Compiling God's Code

How does a “Christian” say that another person is “not a Christian?” Have lessons of our Lord been lost and forgotten? I am saddened, and I cannot sleep as I know that Jesus did not teach judgment; he did not reveal labeling; he did not die so that others may be castaways. It just doesn’t happen on the news; I know actions similar to this occur way more than they should.

I am awake late at night writing my thoughts. I see that over two weeks ago I had started writing about what it meant to be a Christian. The page had been left blank because, even though I felt in my heart what it meant, the words just would not come forth, and now, as I try to sleep, the words will not go away, so I type them, and I let them fall as they may because that is how the sprit moves – on God’s time. I’m not saying that God is giving me the words, but I believe that I had to see the man claiming to be a Christian, judging, labeling, and breaking my heart for the moment to take shape and the words to find their way to this paper. Tonight.

I’m not here to judge another’s action; I am simply stating the spark to my discussion as it may be called or my ramblings as most would label it. I am here so others may know the truth, so that others may know my God and His love for all of us. A “Christian” is not one who follows Christ, but a Christian is one who lives in Christ, so as one who lives with God, you must live His truths.

You forgive.
You embrace.
You receive.
You build up.
You nurture.
You believe.
You love.

Simple words. They are not complicated and neither are the actions.

Is it any wonder why so many people are turned away from God, when so many examples they encounter are judgment and exclusion. God is love. He sent his only son not for the pastors, the deacons, the priests, the elders or the people sitting in pews, BUT for the forgotten, the lost, the misunderstood, the broken, the hurt, the sinners… If we lived his truths, his word would spread not because we say so but because we do so.

Remember what Jesus said in Luke 18:9-14 (NIV).

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

How will you live your life?