Sadly today, there are many amphibians (a creature who is able to live and survive in two habitats) in Church. I want to apologise for them, and single a few out and then appeal to folk not to judge Christ according to amphibians. These amphibians I want to single out seem to be the prominent kind of amphibians that atheists and other non believers reference here on news24 to add weight to Christianity’s disqualification. There are more than 3, but let’s just look at three for now.
1- Default Christians. These are people who are Christian because their parents are Christian. Most atheists might fall under this umbrella. They were raised to go to church, they did not really have a say in the matter. It was an expression of culture, an extension of family values. Alternatively they had to “tick the Christian box” because they were evidently not Muslim(Edgars does not cater for Muslim Friday attire) neither does Markham. Neither were they Jewish because in school everybody including the teacher writes the date as 2012 and not 6012. Furthermore, society and culture at large is not yet ready to embrace atheism with equal acceptance. There seems still to be discrimination against atheists, it takes the form of a subtle unpronounced stigma associated with atheism...unfortunately. Thanks to news24 this is speedily changing. And so necessarily the default Christian says “I must be Christian” or because “Western = Christian”, I am western, therefore I must be Christian. Thankfully this too is changing. These Amphibians grow up “Christian”, doing religious stuff like going to church, playing Jesus in the play, being an usher, making announcements in church, going to youth camps etc etc . Then a few years later, they come out the closet and realize that Christianity is such a load of rubbish. This is not an ex Christian, this is an ex amphibian, who now rejected one of his habitats for his natural habitat. My appeal to you is to say that amphibians don’t Adjust the gospel. Why ridicule the gospel because of the overwhelming presence of amphibians.
2- Executive Professional Christians – These are more easily identifiable. The bible says they are meddlers of God’s word and they see and use God and Christian ministry as a means to Gain. These are the folk who generally wear suits, earn tons of money from their ministry, they tend to give tons away too, whenever they write books, they tend to have their face on the cover(the whole cover) and the books are generally not for the blue collar worker, they usually have massive followings and often appear on television. The world looks on from the outside and disqualifies the Jesus who gave up everything because of these amphibians who have found in God a powerful principal of business and it’s tax deductable nogal... these are not Christians, these are amphibians. I apologise for them and ask that you not impute their greed onto Jesus or all his people. That is simply just not true. These amphibians do not adjust the gospel, what they preach is an adjusted gospel which is no gospel at all. But they do not change what the GODMAN did for us.
3- Wolves – This category of Christian is a person who masquerades as a Christian and uses that to cover up their evil deeds. When you hear of the priest who likes touching little kids with a stack of porn under the bed, the pastor who got caught on his tax returns, the preacher who is on his 4th wife having ended the previous through an ocean of extra marital engagements. The bishop who deceived and lied, the pastor who got caught drunken driving at 200km/h completely wasted etc etc etc. A rapist is a rapist. Adjectives don’t change the noun, they quantify the noun. Christianity is always a noun, it can never ever serve as an adjective, by definition it ceases to be Christian when it serves as an adjective. These wolves are not Christian, they are amphibians. Wolves don’t adjust the gospel.
These categories of people have contributed significantly to why people are closed to hearing the gospel. It is not that the Christian refuses to present proof. It is that the supposed proof that supposed Christian have presented especially in the media to the world suggests everything contrary to who and what Jesus is and what Christianity really is.
So what is Christianity not? Well, it is not a religion. There are no rules that define Christians, there are no do’s and dont’s. There is not a requirement of lifestyle or moral standard that prerequisites salvation. Christianity is not Church the way we know it today, very far from it. There is nothing Christians can do or must do or should do to gain God’s approval or acceptance. Christianity is not a process of cleansing or a trying not to sin. What I rejected above is called religion. Religion is a distant fear of a distant God for whom you have no relationship or acquaintance with or personal knowledge of and you need to do stuff and make sacrifices to keep this god in good favour. Atheism is astonishingly closer to Christianity than what religion is. Lets have a beer atheists, lets put the gloves down and knock back one or two before resuming to our respective corners and lets celebrate this proposal. I even challenged on of the cartoons on this forum called the mickeymouseman to write an article from an atheist viewpoint, appreciating Christianity and her contributions to a healthy ordered society, In exchange, I would reciprocate that challenge. Hey Mickey, You made it onto my article by name. Be flattered! I love you Champ.
But this is what is most astonishing to me. Us Christians on this forum get accused of having been brainwashed and being the brainwashers of kids. I tell you, If there is a person who can speak with pin point acuracy about the nature of human beings to the effect that He foretells what they will do and say and how they will do it and say it well before all of them are born, I tell you, I prefer then to be brainwashed by such a genius of Person. My preference is to remain stubbornly affectionately committed to the one who spoke of the end from the beginning. He said that these categories of people would infiltrate the church and cause the gentiles(unbelievers) to blaspheme. How did he know that? He spoke of those naturalists who do not have a faculty of faith, that they would scorn him, mock him and given the opportunity kill him. Wow, How did he know that and why is the Bible so exhaustive and accurate in its analysis of natural people's response to the gospel? The bible says that The gospel is foolishness to the man without the Spirit of God! Wow, How did the bible know that? 2000 year old scripture speaks with perspicious accuracy especially to the proponents of atheism on this forum. They think the bible is foolish. Yet the bible said that they would think that it is foolish, then they ask that we put it down and grow up and learn something real.....How can I, when I have a book called the breathe of God that is living and active and penetrates to the heart dividing the soul. I can't put it down, there is too much Glory in it. It is Truth and God's vehicle of His power. It is what keeps me typing on this forum.
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