If there was no such thing as Christianity

I love blog posts that rattle my cage, cause me to reflect on something I hadn't thought of in quite that way before. There are a lot of great bloggers out there who do this (too many!) John Dennis is one of those. By reposting his article, I am not saying I agree with everything John writes. What follows simply causes me to reflect upon some of my own attitudes, pretenses, baggage and masks I often wear as a Christian.

If there was no such thing as Christianity...

• I would have to appreciate books simply for the good writing.
• I‘d have to socialize with my community rather than the people in my church.
• I’d have to use common sense and wisdom rather than using fleeces and ‘sensings’ to make decisions. So, I wouldn’t have had to get so stressed about missing God’s will if I chose to buy that red car instead of that blue one.
• I wouldn’t be able to watch a movie looking for anti-Christian themes and stuff.
• I’d have no option but to enjoy music simply for the music, not for the message or for the worship experience.
• I would have to love my family, my relatives more than my church family.
• If I couldn’t be a Christian, I couldn’t call a non-Christian my enemy, because I would be one of them myself.
• I wouldn’t feel compelled to turn my eyes away from the topless statue, ‘Venus’, Instead, I would feel compelled to admire its artistic beauty and grace.
• I would not have religious reasons to think I am above the guy I work with.
• I wouldn’t pretend that I don’t like beer.
• I couldn’t have sentimental reasons to favor Israel over the Arabs and would have to let my opinion on that issue be based on what is fair.
• I couldn’t break fellowship with another Christian who doesn’t agree with my view on doctrine.
• I’d have no choice but to give due consideration to the arguments of scientists.
• I would dress up the kids for Halloween thinking only of the fun of it all.
• The crusades - the ‘Holy’ wars, would not have happened.
• People wouldn’t make a fuss about those Harry Potter books.
• I couldn’t say that the devil made me do it.
  

Sometimes I wonder...

If Jesus would really be a ‘good’ Christian by today’s standards of what a Christian is supposed to be like. Maybe somebody would tell him to repent.