The Christian (by Jimmy Buffett)

I think I've thought for too long that the job of Christians was to correct lost people like Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist, and agnostics. Perhaps my paradigm is shifting or perhaps it just a matter of clarity, but it's no wonder Christians are so looked down upon; with this mentality it seems equivalent to belittling others in telling them where they've failed and how wrong and bad they are. It seems to me that it is rather a matter of showing them something (or someONE, rather) they've never known. I heard an analogy today that seemed apt:

"A child walked up to his dad and told him there are men on Mars. The dad's reaction should be to throw his son down on the couch, whip out an astronomy book, and start shoving his face in the book, telling him how wrong he is, right? Hardly! The dad lovingly shows patience at the fact that his son simply doesn't know the truth yet. Maybe he'll come to understand later that day or maybe he'll come to understand in a few years - what's most important is that the son comes to realize for himself on his own terms what the truth is."

Another story I heard this week was of a woman who bought a new puppy and was told that in order for the puppy to live a long, healthy life she was to feed him a tablespoon of Castor Oil every day. So, every day she would chase the puppy down, hold him around the neck while forcing his mouth open, and would shove the Castor Oil down his throat. Every day the puppy would run and hide, kicking and yelping as the woman would regularly shove the Castor Oil down his throat - until one day when the woman found the puppy had knocked the bottle over, spilling it all over the kitchen floor, standing in the middle of it lapping it all up. The puppy didn't hate the Castor Oil; he hated the methodology of having been force fed it!

"Religion", as it were, is a barricade all-too-often. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus teach about a religion. There is no record of Jesus telling people to become a Christian. "Christianity" is of man - Jesus calls us to the Kingdom of God. It's not about doing the right things, it's not about following the rules, it's not about having a certain label or title - it's about knowing Jesus and loving him, plain and simple! Why is that so hard for us to understand and accept?