"Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words." Saint Francis of Assisi

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Are You a Christian?

God has blessed our family by putting an amazing Christian sister named Dottie in our life. She has a blog and you can check it out here. I stole the following from her blog and wanted to share it here:

"I learned last year not to answer too quickly when someone asks me if I’m a Christian. When asked that question I now ask the question, “What do you mean by the word, Christian?” Sometimes after I hear the definition given to that word, I have to say, “If that’s what you mean by the word, Christian, then ‘no, I’m not.’ But I am a Christ Follower and…” I read somewhere this year, I think in the book, Un Christian, that perhaps the reason churches all over are declining in growth and in reputation, is because of the behavior of Christians themselves. I guess we have a bit of God within us though – we seem to hate the hypocrisy we see in others – we just don’t seem to be able to see it in ourselves very well -another reason we need time in the word, good preaching and good books - and perhaps, I should add, people who really love us enough to confront us when we need it. I prefer the gentle confrontation, but God loves us enough to put an Amos in our life when we need it.

God hates hypocrisy, but loves those who are sinned against. Someday, He will make it right. God loves those who act justly and who love mercy and who walk humbly with their God (Micah 6:8). That is all He requires. It is simple. The trouble is … this kind of life is costly."

No comments: