Do we pass the test to be Christians?
Who are we? And what do we stand for?
We seem to be a people who are wandering in the wilderness. We also seem to be afraid to admit that we are lost. Do we believe what the WORD says ? It tells us to confess our sins and he will be faithful to forgive us.
How can we continue to say God Bless America and expect God to bless America when at the same time we are leaving him out of the equation completely?
We now have a group of so called “Christians” who have created their own definition for what Christianity means. This group has decided to be against anything that is not like them. That is what Christ accepts. Correct? Christ was the savior who turned away people who were different. Correct?
I am now a part of a church congregation that is split and have been worshipping there for about 30 years, but there is one thing I can say: Never have we had a leader there who condoned us turning away people who were different. And believe me when I say we have had some of every kind of people as members of Thankful Missionary Baptist Church.
We have opened our arms to Indians, Hispanics, whites, Jews, Muslims, queers, rich, poor, homeless and any other human being. I have a serious problem coming to grips with how one human being can consider another human being to not be worthy of being a part of the human race because they came out of the womb looking or behaving differently.
I have family members, friends and associates who think that when the child is in the mother’s womb, that child can make a choice about what gender he or she wants to be. My question is, how many of you made that decision while in your mother’s womb? Did you consult with the Creator and ask for his input? It is so interesting how we can be around close family members and not realize how prejudiced they are about people and issues involving people.
I did not realize that one my most precious sisters was bogged down deeply in her thinking about the LGBTQ community until she saw something on the TV screen and said ”Oh, they make me sick.” I was dismayed about my just finding out how my dear sister felt about the queer among us. I was rattled to find out how many people in my circle feel negatively about queers, different races and other issues. I had just assumed that they all had open minds and have an acceptance of all people. Realizing that when God sends rain, he sends it to rain on the just and the unjust. If God can do that, what makes my friends and family members refuse to accept them?
Lately, I have been a little nervous about approaching that topic with family and friends because I am not sure if I can calmly hear the response without yelling, “How dare you think that you are the only one with a monopoly on how genders are created or designed.”
Many years ago, when I was in the classroom, I read quite a lot of research on the topic because I did not want to mishandle any of my queer students. If I had to reprimand or discipline one of them, I wanted to leave my biased attitude behind. I had many come through the doors of my classroom at all three of the schools that I taught at. The research has not been completed on the topic, so let us remember the jury is still out.
Many people say that to stand with the LGBTQ is to stand against God, but not so. I believe that God also said that he will hold us responsible for two commandments: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, and soul, and love thy neighbor as thyself.
How can we follow those two commandments by stabbing, bombing and finding other means of killing LGBTQ human beings? Do we not realize that they will keep coming. God may be testing our Christianity. Will we pass the test if indeed it is one?
I was listening to a report a couple of months ago and was amazed to hear that in recent years the number of Christians in this country has declined at a rapid pace. I knew something was happening with the Christian community, but I was not aware of the degree to which we were not positively impacting the community of non-believers.
We casually say that we are Christians, not knowing that we have no intention of being a true follower of Christ. Why do we say that when we want to pick the things of Christ that we want to emulate?
A Christian is kind, loving, gentle, compassionate, tolerant and generous. Do we pass the test to be Christians? Just because we label ourselves something does not make it so. Who are we following and what are we believing about the One that we have chosen to follow?