if you knew my God you would not be the same. There is a guy who saw the brokenness of the world, saw the sin in the world, the same sin that separated us from perfection, and offered a way for that to be washed away.

Stop for a second.

This is where I get to the point where a lot of people still reading at this time already know this story. “Yeah. He is about to tell me He sent Christ his only son to die for our sins. Yippee.” (Insert cheerleaders that always have to cheer for the losing team, an accidental misfire of one of those paper mache rockets, and some somewhat suspenseful but oddly chipper Irish music.) I get it you have heard this a thousand times.

But try something different. Try to experience this in a new fresh way. The way that gave you chills the first time you ever heard it. Humor me and act like you’ve never heard this before.

There is a guy who saw the brokenness of the world, saw the sin in the world, the same sin that separated us from perfection, and offered a way for that to be washed away. In His tears and sorrow, He knew there was only one way to save the world from the mass destruction of sin. God had to send his one and only Son to earth to sacrifice His life to take on the burden of sin in our place of eternal damnation.

Don’t you want to know that guy? If you don’t know Him, boy are you missing out on some good news. But, if you don’t know him He will say the second option.

It takes a lot for me to cry. Emotions don’t come naturally to me. But this is a different case! There are millions of people who are going to hear this phrase. The phrase that is an eternal damnation. The phrase that will forever keep you separated from living with my creator.

And this is what Christianity is about. Christianity is about you either 1) going to heaven to spend the rest of your life with CHRIST or 2) not going to heaven and suffering eternally. There is no middle. You don’t become an angel if you are good enough. You don’t reincarnate to become your pet fish or lizard. You don’t just cease to end!

You die.

You go to heaven.

Or you go to hell.

So how are you going to live your life? Are you going to live your life like you believe this truth? Are you going to live like Christ has done EVERYTHING for you and because you know that truth you live out for Him? Or are you going to continue to sit in your muck? Are you going to be condemned by the legalistic people in your life that tell you that you don't measure up? Or are you going to finally realize GOD is the only one that can qualify and disqualify you! Are you going to change the person that you hate inside of you? Or are you going to remain weak and spit in the strength of my savior? Or are you going to realize that my father has a hand waiting for you and all you have to do is take that first step of faith.

You probably are not the only person that needed to hear this. You may have a family member that needs to hear just this. You may have a friend that is on the verge and doesn't know who to talk to.

REALITY CHECK: If you are in the first category, the category that has a relationship with Christ, than God kinda sorta calls out to you to be always ready to share your faith in Him. Soooo maybe sharing this article wouldn't be the worst of your daily decisions today.

You never know. Today could be the day that your friend gets another seed planted in their life to grow closer to their creator, God. Maybe your family member that had an experience close to mine, will be able to identify and start to open up to CHRISTians.

“Come brokenhearted

Let rescue begin

Come find your mercy

Oh sinner come kneel

Earth HAS NO SORROW THAT HEAVEN CAN’T HEAL” (Come as You Are – Crowder)

"You can travel the world. You can fight many heroic battles. You can conquer nations. But the hardest battle you will ever have to fight is the one with the inner you" - Some stupid guy named Isaac

I would LOVE to hear your input on this "short story." I don't just write for personal pleasure. I write because God has given me the thoughts and the time to be able to reach out to a crowd such as the person reading this line now (i must of done something "write" to get you to read this far). Message me with any questions or concerns or feedback.

Isaac Anderson