Rick doing some Christian bashing

I don’t know how I do it, but I always wind up being friends with those who are always in opposition to my personal religious and political views.

But that is the way it is supposed to be. As Christians, it is our duty to reach out to the world around us. It doesn’t mean become part of it or even condone behavior that is contrary to our beliefs, but rather try to make a difference in the world for Christ.

The problem as I see it is not the message, but the messengers. The perceived leadership of the Christian community I think have done more damage to the church than they have furthered its cause.

I don’t get all caught up in the theological debates about the bible mostly because the people I have engaged about it base their arguments mostly upon the stigmas the world has placed upon it, and are rarely based in any reality or contextual truth found in scripture. Mostly what I find is the same amount of animosity toward Christians as some Christians have toward them… tit for tat.

What I don’t like is all the finger waving I see happening from my fellow Christians. There is also a large degree of xenophobia being displayed by them as well. More and more I see the church isolating itself from the very communities they should be reaching out to. One in particular is the gay community. I think their approach is entirely wrong. While I know there is a great deal of friction between the two groups, but most of my fellow Christians don’t even come close to the “Betty Bowers” stereotype that exists. In fact, most evangelicals I know cringe at those whom that satire is based upon.

We have forgotten is how Jesus associated and befriended those whom the “Scribes and Pharisees” considered “untouchable”. If Jesus were to return right now, I think many of those who the mainstream media has dubbed the leaders of the so called “Christian Right” ( a group I don’t like being associated with) would be put in the same category the Scribes and Pharisees were: “a brood snakes and vipers”.

Christ said that we should be “salt and light” to the world, not oil and water.

Based on what I’ve written, you might wonder; why am I even a Christian?

The answer is simple really: My Faith is based on The Lord Jesus Christ, and not Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, or any other television evangelist. It is not based on the moral failure and hypocrisy of other Christians, because I am not responsible to them, I am responsible to God and God alone. I believe that God gave us two great gifts: life, and the ability to choose. In other words God only wants us to serve him if we want to. If He had created us in such a way that we were forced to serve Him, then we would be nothing more than robots, and He would be a tyrant rather than a God of love.

A Christian will never win anyone in the Gay (or any other) community over to [Christ] by quoting Leviticus, and telling them they are going to hell. AND YET THESE SO CALLED LEADERS CONTINUE TO DO IT THIS WAY. A common catch phrase in the Church today is “WWJD” or “What Would Jesus Do” from the Charles Sheldon book “In His Steps.” I can guarantee that is not how Jesus would handle it.

Now, WWJD about Saddam? I’ll address that later.

Rick