AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

I asked for permission to share this, but it was a thunderous statement to me. I think all of us, if we're honest, have struggled with our faith, and if not, with religion and it's ugliness in general. When I think of the journey that has led me to the place I am, it amazes me.

So I was trading emails with "Michlow" and she said this....

"But I would much rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I'm not!"

WOW!!!! I think that's where I finally arrived, where it was more important to "Be free to be me", rather than trying to please a system and/or people that I never could really please anyway.

Thanks Mich!!! You put a 45 minute sermon into one sentence!!

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

Serious problem tho. Being "me" is not cool with Christ. We must deny "me" take up the cross and follow "him".

Being free should mean freedom to do the will of God. Agreed?

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

Yes. But sometimes we'll put up a facade just to please people. It's not so much about pleasing God as pleasing people. After a while, that becomes very empty.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

Yeah, another "thing" is, people take it personally when you tell them the truth. In today's PC world, it get's twisted into hate. Did you guys see Charles Barkley talking about conservatives and Christians? They are all judgmental according to Charles, and fake Christians...why? Because they dare to say "no"...No to gay marriages and no to abortion.

Today's world says, if you stand up for what you believe....and what you believe does not match ours, you are bad

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

Pre-Christianity, I always had this view of myself that if anyone really truly knew who I was inside they be horrified. So getting me to believe that I was intrinsically a bad person was not difficult. Telling me that God forgave me for it and wanted to make me better, was awesome!

But things went downhill from there. Whether it was being told that I couldn't love Jesus and smoke. Or that questioning things or having doubts was a sin in itself. I spent about 5 years as a Christian believing that I was intrinsically flawed. That there was something wrong with me that I couldn't seem to achieve the level of super spirituality of all those around me.

Looking back on it, none of that was about God. It was about others expectations of me, and the fact that over time I began to think the expectations of fellow Christians were part and parcel to the expectations of God.

It wasn't until I realized that no matter how I tried, I couldn't measure up. I decided that I wasn't going to pretend any longer. I am flawed. And I am intrinsically bad at being a Christian. But what you see is what you get, it may not be pretty...but it's real.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

We're all works in progress.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

I am AMAZED that a fuss can be made over Mich's statement. Good heavens, what's wrong with you people??? I mean, could you possibly twist this up any more than you already have?

:lolWhat am I saying?? Of course you could.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

NOW, that statement is AWESOME!!

The greatest doom to Christianity is hypocrisy. If we can't be real, the World has no hope.

People mistake being real with being evil. I'm sorry, but that's just not the case. Being real means you SEE the evil and the FAILURE of man, and understand that mercy is our greatest need.

Jesus called those who were not themselves, Blind Hypocrites. I'd rather beat my chest in honesty about my sin, than to claim I've got Holiness figured out.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

Well said. I wonder how much we all do that is strictly because others have the expectation of us doing it, rather than doing it because it's right? God made us all unique and individual, but religion often creates a pressure for us to conform and become something that God never intended for us to be.

Re: AMAZING thing that was said to me....
 

I agree.

NOW, NFS, I agree with your points (as you well know) about being real. We need real christians, but we must also deny ourself.

Case in point Friday night, I went to pick up one of my friends I haven't seen in a while, I walk in the house and there are 2 people smoking weed.

I'm not walking into someone's house and getting intheir business, and they were ice enough to put it out, so I didn't say anything but "hello, how yall doing?" As i'm waiting on my friend, an older lady (late 40's) who was smoking the wacky tobaccy asks me about church, and lets me know she has been going to church for 3 years now, has recently been baptized again, works with the sunday school ministry, is going to ladies conference in a couple of months, loves church, invites everyone.

To skip to the point, I don't believe thats Christianity. Yeah, she's being "real", but I personally don't believe in a Christianity which doesn't set people free.

I think Mike's point was 100% correct, we must DENY OURSELVES if we're going to be Christians. If you don't want to deny yourself, you cannot be a Christian (and yes those are the words of Jesus, specifically he said you CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE).

If there are some folks who want to be so relevant and seeker sensative that anything goes. THATS NOT CHRISTIANITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

to conclude, i think Mich made a very true statement, and I'm not necessarily putting her in that category. At the same time, from her own post, it seems that she was simply caught up in a church that emphasized the doctrine of man, not the doctrine of Christ. Many of us on this forum have been in such a situation, and mans doctrine destroys people, not saves them--which is why so many of us AFF "cesspool" believers are hard against unbiblical teachings.

I just wonder how different it would have been for Mich if she would have been in a church which emphasized the love of God, and dealt realistically with what we all go through at times, instead of telling her it was sin to basically even think.

I know, clear as mud.

In summary, I believe we need to teach Bible Christianity, which is a Christianity which changes people through the power of the Spirit of Christ, not by threats of judgment, but by the love of God.

I truly believe if we would teach people how much God loves them, if they get that revelation, we wouldn't have to teach them to quit hardly anything, they would do it on their own, and have the Holy Spirit guide them.

When people live under a law or rules, they only seek to do enough to fulfill their obligations, whether it be to a church or God.

When people live under love, they do things not for what they can get, but out of the debt of love. Love gives the sun, moon, and stars, and yet fills it hasn't fulfilled its debt.