The Fragile Christian vs. the World

"If you examined a hundred people who had
lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them
would turn out to have reasoned out of it by honest argument?
Do not most people simply drift away?"
C. S. Lewis

It appears to me that the majority of Christians are agnostic, or inactive in their faith. An inactive Christian believes in God and believes in Jesus, but that's the extent of it. God appears too far away to see their lives. And at times, God is as real as Santa Claus. Maybe in times of great need, the inactive Christian will pray, even bargain with God. But when prayers are answered, God is forgotten again. I know because I, like many others, have spent most of my Christian walk as an inactive Christian, and still feel the pull to live that way sometimes again because it IS so much easier. The difference is, being born again, I do so with a lot more guilt....

The most dangerous thing about being an inactive Christian, your faith is fragile. There are so many lies out there being told, so many ways to sway the Christian off his path. It's easy to believe that you are going to Heaven because you believe in Jesus, but you still get your life "as-is", with no accountability whatsoever. To read more on this, check out a portion of Pastor Troy's revival reports, the entry from 10/17/2005.

I came across these quotes today when researching something entirely different, and it saddened me:

"A certain sense of cruelty towards oneself and others is Christian; hatred of those who think differently; the will to persecute. Hatred of mind, of pride, courage, freedom, libertinage of mind, is Christian; hatred of the sense, of the joy of the senses, of joy in general is Christian."
Friedrich Nietzsche

"What a terrible time this is to be a Christian. The churches have failed and betrayed us, and the ministry preaches hate and murder. If there is a sane and reasoning voice in the Christian church today it is sadly silent."
Francois Arouet
Kauai Times editorial

This is how many view the Christian church. And that's so unfortunate. Part of the reason that these views are placed on us is because of the extremist Christians who condemn rather than love. And that's so detrimantal to Jesus because souls are not saved through condemnation. But the other part is on the world, as it is hard to change one's life in a way that rids it of sin, especially when it's how someone's lived their whole life and never considered it wrong before.

When someone is preached about the wrongs in their life, but are not given the hope of Jesus first, Christianity appears just as it does in the above quotes: full of hatred and persecution.

Ok, look.. This entry is total milk and all over the place, and there is no other way to say this. As a Christian, watch your life. Teach through example, which means live your life accordingly. If you call yourself a Christian, follow Christ and share the passion. PREACH LOVE AND ACCEPTANCE. Do not point fingers. Listen with compassion. Treat brokenness with the Spirit. The most precious thing we have is the love of Jesus, and that is what we must share with the world. Sin is only stripped away with willingness, not forcedness. Do not let your Christianity become a fragile thing, and prevent those "drifting away" by your embrace.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.
John 3:17