Christian, Through The Eyes Of...

What is the first thing you think of when you hear, “Christian?” What word, picture, or phrase comes to you?

I am sure everyone has their own opinion or thought about Christians, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral. When you are on the outside looking in, your perception of Christians can be seen in all sort of different ways. What concerns me is when I hear others talk negative towards Christians. However, what really concerns me the most is when that negative perception came from the source itself, Christians misrepresenting Jesus Christ.

For example, you have the “Christians” protesting at funerals, claiming that unexpected death comes to those who do not serve God or you have the so-called “Servants of God” who bomb abortion clinics and say they are doing God's work, apparently both of these groups need to catch up to their Bible and read "love thy neighbor." These people as you can see are extremist, who take a verse or phase completely out of context to justify their hate-filled agenda. My opinion is that these so-called Christians are clearly darkening the light that Jesus Christ wants us to shine as Christians. With that said, I do not believe willful acts like the bombings and the protesting at funerals have anything to do with Jesus, but have everything to do with a distortion of satan to tarnish the name of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith. Think about it, what better way for satan to steer unbelievers away from Jesus, then to corrupt within the very faith he despises and oh, how well our adversary, in so many ways, is doing that today.

Personally, the name Christian has made a transition with me over the years. I grew up in a Christian home, attended a Christian school, and faithfully, my family attended a local Baptist church. Being directly involved with Christianity including the high standards the Baptist church taught about being a Christian was a lot to live up to. The Baptist church like I said, taught high standards for Christian living: girls were to dress proper--no pants and no exposed cleavage, only dresses with a covering top, everyday and all the time. For the guys--no long hair, no piercing, no tattoos (if you have one do not get another one), and dressy pants and a button up shirt at all times in the church. To break it all down, anything that is a style or a trend in the world, stay away from it, which included any and all music that has a beat.

Sadly, though, after graduating from high school my commitment and passion for Christian living started to fade. I found myself face to face with the outside world no longer under the “security blanket” of the church and school. Everything seemed to hit me at once and my conviction for Jesus Christ became dark. During the next eight years my life spiraled into a world of drugs and alcohol, and a slu of bad decisions; however, I did manage to find a great wife and have three healthy boys--not all bad. Well, it was not until a conversation with my neighbor, when I was twenty-seven, that I finally listened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit to get my life back on track with my Savior Jesus Christ.

It has been four years since that life changing day, now I am thirty, my life has once again found purpose and passion in every aspect of my life. As a result of coming back to the Lord: my family and I attend a great Vineyard church in the community, finally, after a year of praying and church "jumping," my prayer life is strong, the increasing desire to study The Bible has followed, my love for music has expanded, and a true joy to write encouraging words has became a new found passion. I am not bragging here, it is all just a true joy and I want to share it; moreover, it is not all glorious, I have my low times, but my new found hope in Christ keeps me going through the rough times--like the old hymn says, “To God be the glory, great things He has done.”

Growing up when I heard the name “Christian,” my first thought was a person with a high code of standards mixed with an abundance of life sacrifices, but now, my thoughts are not so dramatic. Through out all of my experiences over my life (the good, the bad, and the ugly) I see the world in a whole new light--the clouded eyes of my past of “religious codes” and bad choices has transformed to a clear new set. Now, when I hear “Christian,” I think of a regular everyday person, with a regular job, a regular family, and a regular life. There is no dress code, no particular look--none of that really has anything to do with a Christians relationship with Christ. A Christian is one who earnestly desires more of Christ in there life; lives by faith, hope, and love and lives to spread the Gospel to all who need it. That is Christian, through the eyes of me.