Saturday 28 May 2016

"I Gave up Christianity and Started Following Jesus"

I heard this phrase quoted this morning. And it sounds so good, doesn't it? Going from that boring, old, dead tradition to following the man who who God chose to be on earth.

So the person who first used this phrase probably thought they were doing this:
"I gave up Christianity and started following Jesus"
But hang on a mo. There's a description for the belief system that involves believing in Jesus. It's.... what's the word? Oh yes. Christianity. You can't "give up" on Christianity just by deciding you don't like the definition of the word. What you're really saying is you're giving up all that judgemental / doctrinal / stuffy / traditional stuff, to follow Jesus. Leaving all those judgemental / doctrinal / stuffy / traditional people behind. But that still makes you a Christian, sorry. It's what the word means. 

What I suspect the expression really means is this: 
"I thought I gave up Christianity but actually started thinking I was better than others"
Or, being more charitable perhaps:
"I thought I gave up Christianity but I don't really understand what words mean"



2 comments :

  1. I think your less charitable Venn diagram is the more accurate. And that's from personal experience of having been within the intersection.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Only too right.

    ReplyDelete

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