Church, God and Me

Since I mentioned being in church yesterday, I think I will take my entry for today to throw in my $.02 (or my $1.25) on religion.

I am a Christian. I regularly attend church. A Baptist church.

(Cue the church-y angelic choral background music.)

These days, that is not a popular thing to say. Christians are seen as Bible-thumping haters who stand in judgement of everyone and everything. Some people who profess to be Christians may act that way, but that stands in direct contradiction with what I believe.

Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus. Period. While Christians are instructed biblically to share their faith, no where in the Bible does it mention that a Christian is to shove their belief down one's throat.

Christians are called to love everyone. I will be the first person to admit that I suck at that. I am easily angered and I have pretty hefty mood swings. Both are pretty big "no-no's". The difference is that I *try* to be better.

Christians are not called to judge. Everyone sins. That's a fact of life. No one person is better than another. The world would be a much better place if we all stopped judging one another and worked on the betterment of ourselves.

I believe that each person is given their own convictions. For example, one of mine is to watch my language. During my teenage years, I used words as colorful as any sailor. Then I felt conviction that I was being a bad example to those around me. So even though the colorful words still fill my brain while I sit in traffic or get stung by yet another mosquito, I try really hard to supress it from coming out loud.

So, bottom line - Christians have gotten a pretty bad reputation, but that's not what I am in it for. Being a Christian does impact my viewpoint, and I will not try to hide that here. But I will not try to shove it down someone's throat either. My opinions are my opinions and my blog is full of my opinions.

Okay, end of soapbox. (Cut the background music.) For now.