A Judged Community

The other day I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post that a friend of mine had uploaded and while I had mixed feelings about his post the one thing that really disturbed me was the immediate bashing against; first him personally, then Christianity/Christians and then the Church as an organization of Greed. Even though the event he was organizing was free. I guess I shouldn't be surprised but I always am. I wonder if anybody else notices how quickly people go straight to judgement when someone is identified as a Christian.

Two points I felt compelled to address;

First;

What does it mean to be a Christian? I would like to give a simple explanation so that people aren't confused about what the expectations the general public should be able to have when judging a Christian person.

A True Christian is someone who has reached a point in life that they have come to terms with the reality that Jesus Christ is who he professed to be, the Son of God and then has made the decision to spend their life "trying" to follow in his footsteps. People come in all shapes and sizes, with an innumerable level of backgrounds, experiences and baggage, all of which shapes their abilities and struggles. At the point of deciding to try and be the best version of themselves that they can be, we are the rawest and messiest we can be but all the more spurring us forward because the more messy we are the more we realize just how much love and grace was poured our for us on the cross and this changes the heart. It humbles you in a way that no matter what you've done, or what's been done too you, God loved you and loves you so much he sent his Son to literally be tortured and die so that you might be saved and have eternal life. You want to spend your life basking in that kind of love and just trying to follow him.

And in doing so the encounter comes and changes everything. The true journey and transformation of a Christian life begins.

Second;

Becoming a Christian is a lifelong process with many hills and valleys. It doesn't mean that your instantly perfect or think your perfect and never fail at a single thing you do in life from that moment on. It doesn't mean that you instantly are perfection and that you stop being yourself with all your little imperfections, flaws and quirks.

Christians will always be judged just simply because they claim to be a Christian and somehow that instantly thrusts them into the spotlight where they may not veer in any direction away from anyone's personal expectation of what that label means and not only that but it also carries the sin of every person that came before them who, in the eyes of the judger, has committed any wrong as a Christian, in their opinion.

As a self proclaimed Christian for almost 9 years now I can assure you that I have failed innumerable times, I have slipped out anger, selfishness even a profanity or two along way, but I have also, by the Grace of God triumphed over many bad habits, personality flaws and repeating the mistakes of my past.

Everyday I wake up with the knowledge and presence of God in and over my life and nothing is more important than chasing after the example of a Savior who endured death for my sake. I wont get it right or perfect everyday but I will spend everyday trying.

So maybe if you are someone who doesn't understand the whys of Christian people or that we are also human too and many of us are on our own personal journey's trying to become better versions of ourselves and in the process we will fall, we will fail and we will sometimes wrongly judge others as we are judged, and some of us will disappoint you. Please forgive us and know that we are in need of Gods Grace and Forgiveness just as much as the rest of the world.