By Coach Dave Daubenmire
July 28, 2011
NewsWithViews.com
It is a good thing that Jesus has risen from the grave or He would certainly be rolling over in it.
I find it hard to believe that He would drag that cross up Golgotha so that what He stood for could be so miss-represented around the world.
Everything He stood for is under attack and much of the attack is a result of His followers being so un-like Him.
It is hard to write this without coming off as self-righteous. All I can say is that it is not my intention. Christianity is a journey, not a destination. All of us who wish to follow Him must “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” Please count me among those who are still a work in progress.
Calling oneself a “Christian” today has become meaningless. Because the characteristics of a true follow of Jesus have become so murky, the label has become nothing more distinctive than identifying oneself as an American.
But even that term, “American”, is foggy. I am an American. But so was Jeffrey Dahmer, Al Capone, Bill Ayers, Jane Fonda, and Margaret Sanger. Nationality, in most cases, is determined by birth, rather than by belief. You can hate America and still be an American.
But Christianity is a different bird. You are Christian by choice, never by birth. You can be an American and hate Christianity, but you can not be a Christian and hate your fellow man.
Christianity has been hi-jacked. It has become nothing more than the wing of a political party.
Christianity is neither rightwing nor left wing. True Christianity is the heart of the Eagle…the heartbeat of America if you will. Those firm foundations are still responsible for keeping the Eagle in the air. The dipping of the wings only rock the boat.
I don’t know if you have noticed, but there is a whole lot of shakin’ going on.
To defame is to “to attack the good name or reputation of; slander; libel.” The defamation of Christianity is happening before our very eyes and our vision is too myopic to even recognize it.
But it is not Christianity they are defaming. It is the One whose name the religion bears that is being slandered.
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” -Gandhi
I think Gandhi is on to something.
How else can you explain the fact that this latest mass-murderer in Norway could even remotely be taken seriously when he calls himself a Christian? That is as ridiculous as me trying to pass myself off as an African American, or a woman, or a teenager. Anyone with half a brain (tied behind the back or not) would look at me and declare my assertions to be an obvious fraud. Nothing about me meets the standards of being black, womanly, or young.
But the Norwegian assassin makes the claim that he is a “Christian” and no one asks the obvious question.
“How can he be a Christian and kill innocent people?” Christians do not kill innocent people. Period.
He is as likely to be a Christian as I am to be black. “By your fruit you shall know them.”
Anders Behring Breivik is a servant of the devil. He is not a Christian, no matter how much he, and the Christ-hating press, wants to convince me He is.
Exercise guru Richard Simmons may be a male, but he is not a man. Like manhood, Christianity is a matter of choice, not a matter of birth.
I remember a conversation I had with one of those “liberal” Christians one time over what he determined were my “fundamentalist” beliefs.
“Are you a Christian?” I asked him.
“Yes I am. I was born a Methodist.” He retorted.
“No wonder you think the way you do, Pal. You need to get born again.” He had no idea what I meant.
So here is what has happened. Nearly 85% of American’s self identify as Christians. Even though they have been bombarded with the virtues of multi-culturalism, they still understand that there is something “Christian” about America. They believe the lie of the separation between the church and state, but innately understand that Christian values undergird this nation.
Or that at least those values once did. But someone has co-opted Christianity. It is no longer a value-system by which one guides one’s life, but instead, a political philosophy, often labeled “conservativism” by which one chooses sides in the cultural war.
Today, the term “Christianity” means everything, anything, and as a result, it means nothing. The media determines who is Christian, what is Christian, and what Christianity is. The Church, in an attempt to be relevant, takes its cue from the world.
Evangelical Christians are conservative and tend to be Republicans, while “liberal” Christians are “progressives” and become Democrats. “People of faith” provide the wings on both sides of the bird. It is the miss-understanding of “the faith” that divides the bird.
On what wing of the party would Jesus roost? I say neither. That’s why I identify as a Christocrat.
Timothy McVeigh, Andres Behring Breivik, Adolph Hitler, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama do not display Christian behavior. Christians do not kill innocent people.
Neither do Jim Wallace, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or Nancy Pelosi. Christians do not steal from one person in order to give to another. They believe government is your brother’s keeper.
Greed is not Christian. Using government laws to enrich one group at the expense of another group is not Christian, but neither is ignoring the plight of the needy in the name of profits.
Offensive wars violate the laws of Christianity. Republicans have become war mongers with the support of “conservative” Christian leaders. Would Jesus want Americans to go kill innocent Iraqis in order to “bring them democracy?” Can you be anti-war and be in the good graces of the Republicans?
Social Security, Welfare, Healthcare and Medicare are government endorsed thievery. “Thou shall not covet.” No matter how much someone else wants what I have the government has no business helping them get it. Forcing someone to support another is not Christian.
Republicans are for greed, Democrats are for thievery. Neither one is a Christian virtue.
Let’s face it. Gandhi was right. Most Christians bear very little resemblance to Jesus. How else could Jesus’ followers be so confused?
Those who kill innocent people are not doing it in the name of Jesus. That should be obvious for all to see. But yet, the media continues to try and connect Christianity to murder. Timothy McVeigh’s slaughter at Oklahoma City was 16 years ago, yet every time there is a mass slaughter of the innocents it is the Christians they seek to blame.
How many instances of “Islamic Terror” have happened since Oklahoma City? The Christ-hating media chokes on the term “Islamic-terrorists”, while every white-guy with a gun is the offspring of Timothy McVeigh. Christianity is a religion of peace. Islam means “submission.”
A Christian who kills innocent people violates the laws of Bible. A Muslim who kills innocent people follows the teachings of the Koran. Jesus taught “love your enemies.” Mohammed taught “kill your enemies.”
The closer one gets to Jesus the more peaceful one becomes. The closer one gets to Mohammed the more violent one becomes.
America is Christian In Name Only. No wonder non-Christians are so confused.
