Someone once said this blog is like a place of Christian musings. I can see how that could describe the nature of these articles. Every day is a new experience to refine what is known, and to introduce what is unknown to the docile spirit.

LIKE CHRISTIANITY, LIKE MARRIAGE

Christianity is a little like a marital relationship: the longer we live with it, the more we must either change with and adapt to its fluctuating needs and permutations along the way; or oppositely, we change further and more steeply away from its core, completely undermining its foundations.

WE ARE EITHER CHRISTIANS BELIEVING IN MIRACLES, OR WE ARE HYPOCRITES

Christianity isn’t just another lifestyle, because most lifestyles aren’t quite so controversial.

For example, if someone claims themselves Jewish, we know they don’t consider Jesus to have risen from the dead. Anyone can believe Jesus merely existed without it being controversial. But once Jesus becomes the Messiah to any one person, it immediately becomes controversial because of what that belief represents.

For a Christian, believing Jesus is the Messiah is just the beginning of the way we live differently, from the little things to the more significant things. It permeates the way we think and feel about morality and purpose, and how we respond to conflict or stress in daily life. It’s also incentive as to how we seek answers in life. This certainly differs from those who believe a resolution is solely determined by what we make of it as presumably matured, scrupulous humans, rather than involving the belief that a spiritual being will somehow intervene behind-the-scenes to help us. As Christians, to not believe in that as the truth is to say that God doesn’t really come through with what He says He will do, and that would make us hypocrites. So we believe in miracles, or Jesus couldn’t possibly have risen from the dead, much less walk on water or cure a blind man—or call Lazarus back from the dead with a shout. It’s preposterous without believing in the incredible nature of the way God works. And all of this stems from believing Jesus is the Messiah, and not just merely a Jewish man who lived and died 2,000 years ago, regardless of any other monumental details.

SCRUTINY OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, 2023

Does Christianity change a person? For one, it should (if it’s authentic). Secondly, if the person is seeking for it to, yes it will. Like marriage, Christianity changes us as long as we are willing to adapt with the challenges presented to us along the journey. Sacrifice, faith, patience, grace, mercy, love, compassion, consistency… these are all attributes of both marriage and our relationship to God through Christianity. Without these qualities spread out over time through each and every single day, the relationship grows weak, and it shows in both the little and big things. But it doesn’t change the powerful nature of God, which is many times how people translate a weak display of Christian faith.

People on the outside (of Christian life) can judge and criticize the walk of a Christian based on how they live their life any given day of the week, since one bad decision can destroy the way a Christian’s life appears to any third party. Judgement for Christianity is always on the rise since there are so many grandeur happenings going on each day around the world. Frankly, we might expect there would be more love in a world with authentic Christians in it. We beg each other for confirmation if the End Times are near, or if they are already in motion, as we see fewer and fewer demonstrations of Christians making indelible footprints in modern history.

SHAKING UP THE WORLD WITH BOLD FAITH

So, what should Christianity look like in 2023? Honestly, the sad answer is that it should look like it would have looked way back 2,000 years ago when people were still freshly galvanized from discovering Jesus had proven Himself to be God, supplanting their confused and broken souls with a powerful mission and purpose. What would that look like in 2023? It would break history, I would imagine, especially considering how dead the Christian faith seems to appear in the world right now. If Christians were to live as loud as the Christian faith calls us to, there would be no boring Sunday school classes, weak sermons, or megachurches with lots of people who aren’t doing anything differently outside those very walls. We would be hearing more about miracles performed by people praying with the same vigor as Christ calling out the demons of His day. But instead, Christianity is quiet–not because it should be, but because we’ve chosen for it to become that way. That isn’t the call of Jesus, but rather, the waning of the use of the Spirit. How could practicing Christians be living a life called by Christ and not be shaking things up in the world? Why aren’t there more controversial happenings taking place in the world today besides natural disasters and misguided wars? Why isn’t the faith of Christ being shown with such boldness that the rest of us can’t help but join in and cause the whole world to revisit the reality that Christ is alive and coming back?

LET ME HEAR FROM YOU

Something to think about, right? Please post your thoughts below so I can see what you guys think about this, and what it means to you that the world is the way it is today. I can’t be the only one considering the waning influence of Christianity in this crazy world. What do you think?