I’ve decided to clear up what a Christian should be like for everyone that is confused. Of course, this is my own personal opinion, and how I choose to follow Christ.
What is a Christian?
First of all, what does it mean to be Christian? A Christian is a person that has decided to devote their lives to praising and following Christ and his teachings. Catholics are Christians, Protestants are Christians, anyone who believes that the Holy Bible is the word of God, and believes that Jesus died and rose again for thier sins is a Christian. Being Christian does not automatically affiliate you with a political group, or any specific beliefs.
How should Christians act?
Christians are taught by Christ to love. We are not taught to force anything upon anyone, or to hate anyone. Christ himself never made anyone follow him, he only gave them the opportunity to believe. If someone chooses to leave the church, or to not join at all, a Christian should be just as loving and just as accepting.
What about gays, transgenders, or other religions?
My personal beliefs have no problem with anyone part of the LGBTQ community. This is not because I choose to ignore parts of the Bible that speak against this, or because I am afraid of people hating me. This is because we are not meant to judge each other. God decides who goes to heaven, according to his religion. I am in no position to judge, hate, or exclude LGBTQ people. In fact, I support them. My Lord taught me to love, and that includes LGBTQ community’s. I support people who come out and open. If I truly loved them I would pray for them, and support them come out so that they feel happy, comfortable, and safe. Yes, maybe they’ll go to Hell. Do I know? Nope. Is it my job to decide that? Nope. So all I can do is love them and support them. The same idea goes for other religions. I still believe that Christ is the one true God, but I would never treat another worse or badly based on the fact that their beliefs are different from mine.
Sin
I believe that their are two kids of sins. Sins like murder, ones where we should step up and stop these actions. These are sins between man. Ones that blessed peacemakers such as our law enforcement and military step forward to stop. The other kind of sin is between man and God. These would be sins that we have no right to step forward and stop, because it is not our job to judge and correct our own equals. If a sin is between man and God, then it must be corrected between man and God. Never should a Christian ever yell at someone, mock them, or make them for worse about any of their faults. Nor should we think we have the right to decide what their faults are, or that we know their own struggles better than they do.
Helping
If a Christian truly cared about someone, and believed that their lives were going down the wrong path, they would pray for that person, and maybe try to talk to them in a calm and loving manner. And they might help that person find the place and people they need to become better. A Christian should never see a sinner or a “bad” person as below them, or less. Christians in truth, should be people who have come to realize that they are weak and they are sinners, and that they need to find help through God.
Being a teen Christian
Trust me, being a teen Christian can be very hard. But it’s not impossible to retain your faith and beliefs and still be a mostly normal teen. I don’t smoke, or use drugs. Much of this is because of my family background, but some of it is because I’m a Catholic. I try not to get too upset, or get involved in little dramas. This isn’t the hard part. It’s the accepting that others aren’t you that’s hard. Sometimes it’s hard to live in the world but not of the world. But I can easily go to school with people who smoke, drink, etc. I can learn to accept that their lives are theirs to decide, and I cannot believe I am better or that they are below me. Because they are certainly just as much of sinners as I am, and I should focus on my personal relationship with God, not others. I try to stay open, accepting, but separate from the worldly things I choose not to participate in.
Conclusion
Christians of any denomination should try to be loving, calm, and peaceful people. We should never hate someone, and we should a,ways try to forgive. I fail at these things daily, but I try to be better. The faults many Christians have isn’t that they’re rude, or angery, it’s in their basic views. For some reason many Christian community’s have developed into the point where they think it’s ok to hate a group of individuals, or to claim that those persons are going to Hell. This behavior goes against how Christ wanted his followers to behave. We should be almost like how many people see monks as. Calm, loving, and thoughtful. Our politics and personal views shouldn’t effect our religion, but out religion should effect our politics and personal views. It all comes to one thing, as a Christian we should approach every aspect of our lives with love. There is no greater sin than to hate. We must fight the urge to hate and try to be compassionate and loving.
Thanks for reading! If anyone has any questions or ideas for what I can add to this article please feel free to go to the contact part of the website or find us on Instagram @az_aspect
Written by Lenny O’Mahony
April 29, 2018