I’m not the biggest fan of Christianity. Religion is suffocating. It’s become a bunch of behavior modifications, similar to a long list of chores. Churches can be judgemental & clique-y, fake & hypocritical. I honestly think “Christianity” (as our society does it), is what drives many people away from Jesus. Being a Christian isn’t suppose to be pressure-filled or performance based. And it’s definitely not suppose to be a place of judgement and condemnation. Religion has caused the general public to settle for mediocre. To view the broken & lost as an inconvenience. Breaking news: Church isnt a museum of perfect people, it’s suppose to be a hospital for the hurting.
The problem with religion is it can so easily lose sight of it’s purpose. Christianity is suppose to bring us into deeper relationship with Jesus not have the opposite affect.
“Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate Gods grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping then Christ died unnecessarily” Galatians 2:20 MSG
I don’t travel and go on mission trips to convert people. I don’t go to foreign places hoping they’ll adopt my Western lifestyle. I go to the nations to LOVE on people. To meet physical needs, emotional needs & spiritual needs. I go because I want to show them who Jesus is. That He loves them, you, me, everyone. I want to share that each person has a purpose, they have a reason they’re on this earth. And they have hope waiting for them. His name is Jesus.
If you’ve been a Christian for 50 years and know everything about theology but don’t have a relationship with God, what’s the point? Isn’t it more beneficial to know God’s personal love for you than to go to church every Sunday, yet never know or experience Him??Religion makes it seem as if we have to earn God’s love. But the truth is, there’s nothing we can or cannot do that will make God love us any less.
God has radically changed my life. He’s taken my broken, desperate, selfish, messed up self and given me mercy, pure joy and indescribable peace. He has rescued me from the lowest of lows. That’s exactly what God is about actually. Redemption. He desires to restore us. He wants to give us hope & bring us freedom.
So I’m not a big fan of Christianity. I don’t like what it’s turned into or what it’s viewed as. I hate that religion has taken the place of relationship. Jesus died on the cross to have a relationship with each of us. A personal relationship. So many of us think we understand that when in fact it’s just a Sunday routine. We never make time for God outside of the church building and we aren’t willing to offer food to a heroine addict on the side of the street. Are you caught up in the appearance of being religious or truly living a life that resembles Jesus?
I’m making these statements because no person is perfect, no church is perfect and no religion is either. I’m sorry if you’ve ever been hurt by the church or someone part of it. Myself included. I want to apologize on behalf of every Christian who you’ve ever felt criticized by.
I think church can be an amazing place to build one another up in faith, encourage each other and dive deeper into community and learning who Jesus is. I love my home church! I’m not suggesting to never go to church again, I’d just challenge you to check your motives, check your church and realign what Christianity means to the heart of God. We cannot be Christians, (followers of Christ) as long as we defiantly hold religion above true relationship.
My only goal in life is to represent Jesus. I want to be like Him: the loving, caring, compassionate, peace-bringing, heart full of justice, hope-bearing kind of dude He is.
I don’t want to be known as “that one religious girl.”
I want to be known as the girl who loved EVERYONE. The girl who was accepting and kind and generous. The girl who showed compassion to the successful CEO and the woman on the side of the street. When I die I don’t want to be remembered as a Christian. I want to be remembered as the girl who loved like Jesus.
