Warning: This is a God related post, read on only if you have interest in hearing my opinion about hypocrisy and judgementalism as relates to SOME of my fellow Christians...
I have been noticing an influx of the "pro-Christian" chain-style status updates on Facebook lately. The irony is that so many of them have negative, judgemental undertones that are anything but Christian. They seem to attack groups as a whole or try to make us feel bad for not backing one cause or another. Unfortunately, Christianity lends itself very well to hypocrisy. It is easy to talk the talk, but very hard to walk the walk (the important part). The arrogant, all knowing attitude I have observed in a lot of Christians can be really off-putting. I'm certainly not saying all Christians act this way. Although, some Christians seem to think that by blasting their faith all over the place by telling us all how awful we are for not believing in prayer in school, or not to buy products that have taken "In God We Trust" out of the Pledge of Allegiance, or believe that the world is more than 6,000 years old, that they are honoring God in some way. I wonder, have they forgotten Jesus teaching us that by saying long prayers and making a religious spectacle of ourselves, that we are making it more about us than God?
I know that He also said we needed to go out into the world and make disciples, but I don't think that requires me to go around with an "I LOVE GOD" t-shirt and a megaphone. We prove what is in our hearts by our actions and how we treat people. Now, I will be more than happy to share my beliefs and faith with anybody who is interested and who wants to hear it (like those of you who are still reading this) and I tell people I will pray for them, then I do pray for them. I love to talk about religion, as you who follow my blog will notice by all the religiously based posts you will see. However, I have noticed that the easiest way to make someone uncomfortable and tune you out is talk about God when they have no interest in hearing about it. Bottom line on this point is that "You don't need to walk anywhere to preach if your walking is your preaching." The author of that quote unknown to me. If you know who said that, please let me know!
Christianity is supposed to about love and acceptance. We have to make judgments all day every day about people and situations. The very last thing we should be doing is judging people for their beliefs. Matthew 7:1 says "Judge not lest ye be judged." The spirit of this verse is often lost in translation when not accompanied by the rest of the paragraph. It comes down to this. Judgement is inescapable, the key is realizing that you will be judged to the same standard you use to judge others. If you want to put someone else's faith under a microscope, be prepared to have your own placed there also. The only one who knows His ways is God. No man has God figured out. I know I certainly am not even close. This is how I see it though, love it, like it, or hate it. I just don't believe in making anyone feel bad about themselves for any reason, including their faith. Well, maybe with the exception of serial killers and child abusers. That sin I will probably have to die with.
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