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TRUST JESUS TODAY

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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: BUG (04/06/17)
For the sake of this article, I wish to look directly at what Jesus himself said, His own words, and yes there have been first hand retellings and the conveying of his teaching, but I would like to simplify these and speak only of one particular point he emphasised on many occasions – “Be like me”



My first point is racism. People tend to generalise when it comes to the colour of one’s skin, and we all know this to be true as we see it every day, I do, living in South Africa where many still have this evil etched into their DNA, and of any ethnic group. Simply put, if a person of one colour belittles, judges or speaks down to a person of another colour, those who get the brunt of the confrontation tend to walk away thinking ‘You know, these white people are not very nice’ or ‘these black people’, and so on. It is a handful of the wrong that give all others a bad name… but more on this later.

I believe it is the same with Christianity, if people who do not attend church are asked why not, 9 out of 10 will always say the same thing, and I have asked and can confirm that there is truth to this, their answer is that church goers are hypocrites! They go to church every Sunday, bible punch to all they encounter after, but live and do the opposite of what they themselves preach. And I feel this is the biggest downfall the church is facing nowadays, which is why I feel a great urge to post this article in the hopes of shedding more light on the subject.

And let’s face it, many do. We walk out of church with an armour of God on our shoulders, and a shield of faith in our hands, weapons of confidence that God provides to help us spread His word. But some see this armour as a reason to bash into others and bully them into accepting Christ as their saviour, and the confidence easily slips into arrogance and they turn to judging, and belittling. I once read a story of a school girl who beat one of her class mates with a chair because she said she did not believe in Jesus! And how did this help? I can only imagine the victim walking away from that encounter thinking “These Christians are not very nice people.”

This is where I prefer to look at the words of Christ himself “Be like me.”

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Mahatma Gandhi said, I also heard someone say once that we should not confuse people with ideas, and I feel this is true, if we go into the world and preach about Jesus and the idea he left with us, we need to apply the idea within ourselves first before we attempt to teach it, and history has proven that we speak a good Christ, but we tend to do the opposite.

The fact with Christ himself is that every encounter he ever had, every person he spoke with and met, all walked away from Him thinking ‘wow, there is something very special about that man, and He left them moved. His views, attitude and persona opened minds to the truth and their hearts content with his teachings.

And the one phrase Jesus emphasised many times was “Go into the world and be like me”, but it is the one statement we tend to forget when we do go into the world with His purpose in mind. And I worry that Christians themselves are becoming the biggest demise to Christianity.

It is the same with Racism, the evil so many carry comfortably in their hearts, the only way forward and into Heaven is together, all of us. If we wish to be good Christians then we need to be a lot more like Christ, it is in His name, and be the change we wish to see in the world.
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This article has been read 462 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Michael Dreher
04/14/17
Hello,

First I have to say that you make a very good point. Christians at times can be a detriment to their own cause.

That being said, this is why people need to take their eyes off of the followers in order to place them on the one we need to follow. People need to realize that the actions of Christians will be of no excuse to a person on judgment day.

I do wonder where in the Bible that you read Jesus saying "be like me." I know Paul says to be an imitator of him, as he is of Christ... but I don't recall Jesus saying it.

From a critique standpoint, you should really limit your run-on sentences. You have more than one in your article.

Other than that your article is thought provoking. Thank you for sharing.
Sherry Brock
04/15/17
I agree your article is thought provoking & has many good points.

I would suggest more white space (paragraphs) to separate the points of your article. I also agree about the run on sentences.

Keep writing- you have a lot of insight to share and I would like to read more.
Elaine Hemingway
04/15/17
With a South Africa experience myself I'm sure you will have lots to share. I agree with the other comments but am struggling with the theme. There is an anthill of understanding for you to explore. I look forward to seeing more.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
04/16/17
I'm assuming you are using the topic as what bugs you or what is your pet peeve, not the creepy crawlies. You make some great points. The world definitely needs a lot of work to be even close to how God modeled things. I see that in your title you give the Bible verse which your piece is based on, but those are not from Jesus. Be very careful when you quote anything that you get it right. Many people take part of a Bible verse or part of a quote and use it to meet one's needs. Also, unless you have a specific study to quote, be careful about saying things like 9 out of 10 people don't go to church because ... If that is your experience generalize it by saying often if I ask someone why she doesn't go to church, the person said, "..." I feel your passion and I appreciate it, but you might ask someone to read your writing to you. Tone is hard to get right in writing. If we were talking, I might hear those exact words differently. To me, the writing comes across as angry (and quite possibly rightly so), but I felt it directed at me the reader, almost like a lecture. That may be your intention and if so, you will get people's attention. But you also may want to tone it down a bit to help people be more receptive. For example share a specific example when someone hurt you with racism and how Jesus' teachings helped you through.
The most important thing to do is keep reading and writing. I'd love to challenge you to read and comment on at least 2 entries in every level. I look forward to reading more from you.
Larry Whittington
04/17/17
Both truth and emotions expressed here.
Phillip Cimei
04/18/17
I could tell that you have a fire burning inside that wants to get out. You had made a lot of points that I am sure many people hold. I would encourage you to use that zeal to convert the lost to a loving savior. Paul's heart and desire for Israel was that they might be saved. If we live a life that brings glory to God and our Savior, all these negative feeling souls will understand what pure religion is about. Christians, as well as the unconverted certainly need to see our light shine and our salt preserve the truth. I hope to see some positive writing in the future. You certainly have the ability.