But I’m Not One of *Those* Christians

Sometimes I notice a lot of people who say they’re Christian getting upset over things that either they shouldn’t be upset about, or they’re getting upset the wrong way about it. Some of these people don’t just claim to be Christians, they actually are Christians! Because of the way some Christians get upset and because of the things they say and do because they are upset, it makes most people think that Christians are a bunch of Bible-thumping holier-than-thous who don’t really care about anyone as much as they claim to. Whoever this Jesus is, either we don’t really follow Him or He’s as bad as we are and that’s why we’re so bad at loving people who upset us.

Some of us would like to say, “But I’m not one of those Christians.” But even we have been guilty of being upset at the wrong thing or in the wrong way. We say we’re not like that, but maybe it’s just because we’re not as loud about it. Maybe we think the same things as those other Christians, we just don’t get up in people’s faces about it. Maybe we’re just keeping our pride and prejudice to ourselves. As long as we don’t have to be around those who upset us, we’ll be just fine minding our own business. But what is our business? God has called us to be in the world and not of it. That means we’re supposed to be here in it reaching people with God’s Gospel without participating in the wrongdoing. Jesus was in the world and not of it when He was here. He was here in it reaching people with God’s Gospel without participating in the wrongdoing, and when He left, He told us to do the same by telling everyone about Him until He comes back.

People are going to do things that upset you. They’re going to do it by accident and they’re going to do it on purpose. They will do it to spite Christianity and Jesus, and they will do it simply because they don’t know better. We shouldn’t be surprised that the world is doing worldly things. Respond with some patience and love, just like Jesus does. Responding with the same spite is only going to make things worse and alienate people further. Sometimes the thing you perceive as spite isn’t even spite at all. Try to understand why people are doing and feeling what they do and feel. Even people who do things to spite Jesus can have a respectful conversation about their differences with you.

And think about this: Just because someone’s sin is different from yours and just because you don’t struggle so hard with the same thing they do, that doesn’t mean that one of you is better than the other. You used to be on that side of the tracks, too (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), but Jesus brought you to His side. We don’t have to and shouldn’t hyper-focus on someone’s sin. We should be hyper-focusing on Jesus’ grace, mercy, and love. No one has ever been hated towards Jesus.

But I’m Not One of Those Christians

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