|
Largely for the reasons you noted in your OP. But as a lifelong evangelical fundamentalist Christian (now very lapsed), I can share the following with you: To become a Real True Christian (RTC) a) one must believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he came to earth in human form to suffer, then die on the cross for the sins of the mankind--that would be every human being; b) one must confess that Jesus is Lord and personally accept him as Savior (aka say the magic words), at which point one's sins are forgiven and one can devote one's life to serving God through Jesus; c) one can then legitimately call onesself a Christian (i.e, "saved"); d) in the Baptist and other iterations of Christianity, one must follow the Lord in baptism, preferably immersion, thus giving evidence of one's conversion; e) one can then share the gospel with everyone (it's called evangelizing), to bring others into the fold and spare them from eternal damnation in the fires of hell. An RTC must always be aware of one's actions (sins are forgiven but the sinning doesn't magically stop) and regularly confess one's sins and ask forgiveness for specific individual missteps.
I once thought being a Christian meant acting like one, which was one way of sharing the gospel. There's a verse in the Bible that says "By their fruits you shall know them". Right about now, given the way I've seen Christians conduct their lives, I'm not sure about any of this. I remain confused, angry, frustrated and have pretty much shut down on the whole scenario. That being said, I know some very fine Christians who live their faith. They are, in my world, however, becoming fewer and fewer. As I once read, "Christ must be accepted, not on the merits of those who bear his name but on the merits of him alone." Cut out the middle man, I suppose.
Sorry to go on so long, but the whole "being a Christian" thing bears some in-depth explanation. There are doubtless those who see this differently, but this is how I was raised to believe. The Bible also says, "Judge not lest ye be judged". I always thought that meant we should not make judgments about others' relationship with God. Apparently there are a lot of "Christians" of late who have forgotten that verse.
Blessings.
|