Friday, January 15

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.

3 comments:

El Perro said...

Yo también me lo he preguntado ;)

El Samurái said...

Excellent post, i believe in Christ, but in same way like you are. Christianity is more a problem and not are a solution. Christ is waiting for our actions and compassion.

J. Guy Muse said...

Miguel,

¿Hacen a uno reflexionar, no cierto? Nuestra religión a veces nos separa de las mismas personas con quienes Cristo nos llamó a amar.

El Samurai,

Thanks for stopping by the "M Blog". I consider myself first and foremost a "follower of Christ". All other terms have been so abused that they carry excess baggage to the extent that people are more turned off to the Gospel of Christ, because of the religion we are living.