Now those of you that know me, know that I have a relationship with that Jesus guy. But something that you may not know, is that I passionately hate the "Christian" label. I'm not embarrassed of my faith, and I'm quite open about it, but I feel embarrassed calling myself a Christian because of the stigma attached to that word. There are many people and denominations out there who call themselves "Christian" but are full of hate and lies and discrimination, there is no love there. I've never been able to comprehend how churches that banish members or separate them temporarily as punishment could have the nerve to associate themselves with Jesus. And there are plenty of churches and denominations who still do that. Jesus was love, simple as that. Jesus dined with tax collectors and prostitutes and people with various ailments. So if you transport that into today's society, Jesus would be hanging out with drug users and prostitutes and AIDS patients. And I don't understand how banishing people "for their own good" or "the good of the rest of the church" is showing the love that Jesus was full of. When someone has screwed up, that's when they need love the most, churches are not for people who are constantly perfect and have their life on track, because those people don't exist. I love this quote from
Saved;
"
So everything that doesn’t fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants, you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It’s just all too much to live up to. No one fits in 100% of the time."
So I hate being associated with those sort of people through that shared label. Don't get me wrong, not all of my friends are as open minded or tolerating as me, and they're still my friends, but there is a stigma there that irks me. I passionately hate it when "Christians" are convinced that every "Christian" believes exactly what they believe and that their opinion is the only one. The world is black and white, but there are a lot of shades of gray. I hate being drawn into that generalisation of "every 'Christian' is against homosexuality, every 'Christian' hates alcohol" blah blah blah. I'm not every "Christian". I have my own set of beliefs and I am capable of thinking for myself. My beliefs are influenced and shaped by my relationship with Jesus and also by the people and environments in my life. Just because you believe one thing, doesn't mean because we're "Christian buddies" that I believe it too. In reality, I probably think you're a narrow-minded tosser. I could never belong to such a discriminatory label, Jesus is love. So that's what I try to do, I try to love. Sometimes I suck at it, sometimes you may think I love the wrong people or I don't love enough. But I know what I believe, and I know why I believe it. I don't walk blindly, I backup my arguments, I research and I discuss. I am not a "new-age hippie Christian without morals". I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and I don't care if I don't fit into your denomination or box. Because I'm not living for you.
PS. I firmly believe that every Jesus believer should see the film
Saved. It might be a bit of a wake up call for you... (I'll post an image from it below)
Until next time fellow humans....
