The Christian I am not - Introduction

If there is one thing Christians are famous for in this world, it’s the fact that they really do not get along with one another. For some reason, even though we all have the same God and the same Bible we never seem to agree on anything. I know by now that I shouldn’t let the human capacity for pettiness and cruelty surprise me and yet I can’t help but to be sickened by this. It is the complete opposite of what Jesus told His followers to do:

Joh 13:35: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Sadly, that’s one command we are not doing very well with. The worst part of all is that so many splits between groups and denominations happen for the dumbest reasons. Now the last thing I would like to do is add to the already divisive nature of the Christian community. I believe only grown-ups should be baptized, you may believe that infants should be baptized – is that any reason for us to hate one another? To fight tooth and nail? To show the world just how unchristian we can be? No, a million times no! Just because we may differ in doctrine doesn’t mean we cannot love one another. Well, fair enough, we are human and as such we often fail at loving our neighbour in any case. Nevertheless doesn’t give us any right to persecute one another instead of getting along. After all we do serve the same God and we do follow the same Bible. I’m all for remembering what we have in common and celebrating the fact that we are diverse.

But there is a line that I do feel I need to draw in the sand. Some people out there do not simply have different doctrines, they are actively pissing on everything Jesus taught and stood for! What makes it so incredibly disgusting is that they are doing it IN HIS NAME! From these people I need to distance myself and I need to do it in public. They are calling themselves Christian while doing these things and if I don’t speak up against it I get painted with the same brush. Like I said before, I do not wish to add to the division already present. But there is a difference between being divisive and standing up for what is right. Because sometimes saying nothing and agreeing can sound awfully similar.

Especially to those outside the faith.

So then this is the first of (what I plan to be) a series of definitive statements of who I am NOT siding with. These are people who are not only different, they are destructive and wrong in every sense of the word. I am not God and therefore I’m not trying to judge them. I am however saying loud and clear that I do not agree with them, I do not stand with them, that they are wrong and that they need to make some changes. They are turning the Good News into something repugnant to those who could use it the most.