Three Things Every Christian Needs to Start Doing

 I am not normally a Christian basher.  It’s not my style.  Normally I just share what’s going on in my life and add a scripture or two.  I would actually say one of my gifts is encouragement.  Unfortunately for Christianity, I don’t feel too encouraging today.  Today I feel mad.  I am angry with other believers who act ridiculous and make me look bad by association.  I may even be ticked at you.  So, here we go, three things every Christian needs to start doing:

1.  Stop criticizing every movie or television version of the Bible that comes out.  Theologians do not typically make movies.  Movie people do.  They weren’t trying to replicate the Bible in a way in which you can throw yours out and just reference the movie.  They were trying to use their talent for Jesus.  Maybe they missed the mark, but they tried.  Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” So, if you think the actor in the movie is too sexy to be Jesus, zip it.  When you attack others in our community, you make us look petty and vicious and you make other Christians who dream of doing something bold for Christ re-think their next step.  Stop tearing down the body of Christ.  I guarantee their inaccurate film has led more people to the Lord this week than you have.

2.  Don’t re-post right wing news stories without doing research on the subject.   It’s the media’s job to create a story…even if there isn’t a story to tell.  Many of the stories circulated online have some bit of fallacy to them.  The one thing I have heard repetitively from my non-believing friends is how Christians believe in something that doesn’t exist and therefore are gullible, naive, or stupid.  So, when you go off on a tangent about how the Girl Scouts are giving out condoms and killing babies without doing your research, you just proved their point, making it harder for me to share my faith with them. Proverbs 18:2 says, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” If you don’t have time to do the research, just don’t preach or openly share the story.  It doesn’t make you a bad Christian for not speaking up for a worthy cause; it makes you an informed Christian.  Speak up when you know the facts.

3.  Be kind to your server and then tip well, especially if you go to eat directly after church.  Okay, so we have all heard about how Christians are bad tippers.  (Mad props to Preaching Christ Church in my hometown of Kingsport, TN for bringing this to light with their website: www.Sundaysaretheworst.com.)  First, let me define what kind of tip is expected: a tip should be 20% of your bill.  If service stinks, I won’t fault you for 15%.  I know we give God 10%, but 10% of our income and 10% of our sandwich are different.  You don’t sound holy for comparing your tip to a tithe, you sound cheap.  If you can’t afford the additional tip, you should go to a restaurant where the staff makes more than $2.15 an hour. When you let someone serve you, knowing they depend on your tip and then are a crappy tipper, you just said to that person, “You don’t matter.  I am more important than you.” That’s pretty much the opposite of how a Christian should act. 

Okay, that being said, lots of people are bad tippers.  What I can’t stand is when Christians are rude to their servers.  Galatians 5:22 says that the fruits of the spirit are “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  If you can’t act that way because your steak is late or you need more bread, then I think you should head back to church and pray a little more, because I don’t know if you’re a Christian.  I mean, check out that scripture again.  I am not saying we have all the fruit all the time, but if you have even a couple of those at one time, it would avoid some of the awful stories I have heard.  Matthew 7:16 says that we are “recognized by our fruit.”  So, if a server walks away from you hating Christians, it’s probably because they didn’t encounter one.  Ouch, I know…we all have bad days and if you screwed up one time and were snippy, I get it.  If this is a habit of yours, you have something to evaluate.

Summing It Up:  I don’t see these issues very much in new believers.  I see these actions in mature believers.  People who love Bible study and sunrise services act like this.  I write this because I love you and because I want to see the lost find Christ.  When it comes to the church, we are our own worst enemies because we love to talk about Jesus, but then don’t act anything like him.  Check your fruit and love like Jesus, remember that you represent him at all times (in your actions, your posts, and your words), and encourage other believers (even if they tried really hard for Christ and didn’t hit the mark).