So last night I made the unfortunate (....well possibly...) decision to drink an espresso at 9 o'clock at night. And To be honest, while I love coffee and drink it like it's water pretty much every day of my life.... that was one pretty STRONG espresso and thus I could not fall asleep for hours! So what's a girl to do on a Friday night when she can't fall asleep and she's not really into the party scene?!?! Well...enter Netflix...God's gift to people like me, whose friends are all busy and who can't remember to return movies to the Redbox! I ended up finding a documentary on there (yes, I'm a dork!) called "One Nation Under God", about these 4 college age guys who traveled around the country asking people questions about faith, like....what happens when you die? How do you get to heaven? What do you think of Christians?
It wasn't my favorite movie (although I did go on to watch their second movie of the same concept which takes place in Europe...so I had to have liked something about it)....yet there were two things that really stuck out to me from it. One...when they asked non-Christians what they thought of Christians the general consensus was that Christians are judgemental and hypocritical. And Two...when they asked Christians what it meant to be a Christian the most common answers were...to believe in God...to be a good person...and to live out God's calling on your life. This makes me SAD....very, very S-A-D!
For one thing, what the non-Christians were saying about Christians is pretty true...we are judgemental AND hypocritical...and it's bad! But I don't necessarily think that this is a "Christian" problem as much as a "Human" problem....at least when it comes to being judgemental. EVERYONE is judgemental.....we all view life through our own experiences, ideas, and beliefs and when people don't line up with what we think, we judge. That's why there's so much peer pressure in the world....we all are trying to "fit" into each others viewpoint of life in order to feel accepted. It happens whether your a Christian or not! But I think where we Christians go wrong is we act so freakin perfect....like we have all the answers, never do anything wrong, and have the corner on the market of holiness! What a load of crap!! Jesus Himself said it's the sick who need a doctor not the well...so if the church is claiming to be well, have we stopped clinging to Jesus?!?! What is even worse though, is that after putting on our acts of perfection, we condemn others for not living up to the standard that we ourselves struggle to keep! No wonder we are called Hypocrites!
And then I think about what the Christians in this movie were saying about what it means to be a Christian....that it's to believe in God, be a good person, and live out God's calling on your life....and while it all sounds so "nice", I feel like we are missing the truth. When I was 14 I said the sinners prayer and believed in God....but you know what?!?! It had no real impact on my life! I was just like the demons who believe in God but don't serve Him! And while being a good person is a great ideal....that doesn't make you anymore of a Christian than going to church every Sunday would! I know lots of people who are REALLY GREAT people.....they are self-less and giving...and you know what?!?! They aren't Christians! And finally, this whole concept of waiting on God's calling for your life and then going to live it out, just annoys me because....He's ALREADY told us what to do in His WORD! Open your Bible and you will see time and time again God saying things like "Go and make disciples", "Love your neighbor as yourself", "Feed the Hungry", "Visit the Orphan", etc! We could spend our whole lives living out all He's already called us to live out in those words and never run out of things to do! And I know we all have different gifts, abilities, influences, etc....and thus these things may look different lived out in each of our lives...but figuring out your HOW should not be your excuse not to DO, now!
And I know I am going full throttle here.....laying it all on the table...and punching you in the gut....but take heart because I'm speaking to myself here too! It would be so easy to just point my finger at everyone else...even the church (which by God's help I'm learning to truly love)...but that would make me even more of a hypocrite...and the reality is ...I can really only point my finger at myself! I am not perfect....and in trying to figure out my HOW of living out this Christian life, I often make mistakes, hurt people, disgrace my faith, and end up finding myself in need of repentance. I don't have my act together...BUT I love Jesus with every fiber of my being...and in turn that means I must LOVE the world! Isn't that what Jesus said...."They will know you are my disciples by your LOVE for one another"?!?! Sometimes I make judgements, sometimes I act hypocritical, sometimes I get lost in just being good and putting on a good Christian show....but that is not what i want to be KNOWN for! I want to be known by LOVE....by the LOVE of God for me....by my LOVE for Him...and for how I LOVE the world! And movies like this one remind me once again of that fact! Thank God and AMEN!
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