I just joined this forum, and I like it! I also feel very strongly about this post, and want to open up about myself a little here.
The word, "Christian," used to simply mean a follower of Christ (a real man who caused a huge controversy that has kept on growing). Nowadays, "Christian" USUALLY seems to mean that your culture/family call themselves "Christian," so you do too. Or else you grew up going to a church that called itself "Christian," so you do too. Or you met some nice people who called themselves "Christian" and maybe helped you out, so you do too. Or you are scared to be different than your friends who call themselves "Christian," so you doo too. Or you are scared of what hell might be, even though you really have no idea, so you run to Christianity which you've been told is insurance against ever finding out first-hand what hell is. That abused word no longer means someone who looks at a certain man's life and learns from it, gets to know him from it, and is changed by it.
I follow Christ. I know him. What do I mean by "know"? Try describing the aurora borealis to a blind person. (Some people would just describe it scientifically, a collision of particles, and expect that to be enough.) If the world were 99% blind, and the other 1% went around trying to "prove" sight... well, they probably wouldn't be very successful or popular. But what if "sight" were simply a person you could get to know? That's what it's like for me.
Jesus Christ has changed me. The path my life would have taken was entirely remade when I got to know him. He has filled me with a light that penetrated to the depths of my being, and he has challenged me to let him fix the brokenness that was exposed.
A very misguided concept that "Christians" adopt, ironically, is judging other people. That behavior is decidely UNChristian. I see people in forums constantly run to that to expose how hypocritical "Christians" are. And I agree! It took years, maybe decades, for me to finally let go of my desire to judge others using my own experiences, intuition, and desires. And there are countless other problems that all people have, whether they apply the label, Christian, to themselves or not.
We are complicated creatures. We can't make ourselves, we don't even understand why we think and do the things we do, and we are constantly confronted with the truth that "chemicals and hormones" are not the answer. They didn't, and don't, make us who we are. They are just an inkling of a shadow (seeing through glass darkly) of who we are. I have read people talking about faith in this thread. Faith is just accepting that we aren't an accident. Fear is an ocean that we are all flung into at one time or another, and it's hard when we can't see land in any direction. Some people just sink into science and man's incredibly, infinitely limited knowledge. Some make it their life's pursuit to tread water. Others make their best guess, and start swimming in one direction or another... and that is when hope is born. It's not far to the shore once we confront fear and realize that it can't harm us unless we give up.
Anyway, I didn't feel like I was represented here. All the banter about the "Does God exist" question just feels like "yo mamma" jokes to me. It's kinda funny. But only because it's not really serious.
Hope to see you guys in other threads!
