Response to a Reader

I recently received the following comment on my post “Apparent Christianity” from an anonymous reader:

I listed myself as a Christian on my POF profile. I am a Christian, I believe in God and I accept Jesus as the son of God yes. But I don’t live an incredibly Christian lifestyle Jordan. I am not a virgin, I support Gay rights, I am pro choice. I don’t think it is fair of you to judge some one who says they are Christian vs. their hobbies and interests….

Love from, Successful POF User

To Successful POF User:

First of all, this blog is entirely my own opinion. I understand that many of my views are considered old-fashioned and, in many cases, socially unacceptable. While I don’t live a perfect life, by giving myself a label of “Christian”, I try to live a life worthy of the name and the call God has placed on my life. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like – promoting what He promotes and avoiding what He avoids. To live a life according to biblical principles is to live a life of abstinence before marriage, to promote life (at all stages – from conception to death) and to promote the sanctity of marriage (and romantic relationships).

Let’s also remember that my “judgement” of these men is based entirely upon whether or not I think they are marriageable material – for me, no one else. I will not marry a man who spends his weekends drinking at the pub. I will not marry a man who thinks it’s okay for two men or two women to marry. I will not marry a man who believes it is a woman’s choice whether or not to kill her unborn child. These are standards I’ve set for myself and I do not expect that everyone will conform to them.

It is my opinion that, if someone gives them self the label of “Christian” that they should do everything in their power (with the help of God) to live a life worthy of that call. The world is lost because too many Christians are themselves lost. If a Christian is no different from the world, what is there to draw the unbelievers to the knowledge of Christ?

Lost the Catch

I thought I had a good one on my line when a gentleman sent me a message last week. He could write and spell and even appeared to have read my profile. I responded (not right away – didn’t want to appear too eager), but he hasn’t written back.

But that’s okay, someone who is “looking for a woman with class” but posts photos of himself with skanks wants to meet me…

Finding Hope

I’m still not holding my breath about finding the love of my life on Plenty of Fish, but, every once in a while, someone stands out. The most recent man to rise above doesn’t claim to be a Christian and we are in no way compatible, but I got the following message from him:

I truly truly truly wish you the best. Even though I am not a Christian when I see girls with a solid relationship with God ,my hearts gets warmer a bit.

I am impressed on several levels. First – that he took the time to read my profile rather than just clicking “Meet Me” because he happened to like my smile. Second – that he respects the life I’ve chosen for myself. But then I ask, why can’t Christian guys be like that? 

Apparent Christianity

Here’s what the average Christian man on Plenty of Fish looks like:

– social drinker
– local pub regular
– womanizer
– Sunday morning sleeper
– potty mouth
– looking for casual dates or “friends”
– wine/beer enthusiast

Call me old-fashioned, but this doesn’t look like a decent Christian man to me.

True story: I just read in a list of interests “18a cartoons” and “boobs LOL” from a guy claiming to be a Christian. If I was worried about finding a good man before… I think someone just flushed the toilet containing my last hope.

Wake up. Get up. Go out.

The song recorded above came to me one day. I love it when God writes songs for me. It makes the writing experience so much easier!

Since then this has been the anthem of pretty much everything in my life. My pastor has been preaching on getting the church activated in ministry. I’ve spoken with many other Christians about the same thing. People in churches all over the world are aching to see the church arise, get up and take her place. Too many Christians are too content to sit in church on Sundays and that’s it. They never help. They never get involved. They never let people know about that God they claim to believe in.

We’ve all been faced with serious questions when it comes to our faith. Faith in and of itself is not something to be taken lightly. To add to it, Christianity has come (and will come) under attack over and over again and those attacks seem to be coming on stronger as time goes by. This is where the church cannot afford to sit back and watch.

In many typical business models, it is said that 10% of the people do 90% of the work. This has been proven true in church circles as well. No matter how big or small a church is, it’s always that faithful core doing all the work. My question is: what about everyone else?

Over the years I’ve heard any number of excuses, some of them valid, some just crazy, but none of them good enough to excuse lazy Christianity. If this life is about getting us through to the next, our own ambitions are useless. What I want to do here on earth will be of no value to me in the end. I want to live my life to give God glory. I don’t need it. I don’t want it. I want to get to the end zone and hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

To serve is the key here. No one in ministry from the pastor down to the janitor is exempt from service. To give of oneself for the benefit of others is the greatest gift of all.

So church, what are you going to do? Sit down and watch or stand up and take your place?