Christians should be Christians — in other words, like Jesus — regardless of whom they are interacting with. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. With some people they are nice and civil, with others they are cold, with some they can be downright rude, hateful and completely unChristlike! And then they do indeed become a tool of satan disguised as a religous nut, pushing people away from considering Jesus, away from being in relationship with Christians (who apparently have good news for everyone), and away from churches.
Are all Christians like this? Of course not. But enough of them are – particularly some very vocal ones – as seen by a survey of 16 - 29 year olds which found that 91% of those outside of the church perceived Christians as anti-gay, and 80% of churchgoers in the same age category perceived the church as anti-gay. (Unchristian, 2007).
Is this just about being pro-gay or anti-gay? No. You can fill in the sentence any way you like: "I'm Christian unless you're ______." What will it be for you?
Shouldn't a Christian be a Christian always? and in the same way?
Shouldn't we treat others with love and respect regardless?
Who would Jesus reject?
Whom do you have trouble loving the way Jesus did?
Please take time to read an excellent article called "I'm Christian unless you're gay" written by Dan Pearce, which inspired this cartoon. Despite the title, it's not specifically about gay people -- rather, it's about love, hate, respect...
On a related note, Red Letter Christians has an interesting article called "The Witness of the Sons of Hell", referring to Jesus calling the scribes and Pharisees "sons of hell" in Matthew 23, and discussing how we "become sons of hell when we devote our lives to locking people out of the kingdom of heaven."
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