Big Thank you to my faithful readers!
Woops sorry dear readers.. I have been looking or monitoring the amount of people coming to this site daily actually but did not want to blog another post just yet because I thought the previous post shared something very important and I wanted to see if people really come back to check for more... and Thank God for u guys :) here's another question that has probably mind-boggled me as I grappled with God when He challenged me to bring upon my cross and carry it:
Sometimes.. I wonder as a christian..
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Does... going to church make you one? Oh and how about taking up multiple ministries to serve in? Hmmm.. how about participating in church activities and do what is "right" so I appear as a "good christian" in others' eyes?
Sadly, I was mistaken and misled too. I thank God for showing me why I was all but almost fruitless in my 4 years walk with Him. However this is not the fault of the modern church. Its the very weakness of our hearts that make us vulnerable and missing what God intended for us in the first place.
The question is: "How did I thought what I did makes me a christian?" This is how.
True enough
if we try hard, we can become a good christian in PEOPLE's EYES:
1) wow.. there are people who can tell you bible stories and memorise verses like drinking water
2) hmmm.. we can do stuff we do in ministries, adept at planning programmes games for people
3) we can point out OTHERS' MISTAKES in church, WOW
4) We pray anywhere, everywhere, best if others see so we are holy O_O
5) We share the gospel and bring others to Christ! wow I did alot!
6) we are able to jump to our Religion's defense when people attack it
7) (no offense but...) some churches believe gifts like speaking in tongues is a sign of the Baptism by the Holy Spirit.. so if you don't you aren't christian (what was that again??)
8) ..... Last BUT not least wearing a big Shiny Cross on your neck
You will notice that
there is a 101 things that People WILL recognise you as a christian.. from what you do. However, is that what I'm looking for in my walk with God?? Getting people to acknowledge me as a christian?? Is that it? NO!! It isn't! Being a christian = knowing God, abiding by Him, and having love for one another...
NOT SHOWING HOW CHRISTIAN YOU ARE!
There's a sad fact of the modern church we have to acknowledge. Christians are supposed to be moral upright people.. well
or it just happens that we "cover up ourselves" so well no one knows what goes on inside while we appear a "good" christian in others' eyes? Don't believe it? Surf the net.. how many church pastors had scandals or extra-maritial affairs exposed? How many christians are doing things people don't see and when people finally sees it it shocks us? Are we deluding ourselves or others?
What is the problem here then??
It is when we try to earn the "christian title" to be called and recognised as one by other people.
Read that sentence again. Read it again. So.. What's really being a christian?
The missed point of being a christian is thinking we can earn recognition, and others' approval when we look to others to fulfill that emptiness in our hearts which only our Mighty God can fill.
WE ARE TRYING TOO HARD TO BE A CHRISTIAN IN PEOPLES EYES. When it is supposed to be one in God's eyes.
So, if not what does it mean to be a Christian? The focus is God and Jesus Christ and if we follow God and accept that
we are a christian because of what HE DID FOR US, NOT WHAT WE DO.
Does it mean I can do something today to make God love me more? Or to put it another way, to do something sooooo bad that God really loves me lesser than others? I'm sure you know the answer in your hearts.
If you too, like me, have been distracted to become a christian in others' eyes I pray for you my dear brother/sister. For if we confess that we have lost our focus of God and looked to people to recognise us as christians, God will forgive us and draw us closer to Him.
Recently, I had a sister who was really troubled by something she faced. She can speak in tongues, however she is thinking of joining another friend in another church whose congregation do not believe in speaking in tongues..
My immediate response to that was: "Do you really think its important to know the truth about tongues?"
Think deeper guys and you will know if God looks at your heart first or whether you can speak in tongues and appear to people as one christian who has the gift of tongues. After I shared with her my take on this.. she turned around to ask me: "So Is that why you asked me if it(speaking in tongues) was important?" I thought that God was showing me at that moment that when she was
worried about how people looked at her, she was distracted from God. And I assured her: " Don't worry, that's what people look for, you know God doesn't".
No wonder we find a familiar verse in our bible, from
Matthew 6:
5"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 6But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
I think.. here.. the people are hypocrites for they vie to look and appear as christians in peoples' eyes. And the bible tells us they have received their reward (people's recognition) in full. however, we are urged to have a close relationship with our Father instead.
Lastly, I just wanna say: Whatever knowledge about God, the truths you know, the stories you heard about God
does not make you a christian.
Having a Relationship with the Father Does.
So what does it mean to you to be a Christian now?
