What a Christian is Not

I've been an active commenter on some blogs devoted to matters of faith, and I've tried my best to be polite and understanding of others, in spite of their personal attacks on me, on Catholicism and Christianity. It's amazing how some non-Christians will insist they know how to define a Christian; how some non-Catholics purport to know more about the Catholic faith than a Catholic. So, then, what is a Christian? What follows is my opinion only, based on my religious upbringing and my study of the Catholic Church teachings.

Simply put, a Christian is a person who 1) recognizes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God -- that He is God Himself [manifested in His Nativity, His Passion, Death and Resurrection] and 2) spreads the Good Word -- the Gospel. It's not enough to simply believe in Jesus, or to believe that He existed.

What a Christian is not -- in my opinion -- is a person who uses the Bible as a weapon against his or her fellow man, as a tool to deliver this message: "Believe in what I believe or go to hell."

I hear it all the time from self-appointed judges who use the Bible not as a weapon aginst Satan but as a weapon against those who choose to worship and love "God" in their own manner. How ridiculous. To think that God would write off two-thirds of the earth's population (http://encarta.msn.com/media_461533092_761565187_-1_1/media.html) -- many of whom simply haven't "heard" the Good News flies in direct contradiction of a loving, forgiving, compassionate God.

Quote all the Scripture you wish, line by line, but I believe the Bible was written to convey a total message -- a message of brotherly love and love of one's Creator. You get that message by reading the entire Bible and coming to a conclusion as to God's overall plan.

Many different groups of people call "God" by a different name. Native Americans are among the most deeply religious people on the earth; their ceremonies speak beautifully of the wonder of Creation that is God.

The biggest argument I get from the "protestant" faiths -- who blithely place their faith in the hands of a man who willy-nilly rewrote Scripture at his whim; check what Luther did to Romans 3:28 for an example -- is that there are numerous places in the Bible that say that only through Jesus is the path to Salvation. Fine! I don't necessarily disagree with that. But how about the man who travels from point A to point C without realizing he has been through (and had to pass through) point B. Point B still is the only way to point C. Now, subsitute man for point A, Jesus for point B and God the Father for point C. How can God indiscriminately write off such a person? The answer is, He won't.

If my protestant brethren insist on cherry-picking lines out of the Bible, how about these (paraphrased) --

You shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind and with all thy strength, and you shall love your neighbor as you love thyself.

Judge not, lest ye be judged. [Note -- Judging people is to be avoided; judging behavior is another story. Murder is wrong [a judgment]. Murderers are still children of God and, regardless of their turning away from God, deserve compassion and "Christian" love. This does not mean we don't hold them acountable for their actions.

You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

And specifically on the subject of who can be saved...

For man it is impossible, but for God nothing is impossible.

My protestant brethren should spend less time spreading their judgments of others and their "believe-in-what-I-believe-or-go-to-hell" attitude and go back to spreading the Good News -- that God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever; that through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ He has ransomed us from death and purchased for us the rewards of Eternal Life.