You're Not a Christian If ...

I see a lot of pronouncements from so-called Christians these days.

And I have to say, what I am seeing from these 'Christians' is far from Christian. Now, I am not a theologian. I don't even go to church. But I was raised in a Christian household and I try, imperfectly, to live a Christian life. So let me say that ...

You are not a Christian if you're not Christlike. We mere humans all commit sins, and we can only attempt to be Christlike. But far too many who profess to be Christians don't even come close. In fact, you do and say the opposite of what good Christians should do and say.

You are not a Christian if you don't at least try to follow the teachings of Christ. 

You are not a Christian if your actions don't conform with what you claim to believe. 

You are not a Christian if you lie, cheat and take advantage of others.

You are not a Christian if you approve of taking children from their parents and locking them in cages because they aren't white enough. Think about this: Christ was a Middle Eastern man with dark skin, too. He wasn't white, with blue eyes and light hair, as so often portrayed.

You're not a Christian if you continue to support an unrepentant lying con artist who is a repeat adulterer, a racist and a misogynist, and who uses the Bible as a prop in a photo op.

You are not a Christian if you disobey one of the fundamental teachings of Christianity: Treat others as you wish to be treated.

You are not a Christian if you are OK with discriminating against people because of the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. 

You are not a Christian if you do nothing to help the poor, the oppressed and the hungry. 

You're not a Christian if the only evidence of your faith is your attendance at church and maybe throwing a few dollars into the collection plate.

You're not a Christian if you support, or worse, belong to, the KKK or other white supremacist organizations. 

You're not a Christian if you rail against one man's infidelities while turning a blind eye to the repeat infidelities of another. That makes you a hypocrite.

You're not a Christian if you refuse to issue a marriage license to a gay couple while you have been married and divorced multiple times.

You're not a Christian if as pastor of a megachurch you live in a multi-million dollar mansion and own a private jet while refusing to help those in need.

I would never consider myself to be Christlike, but I think I am a pretty good person, someone who quietly and unobtrusively lives a Christian life. Am I short-tempered and impatient at times? Yes. Do I sometimes judge others? Yes, I do. But I donate food and money to help feed the hungry. I support a variety of charities here and abroad that are working to preserve the planet and the animals trying to live in this cruel world. I have paid expenses for a Kenyan student for 4 years so she can attend high school. I paid for tuition and books for a friend of my daughter, so she could attend community college. I volunteered at Auschwitz concentration camp as part of a 2-week journey to better understand the Holocaust. I believe that as someone blessed to have a nice house, a good car and sufficient money to live a good life, I am obligated to use those blessings to help the less fortunate.

When I lived in Houston I attended a church that had a group called Christians in Action. This group of people put their faith into action by providing food for Thanksgiving meals for the poor. One year members bought Christmas gifts for children from the kids' wish lists. I like the concept of putting faith into action.

Certainly Christians are not the only ones who fail to live up to the teachings of their religion. And certainly atheists and agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and followers of other religions do good works. I recently read about a Sikh community that prepared hundreds of meals for those impacted by the pandemic. Christians aren't the only people to reach out and help others.

Unfortunately, Christians, especially of the evangelical sort, seem to put their unchristian behavior and attitudes on greatest display. I love this quote attributed to Gandhi: “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

So if you are proud of being a Christian and you feel a need to put your faith on display, please put the good Christian attributes into action, and not the unchristian acts, words and hypocrisy. Show your faith in your words and actions.