So, what happened?

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be a Christian, writes Linley Lee.

It’s not because of what I believe—not at all. I am very proud of my beliefs and nothing can make me give them up. I believe God exists and not only does He love us but He is love.
I believe He made the world, something went wrong after that and Jesus came to fix it. I believe He had to die to fix the problem. I believe there is nothing I can do to save myself and I must trust in God. I believe He is coming back and everyone who believes and accepts Him will go to heaven with Him at the time. I am proud of these beliefs and I stand by them

What does embarrass me sometimes is other Christians. They are a minority (I hope) but sometimes a minority can seem like a majority. God gave us 10 commandments, and then condensed them into two simple instructions—”Love God and love others.” It shouldn’t be that hard.
But people seem to have forgotten this.
And when this is forgotten, terrible things happen.
We make unwed mothers feel inferior. We make homosexuals feel like they don’t belong, like they are not human.

We ignore the Bible when it says all sins are equal, making it seem like some sins are so much worse than the rest—especially the sins that are sexual in nature. We talk about people we don’t like behind their backs. We spread rumours about them— harmful ones that aren’t true. We also spread true ones and tell ourselves this is alright because it’s “true.” We ignore the fact the people still get hurt. We ignore people who are depressed to the point of self-harm, then wonder what happened when they do commit suicide.

And we don’t realise how lucky we are when they don’t.
We ignore the mentally handicapped. We tell ourselves that because they can’t understand, they can’t learn. We ignore the fact that all we need to do is pay some attention and listen to them. We refuse to share what we know with people who desperately need to know because we’re “scared” or self-conscious. We become intolerant of anyone different to us, to the point that everyone that looks diff rent is a “terrorist” or some variety of potential threat.

We don’t learn about other people’s religious beliefs, lifestyles or values, believing that ours is superior and everybody should be like us. We don’t realise that if we took the time to learn about other peoples’ religious beliefs, lifestyles or values, we would come to understand them better. Then our little corner of the world could be a slightly better, happier place.
That’s a fairly large list I have going there.

And I really wish that was where it ended but it isn’t. There are so many things we do as Christians that are negative to others. It hurts them and half the time, we don’t even realise we’re doing it.
We sit comfortably in our churches every week, in a tight-knit group, with hardly any thought for others. Most of the time, we don’t even try to tell others what we know, when that’s exactly what we’re meant to be doing. It’s what God called us to do.

And when we do come to speak about our faith and our beliefs, we use a language that no-one can understand—jargon that sounds kind of freakish when you’ve never heard it before. I’m not saying we suddenly start speaking German or French to people who only speak English. I’m saying the words used are those you only understand if you have been going to church for a long time.
Imagine what it would be like if you walked into a church for the first time and heard somebody say, “I have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.” Wouldn’t you run away as fast as you could from the people that wash in lamb’s blood? Or you’d at least think it was pretty weird. These kinds of phrases and words can alienate others, making them run further from what they should be running to.
I said before it’s a minority of Christians—but maybe it’s not.

The more I think about it, I realise that at some stage, all Christians have done something on that list. Notice I’ve said “we” and not “they.” I have done some of those things and I am ashamed.
The solution is to live as Jesus did. I don’t mean by trying be sinless—that’s impossible for us. But to live with love, to live the life, what can we do? What happened to the love? Where did all the love go? I don’t want to depress people with this. I just want them to think before they do and say things. It’s old but you need to imagine what it would be like if what you were doing to others was being done to you. You know, the whole “do unto others what you would have them do unto you” and “walk a mile in their shoes” concepts, along with all the other phrases that relate to experiencing other’s lives.
Actions speak louder than words (don’t you love clichés).

When Jesus spoke about those who would get into heaven and those that wouldn’t, He spoke of people doing things: feeding the hungry, giving money to the poor and visiting people in jail (see Matthew 25:31-46). He spoke of doing things for other people—not just talking to them (see Revelation 20:11-12). If we merely speak about what we believe, we aren’t doing our job. We need to “live the life” and show the love we have been shown (to everyone—not just other Christians).
I intend to take my own advice and try to live the life Jesus would want me to. And in the end, that’s all I can do.
What can you do?  

The Bible on doing good:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ”Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ ”The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’” (Matthew 25:34- 40, NIV).

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it.
Earth and sky fl ed from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books” (Revelation 20:11-12).

"Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering . . . And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Hebrews 13:1-3, 16).

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).

"On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. 'Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. 'How do you read it?’ He answered: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind;’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers.

hey stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper.

Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.” ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37).