Well, here is another Christian blog. I doubt I’ll be treading any water that hasn’t been tread before, but if I can transform just one person’s heart or mind to be even just a bit more receptive, and open, to Christianity, then that would be great.
It feels a little weird typing it: Christianity. One word that conjures a wide range of emotions depending on who you are. For me, when I hear the word Christianity I can’t help but think of how bad “Christians” are when it comes to public relations.
A sermon that stuck with me from years ago by my friend Dan Snyder, touched upon how negatively we are perceived by non-Christians. You ask them what comes to their mind when they hear that word and they aren’t words with good connotations. Words like homophobic. I can’t remember the others that Dan mentioned, but doing a quick search and you can find plenty: self-righteous, hate filled, hypocrites… I’m sure the list goes on.
It makes sense that non-Christians don’t necessarily have the best view of us, otherwise they would be one of us, but the fact that some people have just a straight up terrible taste in their mouth with Christians is something that I’ve been struggling with lately. I’m sure this isn’t just a thing in the U.S., but given our hyper-polarized political system, I can’t help but think that the “religious right” is partly to blame.
Why are some Christians so drawn to proudly affiliating themselves with a political party?
Why do some people say they are Christian but don’t act like it?
Who am I to say if someone is truly a Christian or not? I can’t see into their heart.
Something from a devotional calendar that got me thinking: “If we are heavy and gloomy it is not because we are Christians, it is because we are not Christian enough.”