Fire-side Conversation...

I went camping with a group of friends this weekend, and we had some great conversations... A continual theme kept cropping up though, and it made me start to think. Or, I should say, it stirred old thoughts...

There is an old song that goes, “They will know we are Christians by our love”. Sadly, I'm not sure how true this is... According to research (and fire-side conversation), Christians are not being known for love, either of each other, or of those outside of the faith.

The entire New Testament is based on two principles: Truth soaked in Love. Everything that Jesus did was motivated by these principles and in everything the early Church did, they strived to likewise live these out. Somewhere in recent Church history, we lost the element of Love and began focusing primarily, almost solely, on Truth. And now today, there is a movement of Christianity that, in an attempt to rectify past wrongs, focuses primarily on Love, fearing to bring Truth to light.

Can't we just find a happy medium?!

I have long known that we (Christians) are not viewed always viewed as people who do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly and are commonly viewed as having a ad impact on society, but its still hard to hear people say it. It isn’t even the negative perception I struggle with. There will always be people who disagree with what I believe. What bothers me is why we are perceived negatively. It seems to be often because of hurt.

Christians aren’t perfect. We make mistakes. But we also struggle to admit when we are wrong. We struggle to accept people as they are. I don’t think it’s just a Christian thing. It’s a people thing. But a Christian is a Christ-follower, and based on that title, our model of how to live is Jesus Christ. He accepted people exactly as they were. He called a tax collector (considered the bad guys of society) to be in his closest circle of followers. He accepted the sacrifice of a “woman who had lived a sinful life”. He was present when a woman caught in the act of adultery was dragged into the street to be stoned and he released her. He convicted those wishing to stone her such that they all finally walked away without a single stone being thrown. And then, as if he didn’t know exactly what had happened, he turned to the woman and asked, “Where are they? Has no one condemned you?”“No one, sir,” she responded.“Then neither do I condemn you,” he said. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

What a man! What a God!

I don't know how to find that happy medium, but something tells me I won't be able to do it on my own.