What is a "real" Christian?
I just ran across an article by that name in to days USA Today. I won't link to it because it was filled with political nonsense that makes my head want to explode! The point of the whole article was different christian "experts" pointing out which political candidates for president were or were not "christians". The list of course differed depending which "expert" you listened to. The article was followed by a long line of reader comments arguing biblical interpretation, religion, and doctrinal differences, arguing who they thought were the "real" christians.
It struck me as I was reading all this crap that no one, not a single "expert", not a single reader, pointed out an incident or example of a candidate or anyone actually acting like someone who follows Jesus. I am not saying none of the candidates have lived out a lifestyle consistent with the teachings of Jesus-It just never came up in the whole article! Not once.
I am done with trying to figure out who's "in" or "out" based on their "beliefs". To tell you the truth, as much as possible I will leave that up to the ultimate judge-God. When I must try to make that determination, the standard I will use are from the words of Jesus: "You will know them by their love" and "by their fruits you will know them."
I have been asked several times to post a "statement of beliefs" or "doctrinal statement" on the actionchurch website. Although I may do it at some point it is truly one of my lowest possible priorities. It is not that I believe what a church believes is unimportant...it means everything. I just strongly believe that what a person or church "says they believe" is just about worthless! What we actually believe and value will always be demonstrated by our actions. What we truly "believe" is obvious to God, others, and very rarely, ourselves.
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