In my young and can be called unexperienced opinion, I believe there are two types of Christians in the world. I also believe that we get to choose which one we are. Let me explain.
If you’re familiar with Ephesians you would know Ephesians 4 talks all about love and unity. Colossians 3:14 says, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Paul says in I Corinthians 13:2 “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” Without love, it’s all useless. ALL OF IT!!! We truly cannot dispute that verse. Or any verse for that matter, but we can agree that without love everything is meaningless. Nothing matters unless it’s done out of love. I think those few verses/passages can concisely sum up one of the types of Christians. One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite authors is “catch them on the bounce” by Bob Goff. In his book, Everybody Always, he wrote a chapter on skydiving. He took lessons to become certified so he could skydive with his son. During the classes they put a lot of emphasis on what could go wrong. Apparently, if your parachute doesn’t open and you hit the ground, you don’t die on impact. You hit the ground, break all your bones, bounce, and then your broken bones punctures every organ when you hit the ground again. That was graphic, sorry. But it has an interesting concept to it. You don’t die on impact, you die after. People hit rock bottom emotionally often and what happens after determines the outcome. Not the initial blow, but what follows. Catch them on the bounce means swooping in to get them when they’re low. To help them in love.
Now on the opposite side of the spectrum, the other type of “Christian.” There’s a quote by Ghandi that says “If it weren’t for Christians I’d be a Christian.” I want to say that shocks me, but it honestly doesn’t. I know that God is sovereign and would’ve brought him back to Christianity if he saw fit, but that’s a different discussion. The quote just makes you think. It truly breaks my heart, but doesn’t surprise me. In my experience, I have had close Christians friends who have judged me for my past, manipulated me and just really really hurt me. There are Christians who are critical, judgmental, violent, point fingers and stick their noses up at people. There are actually Christians who abuse, verbally and physically, people who practice certain sins which is so hypocritical. We are called to try to live a life like Jesus and no where in the Bible or history did Jesus do anything but LOVE the people he encountered. They live out of pure judgement and show no love, which is the opposite of what we were called to do. Instead of being quick to correct, judge and attack we should come in to catch the broken. And the beautiful thing about the posture of catching is that it is with arms wide open pointed towards them. Not shying away but running towards them to embrace them with love.
Because we are human and sinful we will not always be the Christian who lives out of love. I think the key point is knowing and being aware of what kind of light we are spreading. We are either bringing death or life and, as followers of Jesus, are able to choose daily. We can live out of judgement and hate, or open our arms wide ready to catch anyone after any mistake, overflowing with love.
