-A personal exert: before you read this: Brace yourself for a piece of writing that is very uncharacteristic of what is my norm. Brace yourself for my uncontrollable venting, my pouring out of some heartfelt emotions, and for a head on attack of some of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I apologize ahead of time-
I know, and have known, a lot of Christians. The most dangerous of whom have usually been those born and raised within a Christian family. There is an immense power that goes along with the word “Jesus”. One’s understanding of God’s word will (unfortunately) almost always correlate to where they consider their “level” of faith to be. It is a socially driven, counter-intuitive, and entirely flawed FACT about Christians-- we have a tendency to compare our faith to that of others. We use terms like “lost” and “non-believer” to categorize the people at the bottom end. We place authors and pastors (usually people with an M.V. or a D.V in theology) at the top. And place ourselves somewhere in the middle through a simple comparison of our actions, knowledge of the bible, and frequency of church attendance. For instance (by social standards) I would be considered a better Christian than my neighbor because I haven’t committed adultery, and I go to church every week where as he only goes once a month. Mrs. Fringles (made up name) on the other hand would be considered a better Christian than myself because she attends three services a week (she sings in the band), and she doesn’t ever swear.
This “scale” of your faith sounds ridiculous when I put it that way, but like it or not it is entirely true. I fore one compare myself constantly to other Christians more well rounded in their knowledge of the Bible than myself. I also catch myself judging other people’s faith, while all the while placing myself in a position of superiority. And, believe, it or not, I get people telling me that they “wish they had a faith like mine”. The reason I brought up people who were born and raised in a Christian house is because they (especially at a younger age) have a tendency to know more about the Bible than their counterparts. They have a tendency to be looked up towards by new believers. They have a tendency to consider themselves of “greater faith” than others. These of course are only observed tendencies (not true in every case), but here is what is true-- this stereotypical Christian is dangerous.
---> The danger amounts first from their “power”. Power, because they will be looked up towards. Power, because they are more capable of repeating and explaining the words of Christ. Power, because ultimately they will end up influencing other “newer” Christians within their lifetime.
---> The danger amounts ultimately from the simple fact that their faith may contain serious and fundamental flaws.
Here is my first point, and possibly the most important advice that any new believer could receive. Don’t base your faith off of anybody else’s. Don’t live out your own walk with the Lord by way of following in a another person’s footsteps. Don’t entirely follow anyone, except Jesus Christ. I will touch more on this idea later. Regardless of “how much” a person knows about the Bible, regardless of how much a person seems to have it “all figured out”, regardless of how “Godly” they may appear-- use caution.
At this point I will differentiate between two types of faith. One being the simple one, and the other being a complex faith. There is also every place in between. Do not confuse this idea, however; with the social “scale” of one’s faith that I mentioned earlier. Let me explain. The social scale involves where we place ourselves amongst others, and it is ENTIRELY FLAWED. The simplicity scale involves how in depth our knowledge of the Bible goes. Some people will live their entire lives constantly seeking to discover more and more about the Bible. Learning Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and every hidden meaning or secondary understandings that are hidden within the text of the Old and New Testament. Others will go their entire lives completely content with their simple understanding of Jesus and the Bible. And, obviously; people fall everywhere in between. This is the simplicity scale of one’s faith. These two scales DON’T go hand in hand. In fact, to actually rate a person’s faith would involve the ability to make eternal judgements. Only God can do that, only God can be the real judge. That is why I made up the term “social scale” because it is where we place ourselves (with our unimportant human opinions and judgments) amongst others.
Yet we have the tendency to let these to scales go hand in hand. We have the tendency to think that those who don’t know the ins and out of the Bible are of little faith. We have the tendency to think that the authors, pastors, bloggers and life-long Christians are the ones with the best faiths. We have a tendency to look up to these people. And this is a dangerous social trend. I do not mean to attack all authors, pastors, bloggers, or life-long Christians. I am simply encouraging you to use caution when following this social norm. And here is why: the sad truth is that sometimes the people that we think have a great faith, often times don’t. Sometimes the people we look up to, set no example which should be followed. Sometimes the people that think they have their faith figured out, don’t have a clue. And, sometimes the people with the most in depth knowledge of the Bible live a life which doesn’t even match up the gospel.
So here I am, saying it is wrong to say you have a faith that is greater than another. Here I am saying that some of the authors and bloggers can lead you down the wrong path. And here I am saying “be cautious in who you follow after.” These statements don’t exactly place me in the best position to continue on with any points or ideas worth you thinking about. Understand that I am not saying all of this in order to put myself above any others. I am not saying this in order to cut everyone else down before I lift myself up. What I am saying is this, we should only truly and entirely model our lives after Jesus. We should only live by his example. We should only reflect His love. And.... We should only learn from and follow people who are doing the same.
You can know and understand every piece of the Bible, and it may not matter. You can have a complex faith, and it may not matter. What does all of the Biblical knowledge in the world amount to if you fail to let it transform you? The answer is nothing! A simple faith, if amounting to a life which mirrors Christ’s, is greater than a complex faith which lacks true rigor and Christ-like actions. The only true and justifiable way of measuring your faith is by comparing your own life to that of Jesus. Do you love others unconditionally and with all of your heart? Do you love and care for the homeless person just as much as you do your girlfriend/boyfriend? Do you show patience to those around you? Do you sacrifice for others? etc. etc. etc.
This is something only you can decide. And there are no others factors about it. Your knowledge of the Bible doesn’t matter. How long you have been a Christian doesn’t matter. Your denomination doesn’t matter. NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. I don’t believe that on judgement day God is going to care whether or not your know all three of the original Greek translations of love. He isn’t going to care if you know what year the book of Romans was written. God is going to care about your actions and your thoughts-- he is going to care about a compilation of your heart, and your understanding of His love as demonstrated in your life. Whether your understanding is simple or complex, is of little importance. It is only the results of your understanding that matter. It is only your behaviors, and how they match up to those which were exemplified in the life and times of Jesus, that truly matter.
I am SICK TO DEATH of Christians who act like they have every answer. I am sick to death of Christians who pretend like they have it all figured out. I am sick to death of fake people who claim to be a Christian, than act an entirely different way. I am sick of people reading the ins and outs of the Bible while all the while never letting it transform their life. I am sick of FAKE Christians.
Don’t be fooled by these followers of Christ who act like life is nothing but peachy smells and colorful rainbows. Don’t be fooled by these Christians who say one thing and than do another. Don’t be fooled by these people who talk about love and helping other people, when they can’t even love their own family. They may claim to know God, they may claim to know the Bible, but do their lives reflect such knowledge. They may talk about Jesus, but do they even know him? Don’t get tricked into thinking a person has a “strong” faith, only decide for yourself based off their actions. Don’t get fooled as I once was...
And please, don’t listen to me. Don’t take this as my attempt to place my own life and actions on a pedestal. I am just as hypocritical, judgmental, and unloving as the next person. I am openly (and probably wrongly) attacking certain people from my life both past and present... But I am also attacking myself........... The reason I write so strongly and passionately about the subject involves an equal amount of disappointment in myself... I am sick of pretending to be that person, I DON’T HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT. MY SHIT STINKS. AND I STRUGGLE WITH MY FAITH ALL TOO OFTEN. I AM NOT AN EXAMPLE TO OTHERS, AND I WOULD BE JUST AS BROKEN AND LOST AS THE NEXT PERSON WERE IT NOT FOR THE BLOOD OF JEUS CHRIST.
If we don’t live a life modeled after Jesus, than God is sure to tell us one day that “He never knew us”. You can carry out all of the good deeds in the world, you can grow in your knowledge of the Bible, you can fool the people in and around your life, and you can pretend like you have a great faith, but you wont’ fool God.
Please... Don’t base your life off of anybody else’s. Don’t follow in my footsteps. Don’t follow in your friends. Only chase after Jesus. Only run towards him. Only live by his example...
