Smoky Mountain Reflections #180
I grow so
tired of listening to and reading condemnations of what Christianity is not by
folks who blame Christianity for whatever straw man they just set ablaze.
Christianity
is not: hateful, spiteful, ignorant, mean spirited, intolerant, unreasonable,
unkind, unfriendly, disrespectful, a political system, license to harm,
mistreat, molest, or any other of the myriad of crazy things I have heard
people say and write about Christianity. Anyone who thinks or says these things
is either ignorant of what Holy Scripture teaches or just plain dishonest. Have
Christians misrepresented who and what Christianity is in the past and still do
today by doing many of the things listed above? YES! But God’s word does not
say ‘read’ Christians to understand what Christianity is, it says to read God’s
word.
Christianity
is not a system of faith that is bound to the civil laws and customs of ancient
Israel.
Christianity
is not a system of faith that is bound to the ceremonial laws of ancient
civilizations.
Christianity
is not a license to do sinful acts that Scripture records and condemns.
Christianity
is not Mormonism AKA the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Christianity
is not the Jehovah’s witnesses.
Christianity
is not any group that does not agree and confess the historic creeds.
Christianity
is not like all other religions, a list of how to get to God rules.
Christianity is not one of many
paths to the same place.
It is and claims
to be the one and only exclusive narrow path to the one true God.
And that narrow
path is Jesus! Who comes to us.
So, what is
Christianity? It is the house of living stones that tries and fails daily to
live up to the exacting call to perfection of her Lord and Savior. And while we
are poor reflections of what our Lord would have us to be, we struggle daily
trying to be just that.
Christianity
is the body of Christ on earth seeking to love God and our neighbors as He
would have us do it. We do the best we can (with His help) following His Holy
Moral Law summarized in the Ten Commandments.
Christianity
is the body of Christ on earth seeking to share with the world the value of
believing, teaching and confessing who and what the one and only Holy Triune God
is, as revealed to us in His word. More importantly we share that he sent His
only begotten Son into human flesh to redeem all mankind. God desires that none
should perish.
Christianity
is the body of Christ on earth seeking to live lives of prayer with the one and
only Holy Triune God, praying for help while loving God and neighbor, praying
for all people, places and things around us both near and far, seeking His will
in all things. He created everything and is the source of everything. All pain, suffering and evil are the result
of rebellion against Him.
Christianity is the body of
Christ on earth gathering around God’s gifts of Word, Baptism, Absolution and
Holy Supper to receive the promises of forgivness and assurance of eternal
salvation with and through the means He established in His word to deliver
these gifts.
In grateful response to God’s great kindness
and gift of eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, Christianity is: loving,
agreeable, informed, kind, tolerant, reasonable, friendly and respectful. It is a system that promotes good citizenship
in any political system, license to help, entreat, nurture, or any other of the
myriad of wonderful things we as the body of Christ have done and promoted for
two thousand years. Selflessness, putting God and our neighbor first, is what Holy
Scripture teaches. I repeat - Have Christians misrepresented who and what
Christianity is in the past and still do today by doing many of the bad things previously
listed above? YES! But God’s word does not say ‘read’ Christians, to understand
what Christianity is, it says to read God’s word.
In Christ
Pastor Portier
No comments:
Post a Comment