WHY DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO BE SO LAME?
Why do Christians have to be so lame?
I’m telling you, there are some real dud Christians out there. There are Christians who bash others because of religious preference, sexual preference, political preference, choice of clothing or hairstyle or body art. There are Christians who criticize others because of their parenting style, lack of generosity, choice of music, whether or not you go to church, where you stand on abortion, or what neighborhood you live in. You name it, there are Christians out there who will go to great lengths to make sure you know your sinfulness, make sure you know how wrong you are, and make sure everyone else knows it as well.
UGH! All I can say is forgive us.
You see, I am a Christian. I have Democrat friends, Republican friends, gay friends, straight friends, black friends, Native American friends, Christian friends, non-Christian friends, tattooed and pierced friends, friends who drink, friends who cuss like sailors, friends who vote other than I do, wealthy friends, welfare friends, depressed friends, friends in therapy, divorced friends, friends who’ve had abortions, and on and on. I choose to love these people. I even choose to do life with them.
Here’s the thing…My identity in Christ doesn’t give me the upper hand on any of these folks. My identity in Christ doesn’t give me any authority to condemn other people just because they choose to do life differently than I. My identity in Christ doesn’t mean that I’m better, smarter, nicer, richer, saner, wiser, or more right than anyone else.
Unfortunately, however, there are Christians who firmly believe that if you do life differently than they do, you’re wrong and they’re right. We call ourselves Christians (Christ followers), yet our actions sometimes don’t resemble Christ at all. Again, why do Christians have to be so lame?
Let me enlighten those who are still reading… The world doesn’t get better by Christians going on the attack of everyone “different” than they are. The world gets better when Christians choose to embrace and live out what Jesus taught. And what Jesus taught wasn’t rocket science:
- Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. (Matthew 19:19)
- Love your enemies and pray for the folks who do you wrong. (Matthew 5:44)
- Do good to the people who don’t like you at all. (Luke 6:27)
- Lend to your enemies without expecting to get anything back. (Luke 6:35)
- Love…other…people…(PERIOD). (John 13:34)
- Forgive people. (Mark 11:25)
- Don’t judge. (Luke 6:37)
- Be merciful. (Luke 6:36)
- Turn the other cheek. (Matthew 5:39)
- Be reconciled to others. (Matthew 5:24)
- Treat people like you want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12)
In the words of The Lumineers:
Love, we need it now
Let’s hope for some
Cause oh, we’re bleeding out
Indeed, we’re bleeding out. The world is bleeding out. And Christians standing in condemnation of others just perpetuates the hemorrhaging.
To all my Christian brothers and sisters out there, stop being so lame! See others through eyes of Jesus. Have some compassion. Dole out some mercy. Lighten up on holding others in contempt of your judgmental court. Embrace humility. Serve somebody. Reach out. Be generous. Love the unlovable. Grab some grace and spread it thick.
Stop the hemorrhaging.
Stop being so lame!
LOVE like Jesus … LIVE like Jesus!
Beth Armstrong 
Great blog, Beth!!
Date: Tue, 3 Dec 2013 15:28:03 +0000 To: jannamcclintock@hotmail.com
LikeLike
Beth, very good ! Love, Aunt Linda
LikeLike
Beth, this is very well said and I believe you are so right on these issues. I have sent it on to several people that I felt would find it helpful. Love , Aunt Bunny
LikeLike
Amen to that…Father, give us the grace and strength that can only come from You to live the lives that bring glory and honor to You…We may try, but we will fail every time when we try to do Your will in our own strength or even worse, in our worldly pride. Lord, please help me to detach myself from worldly influence and come under Your conviction…in the name of Jesus, Amen.
LikeLike
i love this. tKS a lot. Pierre from radiosatellite. ( paris)
LikeLike
Hi Beth. I believe you know Natalie Shaw who married my nephew Daniel Clair. 😀 I found your blog on Natalie’s site just now and reaaaaaallllly am enjoying your posts! This particular post, WHY DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO BE SO LAME made me do a fist pump (after I let it convict me in some places. LOL!!!)
Thank you for being some refreshing iron to sharpen me on this day; I am most thankful to the Lord for using you “outta the blue”! I pray that He will bless your writing abundantly so that lives are RADICALLY changed because of your transparency, courage, honesty, confessions, cheerleading, humor, and humility. I look forward to your future posts! THANK YOU.
LikeLike
Thanks so much, Margie! Yes…love Dan & Natalie! I gotta say you’re the first to say you did a fist pump after reading my post. 🙂 Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. Blessings to you!
LikeLike
You hit the nail on the head Beth. I’m very, very glad I got a chance to read this.
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing this Beth…it very well may be the turning point i needed to here in this part of my life!! I wasn’t raised in church and starting later in my life being saved and turning my life over to Jesus…had a falling out 3 years ago with my church and had some very trying things happen in my life since then. Has been hard to go back to a church that turned there backs on me when i needed them most…when i was always there for them…whether it be food for a child or helping ay fr someones meds they couldn’t afford and so on…etc!! Anyway…i have been to several churches since then..none have really stuck and pray to God everyday to point me in the right direction and to no avail. Its so hard!!! I just want you to know reading this today was what was supposed to happen…God sent this to me to read today…i know what to do now…i will keep you posted…thanks again so much for this entry…you are a blessing to me today and I’m glad i stopped and looked at your family photo you recently posted that led me to this great written entry…God Bless You and Yours!!
LikeLike
Tina,
I’m so sorry to hear about your church experience. Churches are sometimes hard places to do life because we have such high expectations in the relationships we make there. The difficult truth is, however, that people will let us down, they’ll hurt us, and even kick us to the curb. Face it, we’re all pretty messed up, flawed people when it comes right down to it. The beautiful truth is, though, that God is faithful to us no matter what. And He extends His grace to us in ways that we can’t even fathom. It’s that grace He’s given us, that He slowly works in us to be able to extend to others.
And….His timing is perfect. So glad God laid it on your heart to check out my Facebook page and see this article. Let me know if I can help you in any way. Blessings to you, my friend!
LikeLike
Doing life, which for those who claim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior probably includes doing church, is not easy. Regardless of where we are, life is replete with struggle. One of my greatest fears is born out of our sometimes tendency to allow our beliefs about God to be influenced by the acts of christians as well as Christians. He alone is worthy of our praise!
LikeLike