evangelism Archives - Page 3 of 21

I have written about this before — “10 Christian Clichés to Avoid Like the Plague” and “Stop saying God Bless You” — but I keep running into more Christian Clichés that I wish Christians would remove from their vocabulary.

Please note that as I point these out I am not trying to be critical of Christians. Instead, I am hoping to make us real. The watching world is tired of empty answers to important issues, and instead wants us to engage them in real conversations about the pressing questions of our day. We can never do this if we always resort to Christian Clichés

So here are a few more Christian Clichés to avoid like the plague:

You’re Covered in the Blood!

Eeewww. That sounds … terrible. It sounds like a Freddy Krueger movie. I really don’t want to take a bath in blood.

Just Press In to God

Press in to God? What does that mean? How do I do it? Where is God so that I can press in to Him?

And won’t He think that’s a little strange if I press myself up against Him?

God is Good? … All the Time! … All the Time? … God is Good!

Lots of Christians include this sort of chant in their Sunday services.

But what does it mean? Is it even true?

Well, of course it’s true, but when a person is facing trouble and trials in life, does chanting this do anything to help? No. Not really.

Brother … Sister

This is when Christians refer to each other as “Brother” and “Sister” as in “Brother Bob here …”

It just sounds cultish. Don’t use it.

Jesus Saves!

He does? From what? See my post here on this: Saved: The Most Misunderstood Word in the Bible

Bless Your Heart

Unless I have heart problems, I am not sure my heart needs to be blessed.

It’s Good to Be in the House of the Lord

The house of the Lord? This building we’re in is God’s house?

Does He live here? Does He sleep here?

And what about the church down the road? Is that His House also? Why does He have so many houses? Does He really need them all?

Let Go and Let God

Let go of what? And let God do what? Are you saying I should just sit on my couch all day and let God run things for my life? I’m pretty sure that if I did this, I would lose my job, destroy my marriage, and die from starvation. So clearly there are numerous things God cannot do for me in my life. How can I know that God will actually do the things I am supposed to “Let go” of?

I’ve Got a Word for you from the Lord

Ironically, “a word” is usually hundreds of words. And the words are usually so vague, they could apply to anyone. They are often sort of like a fortune teller’s predictions about the future.

And even when the message from God is specific, it tends to benefit the person giving me “a word from the Lord” more than it benefits God or me. This makes me very suspicious that “a word from the Lord” is actually a word from you, and you are saying it came from God so that you can manipulate me into doing what you want.

Someone once told my parents “God told me to tell you to that you are supposed to give me your house.” My mother’s response was perfect. She said “Ok. As soon as God tells us the same thing, I will do it.”

Amen

I said this recently in a conversation with a non-Christian and he did a double-take at me and said, “Amen? As in the Egyptian Amen-Ra? Why would you say that?”

I had to explain that “Amen” is old way of stating agreement, and it means “Truly” or “That’s the truth!” A modern equivalent might be “Right!” or “Yes!”

He said, “Oh. Well, why don’t you just say that then?”

Amen!

The Spirit is Moving

He is? Moving where? Moving how? How can you tell? Does He need a U-Haul?

Isn’t God everywhere? If so, how can He move?

I’m going to lift you up in prayer

Lift me up? How? Do you need to touch me? Lift me up to where?

Lord, Put a Hedge of Protection Around Us

A hedge? Like … bushes?

And the bushes are going to protect me from what exactly? Maybe from The Knights who Say Ni!

I think a wall might be better, but with the things I’m struggling with, I don’t think even a wall will help. I’m not trying to keep out immigrants.

The Bible Says It. I Believe It. That Settles It.

Yes, well, the Bible doesn’t actually say what you think it says, which means you don’t actually believe it, and so nothing whatsoever is settled.

I wrote about this before as well: Nobody believes the Bible. not even you

A Cliché Sermon

There have been times when I have sat through Sunday sermons that were nothing but one long string of clichés like the ones above. The sermon went something like this:

Good morning! It’s good to be in the house of the Lord! Amen? (Audience: Amen!)

I’m Brother Bob! Wasn’t that song by Sister Mary just beautiful? Bless your heart, Sister Mary!

This morning, I’ve got a Word from the Lord for you. But before we get to that, I just want to say this: God is Good? (Audience: All the time!) All the time? (Audience: God is good!) Amen. Amen.

Can I get an Amen? (Audience: Amen!)

I am really excited about what the Lord has laid on my heart to share with you today. God just touched my Spirit this week, and I know that the Spirit is moving in this place today, and what I share with you is going to help you press in to God this week. Amen? Hallelujah!

What God wants you to do is just let go and let God. Whatever you’re facing in life, always remember that Jesus saves. That issue you are facing? That trouble, that trial? It’s covered in the blood! You’re covered in the blood. We’re all covered in the blood!

Can I get an amen? (Audience: Amen! Hallelujah!)

Now I got a Bible verse I’m gonna preach from today. But before I read it to you, I want to remind you that the Bible is the Word of God, and whatever it says, we can trust it. Remember, if the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.

Amen? Amen and Amen.

This past week I was walking through town, and I passed Brother Jim back there – everybody turn around and say hello to brother Jim! (Audience: Hello Brother Jim!) – you know, Brother Jim’s been having a real hard time in life, and I told him I would lift him up in prayer, and I would invite all of you to lift him up in prayer as well – just pray that God will remind him that he is covered in the blood and that no matter what he’s facing, Jesus saves and that he should just press in to God. Anyway, I was talking with Brother Jim, and hearing about his problems, and right at that moment, the Lord gave me a Word to share with Brother Jim, and after I shared it with him, I realized God wanted me to share this word with all of you as well, and it comes from a verse in the Bible.

Let’s turn to [Fill in the blank here for ANY verse in the entire Bible] and read it.

[The speaker then reads a random verse.]

Now what we see here is that God is speaking to us, and this is His very word, and we know that if God says it, it can be trusted, and we can believe it.

[The sermon goes on from here, basically repeating everything that has already been said.]

Now, did the pastor actually say anything? Nope. He didn’t say a single thing. Go back and read it and see if you can figure out what he is saying.

A REAL Blog Post I Discovered:

As I was searching for images for my blog post above, I came across the following blog post from another blogger. Go ahead and read it, and when you are done ask yourself, “What exactly did I just read? What was the message? What did I learn? What should I do? How can I put this into practice?”

I’m dressed in red today. On fire for the Lord; covered by the blood of Jesus. God, you can do anything but fail. Your purpose will prevail.

The minute your feet hit the ground the devil’s rehearsing your past. Looking for anything to distract God’s purpose. Look to God on purpose.

The devil can do nothing to you without God’s permission. He won’t win. He may come in like a flood. God will lift up a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19).

When storms are raging around you and it seems nothing is working out, God is with you. He will calm the seas. He’ll make everything alright.

Be encouraged. You’re covered by the blood. Put on the whole armor of God. Don’t look to the right or to the left. Look to the hills from whence cometh your help.

No matter what comes today, glorify God in it. He’s able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Pray without ceasing. Walk by faith.

Devil you’ve been served notice today. God will have his way. No weapon formed against us shall prosper. Every assignment has been cancelled. It’s already done. We’re returning everything you sent signed, sealed, and undelivered! We are covered by the blood. In the name of Jesus. Glory. Hallelujah!

Be blessed!

I read through several other blog posts on the blog that this one came from, and found that every single one of them was just like the one above. In fact, as I read, I discovered about 200 more Christian Clichés that lots of Christians say but which are completely meaningless. Here are some more I found on the site:

God is Working Things Out in Your Favor
God Will Never Leave You Where He Found You
Don’t Fit In; Stand Out!
Preparation Before Elevation
Your Breakthrough is Coming!
New Year; New You!
New Levels; New Devils
By His Stripes, You are Healed!
You Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens You
No Weapon Formed Against You Shall Prosper
Don’t Fight the Battle You’ve Already Won

Yes, I know that some of these statements come directly from Scripture. But when we just quote them without thinking about them and do not really understand what these statements mean, even Bible verses can become Christian Clichés.

Why do Christians use Christian Clichés

There are a couple reasons Christians talk this way.

First, Christians talk this way because … well, because Christians talk this way. There is no other reason. Nobody in real life talks this way, and the only reason some Christians talk this way is because they spend a lot of time with each other and learn the Christian lingo so that everybody talks this way.

Second, Christians talk this way because it makes us sound spiritual. Christian clichés make us sound like we know what we’re talking about even when we don’t, they make us sound like we care even when we don’t, they make us sound like we understand Scripture even when we don’t.

I have heard cliché sermons like the one above where the pastor says absolutely nothing for 30 minutes, but because he got the audience to shout “Amen! Hallelujah!” a lot, they walk out of the building thinking that they just heard a really great sermon.

The thing is, outside of Christian circles, talking this way just makes people think we’re crazy. It makes people think we’re shallow and empty. That we don’t have anything to say. They hear us talk this way and all they do is roll their eyes.

So give up on cliché Christianity, and start living real life with real people as we have real conversations using real words about real issues. Can I get an Amen?

How Christians Perform Magic with Salt Water

By Jeremy Myers

29 Comments

Have you heard that Christians practice magic with salt water?

It is the most remarkable thing to observe. The magic of salt water turns an ordinary, everyday Christian into some sort of super-apostle of the Gospel.

If you have been feeling that something is missing in your Christian walk, I suggest you look into having the magical rite of salt water performed on you.

And I know it works. I have seen it done with my own eyes on multiple occasions during the past few years.

Here is how the magic of salt water works:

Step 1: Find a person who is relatively ineffectual in living out the Gospel in their hometown.

They probably attend church quite regularly, and have numerous friends and acquaintances at church, but have hardly any meaningful relationships with neighbors, coworkers, or acquaintances outside of church.

It really doesn’t matter what kind of home life they have. If it’s a man, he might be a great husband and father, but he also might ignore his children and neglect his wife.

It doesn’t matter if the person has a job. They could be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or they could be permanently “unemployed.”

Personal diet and discipline don’t matter either. Nor do Bible knowledge or theological understanding.

The magic of salt water works on all kinds of people from all different backgrounds.

The main type of person it works on though, is the person who is at the church building every time the front doors are open (Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, at a minimum), but because they are at church so much, they don’t have enough time to build quality relationships with anyone outside the church.

Now, take this person, and watch the magic of salt water do its thing:

Step 2: Send this person overseas (that’s the salt water).

If you take the person described above, and send them across an ocean, they magically go from being an ordinary Christian to a person who is to be praised and glorified.

It also helps if you call this person a “missionary.”

The Salt Water Transformation

It is shocking to observe the transformation that takes places in how this person is viewed by those who remain behind.

The person suddenly is elevated in the eyes and minds of other Christians to a near god-like status. Everything they say and do is now more holy and biblical. Every trial in life they experience (which is normal life for you and me) becomes a direct attack from the devil to stop them from doing “the Lord’s work.”

Most shocking of all, the average Christian in the pew now gets the overwhelming urge to throw obscene amounts of money at this person. While the person may have been living on $50k here in the United States, they now get people to give them $100k or more per year so they can go live in a country where the average annual per capita income is less than $5k. (That’s equivalent to making $1 million here in the States.)

Now that they are living like kings in this foreign country, they are able to hire servants and maids to do their shopping, cooking, cleaning, yard work, and child-rearing. They can afford to put their children in the best schools. And to top it all off, they don’t have the normal, everyday expenses that you and I have. No, they get cars, vacations, and medical treatment all paid for by supporters.

And all of this miraculously happens because they crossed a body of salt water!

Do not Misunderstand! I Love Missionaries!

Please, do not misunderstand. I really do love missionaries. My sister is a well known missionary. I have many good friends who are missionaries. They like to bring their cooler from Survival Cooking List of Best Coolers when they go on their missions.

But here is my only point: Christianity doesn’t need celebrities, whether they are in a pulpit or overseas.

Every Christian is a missionary, which means that no missionary (whether at home or across an ocean) should get special status, privileges, or recognition.

Peter wrote about the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:5), and I think that if he were writing today, he would write about the missionaryhood of all believers.

Praise the Missionaries All Around You

Next time you are tempted to think more highly of someone because they crossed a body of salt water to serve Jesus, first take a look around in your own town and your own community to praise because rather than crossing the sea to serve Jesus, they crossed the asphalt in their neighborhood to love others like Jesus.

Maybe it will be a pastor who has made the hard decision to stay in a small and struggling church for 23 years and faithfully teach and disciple the people in that church even though he could have made more money and earned more praise elsewhere. (I know someone like this. He’s my father.)

Maybe it will be a man who doesn’t “attend” church at all, but who goes out to the “least of these” in his city on a regular basis to the homeless and hand out cups of cold water on hot days and warm jackets and hot soup on cold days. (I know someone like this. He’s my friend, Sam Riviera.)

Maybe it will be a neighbor who was forced to choose between attending church on Sunday or staying home to care for his shut-in wife, and chose the latter, even though his pastor said such a decision would displease God. (I know someone like this. He’s my neighbor, Leroy.)

Maybe it will be the mother of several young children who sacrifices all of her time, energy, and personal desires to do what is so rare and so difficult these days: to raise up her children so that they love God and love others. (I know several women like this, among whom are my wife and my mother.)

I could go on and on about the many heroic missionaries I know who have never been called a “missionary” because they never crossed a sea, but who will, I believe, be praised by Jesus when they stand before Him, for accomplishing more in His Kingdom than many of those who currently receive praise, honor, and glory for being “missionaries.”

These people … my father, my friend, my neighbor, my wife, and my mother … have understood the mission to which God called them, and they selflessly carry out this mission year in and year out, and for that, they are “missionaries” just as much as those who have gone overseas.

More impressive still, they carry out their mission with no recognition or praise or banquets or fundraising efforts or conferences or special speaking engagements or book deals or radio interviews or plaques or awards or prayer newsletters or any such thing. They carry out their mission without a paycheck, without support letters, and without donors.

To me, this makes their service in God’s Kingdom that much more impressive and praiseworthy.

If you are a “Missionary”

If you are an overseas missionary, please don’t take anything I have said as a slam on you. I honor and praise what you are doing. Truly I do. I know you have made sacrifices of your own which people who stay in their home countries cannot fully understand. But also please consider that God has called every one of His children to be a missionary, and being a missionary does not require a person to cross the sea. And some people are fantastic missionaries right in their home, their neighborhood, their work places.

And maybe next time you are called to speak at a missions conference, rather than talk about everything you are doing for Jesus overseas, you could take some time to praise the people in the pews for everything they are doing for Jesus on this side of the sea. Tell them there is no magic in salt water. Tell them that they are missionaries too. Tell them that it often takes more courage and boldness to cross the street than it does to cross the sea.

If You Plan a Mission’s Conference

And if you are a pastor of a church or are on the planning committee for a mission’s conference, maybe this year, instead of inviting the overseas missionary to speak, you could invite up the mother who is raising her children at home. Maybe she will share with your congregation how the very first missionary front is the home front, and how the entire world would have been converted by now if parents had just brought up their children at home to love God and love others.

Or maybe you could bring in the pastor of a small local congregation to praise him for how he faithfully served God without giving in to the lure of a larger congregation and a larger salary elsewhere. He could tell you about the pain and struggles and heartache and loneliness of being a small-church pastor in a mega-church world.

Or maybe you could bring in that person who no longer attends your church, but is reaching those in your community (who will never attend church) better than a church-attender ever could. He could tell you about why people leave the church, and how outsiders view the church, and what you and I can do to be the church in the world.

Salt Water has No Magic

If you are feeling that something is missing in your relationship with God, don’t be tempted to think that to be effective in His Kingdom, you need to cross a body of salt water. You don’t.

In fact, it could easily be argued that there are people within 10 feet of you right now who have a greater need for the love of Jesus than anybody you could possibly reach 1000 miles away.

The people God wants you to love are the people who are near you right now. Until the church understands this, we will always fail to understand how the Kingdom of God works and how the Kingdom of God spreads upon the earth.

Why the Eagles Cut Tim Tebow

By Jeremy Myers

81 Comments

Do you want to know why the Eagles cut Tim Tebow? Or why the Patriots and Jets didn’t keep him on their roster? Or why the Broncos traded him?

It’s not because of his quarterback skills (or lack thereof, depending on who you ask). From a purely statistical perspective, Tim Tebow is better than most 3rd string quarterbacks and many 2nd string quarterbacks in the NFL.

It is also not the media frenzy that follow Tim Tebow wherever he goes, though this is part of it.

The real reason that the Eagles cut Tim Tebow is because Tim Tebow believes that his purpose on a football team is to evangelize his teammates and the coaching staff. Every time he gets a camera in his face, he starts talking about Jesus and giving glory to God for letting him play football.

But NFL Coaches don’t put people on their team to give them a platform to share their religious ideas. Nor do they put people on their team to share their political ideas. Or to sell their branded merchandise.

Imagine what would happen if an NFL football player, every time he got a camera in his face, said, “I’m just glad I get to play this game because it gives me the opportunity to tell you about my line of t-shirts and hats. Go to my store today to buy one!” No NFL coach in the league wants someone like that on their team.

NFL Coaches put players on their teams to win football games.

In the locker room, in team meetings, in coaching meetings, on the field, and in front of the cameras, Tim Tebow was always talking about Jesus and inviting people to believe in Jesus, and on and on and on.

It’s not about Tim Tebow getting more reps in the CFL. If Chip Kelly really believed that all Tim Tebow needed to become an NFL-quality QB was more reps, Kelly could have given that to Tebow in practices. No, that excuse is a smoke-screen. Kelly can’t come out and say he cut Tebow because Tebow spent half his time practicing and the other half proselyting, because the religious right in this country would scream and yell about religious discrimination.

But it’s not religious discrimination. It’s about not doing your job because of your religion. (Like the clerk in Kentucky who won’t issue marriage licenses … If she can’t do her job for religious reasons, that’s fine, but then she needs to quit her job.)

If Tim Tebow wants to play in the NFL as a quarterback, here is my recommendation to him: “Tim, stop praying after you score a touchdown. Stop putting “John 3:16” in your eye black. Stop giving thanks to Jesus whenever you win a game.”

I agree with Jake Plummer, who, in 2011, gave Tebow the best advice, but which Tebow never heeded. Jake Plummer said this:

“I wish he’d just shut up after a game and go hug his teammates,” Plummer said, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. “I think that when he accepts the fact that we know that he loves Jesus Christ then I think I’ll like him a little better. I don’t hate him because of that, I just would rather not have to hear that every time he takes a good snap or makes a good handoff.”

I can hear the Christian outrage already.

What? You want Tim Tebow to stop witnessing? You want him to stop thanking God for his successes? We’re not supposed to be ashamed of the Gospel! With all the murders and wife-beaters in the NFL, it’s nice to have a good Christian role model for a change, and you want him to just shut up about his faith in Jesus?! What kind of heathen heretic are you, anyway?

Yes, well, hear me out.

I am thrilled that Tim Tebow is outspoken about his faith. Notice that I never said anything about him hiding the fact that he’s an evangelical Christian.

But Tim Tebow is making a basic mistake about witnessing, which is the same mistake a lot of Christians make.

Lots of Christians think that if they gain some sort of prominence in the public sphere, this means that they are responsible for using their position or their prominence as a platform to witness to other people.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If a Christian becomes the CEO of a large corporation, God has not put him or her in that position so that they can witness to all the employees of the corporation, shout “Praise Jesus!” whenever they land a big account, or open up all their board meetings with prayer. God does not raise up Christians to places of prominence so they can cram Christianity down other people’s throats.

No, the person in a position of power or prominence is there so they can be the best CEO possible. They may include (but is not limited to) providing good wages and fair treatment to employees, and operating the business with honesty, transparency, and generosity. It means running the business in an ethical way, with creativity and imagination.

I hate it when well-meaning Christians tell powerful, prominent, rich Christians that “God raised you up for such a time as this.” Then they are told that God raised them up so they can hand out gospel tracts to their employees, or take a stand for “biblical marriage,” or some such nonsense.

I hear such things, I just want to barf.

If God raised someone up to be a CEO (which is debatable), then it was not to hand out gospel tracts or take a stand for “biblical marriage,” but is for the purpose of being the best CEO they can possibly be. If God really raised a person up to be a CEO of a company, it would be for the purpose of showing the world how a business can successfully be run according to the principles and values of the Kingdom of God rather than the principles of the rulers of this world. Same goes for politics, music, art, and sports.

This brings us back to Tim Tebow.

If God truly raised up Tim Tebow to be an NFL quarterback (which is debatable), then it was not so that Tim could announce his Christian faith by praying in the End Zone and praising Jesus at press conferences. No, God raised up Tim Tebow to be a quarterback so that he can be the best quarterback Tim Tebow can be. Period.

If Tim Tebow wants to be a quarterback in the NFL, he needs to be an NFL quarterback; not a missionary quarterback. Not a prophet quarterback. Not a “God’s spokesman” quarterback. Just a quarterback. He needs to work hard, throw the ball, and run the ball. And he must do it all with honesty, integrity, and a good work ethic both on and off the field.

Someone needs to tell Tim Tebow that the NFL stage is not for proclaiming the Gospel but for playing football.

If you still disagree with me, let me make one more point.

When Tim Tebow played for the Denver Broncos and knelt to give thanks to God every time he scored, what exactly was the message he was proclaiming to all who watched him? I think Tim Tebow thought he was showing everybody that he was thankful to God.

But thankful for what?

For letting Tim play football in the NFL?

If that is the case, what about all the other Christian quarterbacks who also wanted to play in the NFL but never had the chance? Does God love Tim Tebow more? Does God hear his prayers more? Is Tim Tebow more faithful than those other quarterbacks?

Or maybe the prayers of Tim Tebow were his way of giving thanks to God for scoring a touchdown?

But again, if this is the case, what does this tell the Christian players on the opposing team’s defense? Does Tim think that God heard his own prayers and ignored those of the Christians on the defense? If Tim threw an interception, would he like it if the opposing team knelt down to thank God for Tim’s bad pass?

Here’s the point: Whatever Tim Tebow’s motives might be (and I think they are pure), his prayers on the field tell the world that God hears and answers the prayers of some people more than those of others. This further implies that everybody who doesn’t seem to have the success, money, or fame that Tim Tebow has, must have less faith than Tim, or maybe God just doesn’t love them as much as He apparently loves Tim.

I really, really doubt that this is the message Tim wants to send when he kneels to pray in the end zone.

Which is why I encourage Tim to stop praying on the football field.

And the “John 3:16” on his eye lids needs to go as well, for the same reasons. If he wants to invite people to believe in Jesus for eternal life, let him do it in one of his numerous speaking engagements, or in personal conversations with friends off the field. But when he’s on the field, this is not the time to share the gospel, but to live the gospel by being the most hard-working, honest, ethical, cheerful, and dependable quarterback he can possibly be.

And this will be a good example to the rest of us about how to be a Christian in this world. I am not a good Christian if I refuse to do my work because I have to pray for 15 minutes out of every hour “in order to show my coworkers how good of a Christian I am.” I am not a good Christian if I refuse to work with certain coworkers because they have a lifestyle I disapprove of. I am not a good Christian if I show up late for work because “my morning devotions went too long.”

Look, we Christians are not good Christian witnesses when we stop doing the things we should be doing because we want to “be a witness.” No, we are good Christian witnesses when we work hard at being the best we can be in whatever job or position we find ourselves.

Christian witnessing is not accomplished by trying to be a witness.

Christian witnessing is accomplished by living life the best we can and loving others in the process as much as we are able. When we do this, we naturally become a witness to how a life looks that is transformed by God.

So if Tim Tebow truly want to follow his lifelong dream of being an NFL quarterback, I suggest he lose the Christian circus. This begins with letting his passing, not his praying, do the talking.

Stop Calling Yourself a Christian

By Jeremy Myers

87 Comments

I think all of us “Christians” should stop referring to ourselves as “Christians.”

Nor should we ask other people if they are a “Christian.”

I have two lines of reasoning for why we should stop saying we’re Christians.

1. They were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26)

When the term “Christian” was first invented, it was coined by an outside group of “pagans” who observed the way Jesus-followers behaved and recognized the similarity between what they were doing and what Jesus did. And so they called these Jesus followers “Christians.”

In other words, the first “Christians” did not take this title for themselves; it was given to them.

The term means “little Christ,” and while some scholars think that it was maybe intended to be a derogatory term (sort of like Yankee Doodle), I do not think so. I think the people of Antioch noticed how “Christ-like” the people were who claimed to follow Him, and so they started to referring to this Christ-like followers of Jesus as “Christians.” It was a way to identify them and talk about them.

The Christians of Antioch were not known for their hate, venom, judgmentalism, or religious pride, or even for their good theology, pious life, and vast Bible knowledge. Instead, They were knowing for looking and acting and behaving like Jesus Christ, and as a result, they were “called Christians” by those who were not Christians.

If the watching world started giving titles and nicknames to those who proclaim to follow Jesus today, what sort of titles do you think they would give us?

I am not sure I want to know … but I doubt it would be “Christian.”

But this leads me to the second line of reasoning for why we should stop calling ourselves “Christians.”

2. They will know you are Christians by your love (John 13:35)

If you truly are a “Christian” you don’t have to tell people. They will know it. How? By your love.

Those who truly act like a “Christian” do not have to tell people they are a “Christian” because people already know it. They know it by your love.

I walked by two guys in the store the other day who were both wearing Christian t-shirts. One was saying to the other, “Yeah, they all hate me at work, but that’s okay, because I’m standing up for Christ.”

Now, I cannot say for sure, but I imagine that since I heard this about five days after the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, that this man’s idea of “standing up for Christ” consisted of telling his coworkers that LGBT people were headed for hell, were destroying our country, and were signs of the collapse of modern society and traditional marriage.

Some religious people think that “standing up for Christ” in today’s culture means telling others that God hates gays. Just check out some of the comments on my post from two days ago.

Look, I don’t know where you stand on the gay marriage issue. I don’t care. What I do know, however, is that wherever you stand on gay marriage, the proper response to gay people is love.

The same goes for other groups of people some Christians love to hate. Like Muslims. Whatever you may think about the Muslim religion, the proper way to treat a Muslim is with love.

Love is the proper (and only) response to ALL people, no matter what they believe or do, if we are followers of Jesus.

If you want to represent Jesus to people, don’t do it by hating or condemning them. (And don’t use the line about how you “Love the sinner, but hate the sin.”)

Anyway, back to the conversation I heard in the store, I wanted to tell this guy who was proud of his “stand for Christ” that just because people hate you for what you say doesn’t mean that you are standing for Christ.

In fact, in the Gospels, the only people who really hated Jesus were the religious people. Those who were condemned and judged by the religious people loved Jesus and hung out with Him and were accepted by Him.

So if the world hates you but religious people love you, you might not be following Jesus.

Also, if, like this guy in the store, you have to tell people you are a Christian by broadcasting it on your t-shirt, you’re doing it wrong.

If we want to tell people we are followers of Jesus, we do it by loving them. Just as He loves us. Unconditionally. That’s what Godly love is.

I am convinced that the person who loves others unconditionally but doesn’t claim to follow Jesus is closer to the Kingdom of God than those who claim to follow Jesus but doesn’t love others unconditionally.

If love is of God, and everybody who loves is born of God and knows God because God is love (1 John 4:7-8), then it only makes sense that love will be the prevailing characteristic of one who is born of God and know God!

It is not a person’s words that make him or her a Christian, or what they post on Facebook or wear on their t-shirts, or even how many Bible verses they can quote, or how often they attend church and Bible studies, or whether they can “take a stand for Christ.”

They will know we are Christians by our love, and if you have not love, they will never know you are a Christian, no matter how much you tell them you are.

Or maybe I should put it this way: If you have not love, you can never properly act like a Christian, no matter how much you tell people you are one.

The REAL Question We Should be Asking Ourselves (and others)

So the question we should be asking is not “Am I a Christian?” but rather, “Am I Christ-like?”

“Do my words sound like words Jesus might say?”

“Do my actions look like things Jesus might do?”

“Do I love unconditionally, forgive freely, serve sacrificially, and accept all?”

“Do I challenge the religious status-quo for setting up barriers to God and creating groups of us vs. them?”

“Do I break down the walls of religion by eating with the so-called ‘tax-collectors and sinners’?”

If so, then keep living in love and looking like Jesus, and maybe, just maybe, someone might call you a “Christian.”

Dear World, I am sorry. Will you forgive me?

By Jeremy Myers

15 Comments

We Christians owe the world an apology.

I, at least, owe the world an apology. So here it is:

Dear World, I am sorry.

About what?

About so many things …

… But the one thing I am sorry about the most is presenting to you a picture of God which you found repulsive and repugnant and worthy only of your rejection.

If I had done a better job of presenting God as He really is, as the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ, you might have loved Him instead of hated Him. You might have seen how much He loves you. How much He likes you.

Instead, I told you that if you do not do certain things that he wants, he will torment you forever in hell.

You could not love or worship a god like that. (Who truly can?) And so you rejected this god.

You figured that if this god really existed, and if he was going to send you to hell anyway, you might as well “live it up.”

I told you that God loves you, but his love has strings attached. His grace has limits. His mercy eventually fails. But you knew better. You knew that this was not true love, not free grace, not real mercy. And so you rejected this god.

You figured that if this god really existed, and since you could never really be sure of his love for you, you might as well live any way you wanted.

I told you that God would forgive you of all sin, but I added conditions to this forgiveness. God would forgive you “if” you did this and this, “and” as long as you kept yourself from that, “but” only when you felt this or that.

You figured that if this god really existed, it did not appear that you could ever know real forgiveness, so you decided to stop trying and go sin all you want.

I told you that the kind of people god wanted in heaven were the types of people who sat in pews on Sunday morning, who dressed in “proper” clothes and spoke “proper” language. Everybody else was headed for hell.

You figured that if god only wanted certain types of people in his presence, and you could never be one of those types of people, you might as well follow all your friends to hell.

I am sorry for all those things I told you.

Not a single one of them was true.

Not one.

I lied.

The truth, as I see it now, is the truth you have always known to be true.

The truth is what you always tried to tell me was true, but I never listened. Because I was the Bible expert.

The truth is that you were right all along, and I was wrong. You hated the god I was proclaiming because that god was a god of my own making. I invented that god. And you knew it. Thanks for being patient with me while I came to the same realization you knew all along.

You see, I have recently come to understand that everything you hated about the god I proclaimed, you hated because you were listening to the voice of God better than I was. The true God hates that false god also. The true God hates the god I was proclaiming.

So in rejecting the god I was proclaiming, you were more godly than I.

And I am sorry for condemning you for it.

I have come to see the truth of your position because I have come to see the truth of Jesus.

You have always liked Jesus, because you knew that if God existed, He would look like Jesus. You always knew that if God was like Jesus (as I claimed), He would be loving and compassionate. Full of justice and mercy. He would be kind and generous. He would laugh a lot. He would tell good stories. He would go to parties. He would hang out with people that religious folk labeled as “sinners.”

But the god I was proclaiming looked nothing like Jesus, and so you rejected him.

And as a result of rejecting the god I proclaimed, I condemned you.

So I am sorry.

I never accepted the Jesus you knew to be true, because your Jesus didn’t fit with my conception of god. But now that I see that Jesus truly reveals God to us, and now that I see that the god I was proclaiming was a god of my own making, I have come to see that the Jesus you knew is the Jesus who really exists, and therefore, is what God is really like as well.

So I now see the truth you have seen all along.

What truth is that?

The truth that God loves us. Period.

The truth that God forgives us. No ifs, ands, or buts.

The truth that God likes us so much He wants to hang out with us and our friends. Just as we are.

The truth that God doesn’t care so much if we sit in those pews on Sunday morning. In fact, He may prefer that we don’t.

The truth that God isn’t concerned about our sin. He only cares about sin because it hurts us. And since He loves us, He doesn’t want to see us hurt.

And regarding all those silly rules about what to wear (and not wear), what to say (and not say), and where to go (and not go) … the truth that God doesn’t give a rat’s ass about those things. Those aren’t His “rules.” He never made those. We made those. Yes, we religious people. We invented those rules to make ourselves feel better. To make ourselves think we were better than you. When we’re not.

So we’re sorry.

No, I’m sorry.

And if you ever want to tell me more about Jesus, I would love to learn.

Do you use these Christian Clichés? Please stop.

You’re Covered in the Blood!

Just Press In to God

God is Good? … All the Time! … All the Time? … God is Good!

Brother … Sister

Jesus Saves!

Bless Your Heart

It’s Good to Be in the House of the Lord

Let Go and Let God

I’ve Got a Word for you from the Lord

Amen

The Spirit is Moving

I’m going to lift you up in prayer

Lord, Put a Hedge of Protection Around Us

The Bible Says It. I Believe It. That Settles It.

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Stop Calling Yourself a Christian

1. They were first called Christians in Antioch (Acts 11:26)

2. They will know you are Christians by your love (John 13:35)

The REAL Question We Should be Asking Ourselves (and others)

Dear World, I am sorry. Will you forgive me?

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