Log In | Register
We often here the statement “I can be a good person without God” and that is true. I have conversed with many people who do not believe here on the Vine. What I have been able to discern form this mode of contact they are good people who love and care for others. We also hear that Christian do what they do out of fear of God. It is easy to see why people make this assumption if they do not have a relationship with God. As a person who has studied God and religion from the point of view of an Atheist and now a Christian I can see how that assumption can be easily made. The attempt of this essay is to address these assumptions and hopefully clarify the Christian point of view as best I can from what I have learned.
If you love someone you will do anything for them that is what unconditional love really means. Many nights my wife and I will be sitting on the sofa watching one of our favorite programs. She will turn to me and ask me if I will go to the store and get her a candy bar. I will then turn and in a firm voice tell her “No”. She will then say “I want a Snickers thank you” She knows that because I love her I will go and that my “No” is a smoke screen. A small thing but a good example that there is nothing she could ask that I would not do because I love her. The same can be said for a Christian’s relationship with God. Jesus said the first and greatest command was to love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul. If you love God with all of that there is nothing you would not do that He asks of you/ All that He asks of a Christian is to follow His commands. Jesus if you love me you will follow my commands and the commands of my Father. Christians do not do what they do out of fear they do what they do out of and emeses love for God, in response to the emesis love He has for them. A common factor that is observed is that the divorce rate among Christians is no different than the rest of the population at around 50%.. While on the surface this is true of people who say “I am a Christian”. If we break it down further and look at those Christians that have a true love relationship with God. That is they attend church weekly, after all if you love someone you want to spend time with them. They read their bibles daily and spend time in prayer. They do their best to live lives that follow God’s commands and do the best they can to walk like Jesus. The divorce rate drops to 26% almost in half. If a Christian is having a problem following God’s will in is not as much an obedience problem as it is a love problem. If a Christian has a true relationship with God there is no fear, there is only respect and love. Just like I would go and get that snickers for my wife because I love her, I would do what very God asks because I love Him.
I recently was a participant in a ceremony and one of the resolves that we took was that we would be men answerable to God. Which brings me to the next point accountability; we are all accountable whether it is to our friend, family or government. Our actions are under scrutiny by someone. If one is accountable to the world we know then there are consequences for our actions but in reality there are many things people do that are approvable by the world in general but not acceptable to a person who lives a life that emulates Christ. Perhaps that is why the world looks upon Christians with such scrutiny. Watching and waiting to point out that one thing that is not of Christ. I think of myself as a man of integrity, I am honest and try my best to treat others in the same way. I do my best to follow the law and be a good worker. God has called me to step that up and be more. To give an example; The freeways here in California have a posted speed limit between 65 and 70 mph. Now to be honest there are few people that travel that speed, myself included. Most people know that if you do 70 in the 65 or 75 in the 70 you will not be ticketed. The world accepts that and would not hold that against you. In my studies I came across a passage in the bible that says I am to obey the authorities placed in power by God. I am to obey the government and all its laws as sign that I am a Christian. Yet here I was following the crowd and doing just as they did, because it was acceptable by the majority. I decided then and there that I would do the speed limit. Anyone who lives in California knows that is not a popular thing to do. However if God has called me to be a man of integrity and I love God am I to be accountable to the world or to Him that created me. If I am to be true to who God expects me to be even the smallest compromise in my integrity would be affront to that relationship. It that accountability that keeps Christians on the right path if they truly love God, not only the accountability of God, but he accountability of those around them who are looking to see if they live and act like Christians. There are many more examples of what the world accepts as proper but I cannot allow in my life because of that accountability. The thing some people might not understand is the freedom that brings to my life. There is a massive responsibility, and yet the freedom to not be conformed to the world. There is a peace knowing that God is there to help me through it and guide me with love. There is a joy to know that I am pleasing the one that I love and loves me.
I am no different no better than anyone else I meet and in many ways inferior to some. The difference is that real and personal love relationship that I have with God. The difference is that because I have openly declared myself a follower of Christ that I know people look at me differently and they hold me to a higher standard whether consciously or subconsciously. I am ok with that and will do my best to fulfill that obligation.
H
