Christian v. christian?
Do you sometimes find it a struggle to be a Christian and a good friend or member of a not quite so Christian family or circle? Or the larger classes of non-Christians? Let’s face it, there are Christians and then there are christians. The first is a bold upper case, proper noun, where following Jesus is the primary principle of life. The lower case version reflects a believer, good person but one where life is more often the higher priority over the strict following. Not to be misunderstood, I like both of these groups. In fact at times I am a member of both groups. Jesus understands how difficult it is to be His follower in all ways, but He still wants us to try and to continuously improve. “God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.” (Matthew 5:11 NLT). I’m not talking about being a full blown bible thumping, flashing a neon Jesus walking revivalist here, I’m referring to pursuing perfect character in an imperfect world. Christians aren’t Christians doing the work of our Lord if we only hang out with other Christians. Remember Jesus never met a Christian, he was born a Jew, of a family of Jews, studied with Jews and taught Jews. Maybe I should draw a distinction there by also qualifying that there are Jews as well as jews. Christianity is a by-product of His life and teachings, which are meant for virtually everyone.
While attempting to be a Christian it’s important to draw these distinctions but not to judge anyone based upon these very same distinctions. I’ve met enough people in my long life to know that I can never know anyone completely. Nor will anyone but God ever know me completely. I won’t be able to see the goodness in others except when in their presence. I won’t be able to understand their distractions, motivations or actions when their character apparently cracks or crinkles in my presence. I’ll never get the big picture of anyone, so judgement is not mine to render. Yet, I struggle with the inner turmoil, of knowing how narrow the gate to heaven is, how unlikely squeezing a camel through the eye of a needle is, how important the “C” versus “c” distinction is. What are we to do? “If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:47,48 NLT). We must strive to be better examples of Christianity!
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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