From Chistianism to Christianity - Rebuilding my Faith

Christianism (not be confused with Christianity): Christian fundamentalists, mostly in the United States, for the ideology of the Christian right. 

My Original Salvation

I originally found God at Church Camp when I was like 10 (give or take, I don't really remember the exact age). Now here was the problem I faced then, and though I didn't really understand it then, as a child of 10ish, I look back and see it all now. Growing up I had trouble fitting in, anywhere. I really don't know what it was exactly (I was rather shy and quiet, but I was used to playing by myself as a small child and didn't get a lot of social interaction...) I didn't fit in at school, I really didn't even "fit" at home... The biggest problem here was that I also didn't seem to fit in at church - where everyone is supposed to feel welcomed and loved. I felt like I was drug to my stepdad's church every Sunday... I dreaded going there... like I dreaded going to school... like the summer I was dumped at a daycare at the YMCA... I dreaded that place. I wasn't the best at starting conversations, no one ever really tried to friend me, and no one ever bothered to help me learn how to make friends. I just felt dumped. I also dreaded going to school every day because I knew I was going to get picked on. And I dreaded going to church because I knew I was just going to feel alone... now, for the most part I was used to being alone - but I preferred to do it in the sanctuary of my own room at home with my music, my books, my toys. And I didn't like being forced to a church my mom wouldn't even go to.

So at church camp that year, the theme was Fear Not - many of you may remember the song, Fear Not, for I am with you, Fear Not, for I am with you says the Lord... what's that? Someone was with me? All those times I felt alone... even in my room... no one understood me... no one tried. But he was there? Now at 10, I didn't really comprehend this fully, but I still found myself pulled into this idea of God being with me, and found myself at the alter at camp (I wasn't one of those go to the alter every day at camp kids, but this one particular night I found myself there.)

Now, mind you I didn't really know anything about being a Christian or about God. But I liked the idea that he'd be there for me... he'd love me no matter what. This was new. But that's all I had... I didn't learn much in church - I remember wanting to learn about it, trying to pay attention... but it all sounded so greek to a misunderstood, non-diagnosed ADD child. It was really hard to focus on (and it still is!) 

And eventually the bullying at school, the loneliness at home and at church, it all took it 's toll... I didn't have the true Christian guidance I needed growing up, I didn't have anyone willing to understand me, to try and teach me, to just love me. People were too worried about how to change me, how to fix me. How to make me someone I was not. Hell I wasn't broken. I wasn't even "mis"guided - I wasn't even really guided, it was more like shoved. One parent will tell you I was a problem child... another will tell you I was never any trouble - and when I tell my dad that I was called "the problem child" he just laughs. If anything, I was "made" the problem child in my late teen years by being pushed to be something I wasn't... by being told I was a problem because I wasn't what they wanted me to be. Honestly, looking back I don't know what the hell I did so wrong... no one ever talked to me, ever really explained things to me, and they never asked me... And I had no one at church... so they dropped the ball on that whole love thy neighbor thing - and Christian leaders are supposed to mentor and support people, especially their youth... I will say there were two older (than me, college age) mentors in the church who I looked up to from camp, but once they left, it was back to square one. A lot of times I just felt invisible, and the rest of the times I wished I was invisible. I was back to feeling all alone.

Fast Forward to Rebirth

So fast forward a bit. Age 19 - down the wrong road (starting at age 17), rebellion, new friends (some good, some bad), alcohol, smoking, blah blah blah... pregnant. Moved to Georgia... read original testimony post for further details... 

So I'm back in church, getting involved, all excited... at first didn't really feel any judgement from my church home, but did get a lot of judgement from other churches we visited with my husband's family... so I just steered clear of those places. Once Andrew was born and we were married it was easier to visit new places and not feel "shamed" because no one really knew our story... but the thing is, as I've learned over time, your test is supposed to be a testimony. So you are supposed to be able to tell your story... and most of the time when you tell a story like this in church, with a happy ending leading back to God, it's yeay happy happy. But don't expect too much warmth while going through the bad part of the story. There are true Christians out there who will love you no matter what. But there are a lot more Christianists... and most of them might be nice to your face, but will make sure to talk about you behind you back. Others will shun you to your face. And once people know your past mistakes, even if you "prevailed" there are still quite a few who will continue to judge you based on your past... sometimes the people you should be closest to... or at least you'd think. (Speaking personally here.)

I got involved with the praise team, and at first it was great... but over time people left... it dwindled down to only a few of us... and the leader wasn't very Christian, more like Christianist. A lot of times it felt like she was in it for "her glory" instead of God's...  Eventually I just dropped it all together because I was just frustrated with the whole thing. 

I started seeing this in the entire church... members started dropping like flies... the church almost closed their doors, and then merged with another church. It was a big to do - an all white and nearly all black church in Middle Georgia coming together in one of the most "racial" parts of the city. People said they wouldn't make it 6 months... they were wrong. They made it a year. And then the split. 

I had gotten involved with the praise team again, I just wanted to do what I loved and do it for God. But they couldn't set a consistent practice schedule, and eventually schedule on 3 hours on a Saturday, which really didn't work out with my photography sessions on the weekends, house cleaning on weekends, trying to spend time with my family... etc. So I stepped down again. 

I could feel the tension stirring in the church as well, things just didn't seem to be "growing" as planned... 

As I dug more for a personal relationship with God, I started becoming uncomfortable with the "negative" preaching... the condemnation that seemed to flow from people's lips, the stones people threw. We sang songs about God's awesomeness, about Jesus' amazing love. We were told over and over "it's not about religion it's about a relationship" and "love your neighbor"... but at the same time I heard negative remarks towards gay marriage, homosexuals in general, constant political discussions in the middle of the sermons... and as the church grew smaller yet again, more regular preaching about tithe... the money. Over time it was hard to depict a positive message from the hypocritical preaching... and I just stopped listening.

My husband hadn't been involved in church for quite a while with his struggles. I heard this statement from a close family member: "if the holy spirit was in that church, it would grow, it would thrive - and they would have been preaching God's messages - which would have convicted Adam (my husband) of his issues with the pornography, excessive gaming, not helping his family, etc a long time ago." But I tried my hardest to stay involved and to get the kid's involved - but there was barely anything for them. And many Sundays none of us made it because I was just exhausted, and if Adam wasn't gonna get up and go, well neither was I...

I also had got involved in our church's youth camp and I was super excited, especially since I'm getting to do one of the things I love most and am passionate about, photography. You know (imma go a tad off subject here, but in a way it relates...) I was really hoping my photography business would have taken off more by now... I mean I figured I'd at least get more response from family and friends when I was building my portfolio to get free photos, and even now to get the Friends & Family discount... but heck, they don't even ask how it's going... maybe it's just me (well it probably was ME... their opinion of me... something to do with me...)  but I just thought I'd get more of a response from people "close" to me... but you know, now that I think about it, a lot of those people have never been that close...  And for quite a few, it boils back down to those "Christianists"- folks who think they are all holier than thou and if you don't fit in their criteria then you don't belong. And I'm talking about family here... I never really had a close-nit family. You hear about brothers and sisters being close, cousins being close... Now I had a few cousin I loved hanging out with, and a niece that's like my sister... but my niece lived 800 miles away... one of my cousin and I got distant after a while, others lived too far away... the family members I enjoyed seeing the most and that we loved being around eachother didn't live close enough to hang with all the time.

I had half brothers WAY older than me... a half sister who didn't live near me, and now that we live close together, well I'm not completely sure why we don't see each other much... I had step siblings who didn't like me much. It seems like the people that were in my life growing up had to be there, so they put up with me. I had one neighbor "friend" who only wanted to hang out when my stepsister was visiting for the weekend - at school we didn't talk to each other. Another neighbor who, well we were pretty good friends at home, but my unpopularity probably inconvenienced her at school too. But the way it relates is most of these people still see the shy, timid little girl who eventually rebelled, went and screwed up her life, got knocked up, etc... no one seems to want to know the Godly woman she's grown into. No one seems to care.Well I won't say no one, but most.

Anyways, getting back on subject... getting involved with camp. I was asked to talk to the teen girls cabin about young pregnancy... but you see I have this very optimistic outlook on life and believe everything happens for a reason. So while I was able to explain to them the negative part of how I got pregnant, the guy bailed, it wasn't easy, etc... it was difficult not to throw on the positive ending... and I didn't want to give these girls the impression "go get pregnant to get a happy ending"... but many young moms who got pregnant don't regret having their child. 

There were a bunch of other negative experiences with camp, and I'll sum it up like this - I had to constantly remind myself I was doing this for the kids and God, because the constant judgement I felt, having everything I did questioned like I was an irresponsible child out goofing off, not doing what I should, etc.... it made me wonder was it worth it all...

To sum all this up, the past 7 years have been full of questioning, full of confusion...  not so much questioning my faith - for about a second I started to lose it, but I understood that it wasn't having faith in God that was a problem. It was having faith in "the church" that was teaching all this dogma... faith in "Christianism"... 

The Road to Self-Recovery & Self-Disovery

After my husband and I went through our separation and he was convicted of his issues and started to see the same issues I saw, we took a long hard look at our church life... and what we wanted for our family. God guided us to the church we're in now, and it's been amazing. So far, every message we've heard has been positive - constantly teaching about how to apply God's basic principles to our lives. It is a United Methodist church, but they seem to be on a more progressive track... The messages we should have heard last year, and the year before that... the messages that could have provided the conviction needed back then before we separated, they had preached them. (They podcast every sermon, and we've gone back and watched some from previous Sunday's... goes back to 2009.) 

They did this amazing series on Love, Marriage, Sex... in that order... last year, and the things they said we just looked at eachother like "where was this message when we needed to hear it? " Well it was at Harvest obviously, but we weren't there... we were in the wrong place. 

And what I've discovered is that the road back to God is a road of self-discovery. I'm going to quote Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented's blogpost for the rest of this, because they explain the "road back" better than I possibly could...

"The road back is the road to self-recovery; and it’s also a road to self-discovery. We find something new on the road back, in picking up the pieces of our shattered Christianism; we find the budding growth of Christianity. And through all of the muddled and hard-to-hear voices of our beloved scriptures, we hear a very feint voice. The voice of the past. A voice of a young Jewish carpenter who invites us to have the conversation ourselves, and points us in the direction of GOD. Answering our questions with more questions with the intention of pointing us back to ourselves. We thirst for learning, and loving, and caring, and sharing, and seeing the part of ourselves we never knew. The parts that God knew all along. We find ourselves connected to the Christian and Jewish thinkers of the past, in order that we may become the thinkers and theologians of the future.

In rebuilding we’re healing—and realizing one truth more than anything: now that we’ve unearthed Christianity from the shattered remains of Christianism, we can never go back." - http://www.christianstiredofbeingmisrepresented.blogspot.com 

And another post they did called "How Does One Rebuild Their Walk With God" - was a response to this question:

"How does one rebuild their walk with God after years of being maligned, criticized and treated like dirt by evangelicals due to being different, gay and not a clone?" Well  I can definitely relate to different and not a clone... I've also seen and heard horror stories about how churches or church groups/clubs have treated someone who is gay - even long time members and youth who have grown up in church, but have come out of the closet...

But here was the answer, and this applies to anyone whose come to this point and question:

"In rebuilding your walk with God I think it may be important to consider whether or not you wish to rebuilt that walk as a Christian or not. Either way is perfectly okay: you have to find what works for you. What brings you joy.  If you do choose to rebuild that walk with God as a Christian, then there are two pivotal steps.

"The first step, although it's not specifically a Christian thing, is to begin to center yourself in the experience of God. You don't need anything for this: in fact you won't find this outside of yourself at all. Not in the Bible, not in rituals or creeds; not in studying religious history and so on. It will be here in this experience of God, within your own consciousness and outside of it, when you acknowledge and accept the sacredness of you that all things change. That's when we realize that all of the malignment, criticisms, and being treated like dirt have nothing to do with God at all. For God is always in the highest and most grandest thoughts, feelings, and actions. To revisit what I said before, you don't need anyone or anything for this process.

"The second step (which is where the Christian part comes into play) involves a re-evaluation and critical assessment. By that I mean we have to strip away all of the old beliefs we've held about all things Christian: we have to re-examine what these things mean to us--Jesus, the Bible, Christian living, right and wrong--the whole shebang. When we've stripped away the trappings of the post-easter Jesus, with its Supernatural Theism and Atonement theories (beliefs that have evolved since the Middle Ages), like Daniel we begin to experience the difference between real and genuine faith and overhyped superstition.

"For example, it becomes difficult to discern whether or not real spiritual healing is possible when there are so many charlatans and 'faith healers' who take advantage of people. We tend to throw out the baby with the bathwater and condemn the whole thing altogether.

"When Daniel uncovers the footprints in the cave, he's showcasing how much superstition can rule us. Real faith does not require anything at all. Lastly, we can never be separate from God. It's impossible. But we can think we're separate and that generates our experience. And so most of us get along in the world seemingly disconnected and logged-out when it comes to God. But reconnecting with God is like plugging into an outlet or logging onto our computer. Think about how you feel when you have no internet connection--don't you feel lost a little, not being connected to everything? This about how lost we feel not being connected to God-a consciousness network. And that's how we live.

"Anyways, I hope you're able to re-establish your walk. God bless." George Koukouris

What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality & Marriage?

So I've been digging deep into try to gain a better understanding of the Bible as it pertains to gay marriage (and the claim of inerracy of all versions in general). And it's interesting what you learn if you commit to studying it for yourself - and learning the context of it... not just believing every word another person says.

I've learned the following:

1. English translations of the Bible are not without error or mistranslation (some of it possibly mistranslated on purpose because what the Hebrew text actually translated to wasn't what the translator believed in nor wanted to hear.) I suspected this over time as I read several versions and they contradicted each other, or claimed to be a correction of a past version - well why are we correcting something that is without error??? I believe at this point that the only inspired version is the original text. The English translations are interpreted by man - who are imperfect and biased. More on bible inerracy at http://www.religioustolerance.org/inerran6.htm.

So just to be clear here - I'm not questioning God or his authority, or anything of that nature. I'm questioning man. The Church. And I've prayed and asked God to guide this process... to show me the truth. I can honestly say, I feel this is where he's lead me. This subject has been knocking at me for a period of time - and I believe God has been pushing me to seek him and the truth so that I may deliver this message. I've been told not to worry so much about it, to just "agree to disagree"... I've been discouraged, frustrated, and tempted to just forget the whole thing. I'm sure Satan just loves prejudice. He just loves listening to people bickering with each other and judging one another.

2. Homosexual relationships - loving consensual relationships are not so plainly condemned in the Bible. The verses that are against homosexual actions are when those actions include an immoral sexual act such as rape, incest, prostitution, temple sex rituals. Like all sexual behavior, it can be a sin if it is exploitive, manipulative, or not carried out safely within a committed relationship.

3. There are three passages found in Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, and Daniel that describe emotionally close relationships between two people of the same gender that appear to have progressed well beyond a casual friendship. There is, however, no unmistakable evidence that they were sexually active relationships.

4. The bible does not come outright and state that "Marriage is only intended for a man and a woman." Sure, there are many verses that can be pulled out of the original context they were intended and twisted to support this claim.  I constantly hear people preach "The Bible makes is clear that marriage is between a man and woman." Well I've studied these passages along with other passages that they manage to leave out, and I fail to find this clarity they speak of.

Resources: 
http://www.religioustolerance.org/hom_bmar.htm/ 
http://www.religioustolerance.org/homglance.htm  
http://interlinearbible.org/

Note: I chose these resources because ReligiousTolerance is multi-faith group who's goal is to overcome bias by explaining each point of view carefully, respectfully and objectively. And of course, the interlinear bible is an easy to use online Hebrew/Greek bible taking us back to the original text.

What is my personal conclusion? I stand by my original thoughts: who are we to cast stones? Who are we to keep equal human rights from another? Who are we to discriminate or hate?  Take a look at history - slavery, equal rights for black Americans, equal rights for women. Many (not all) church's have preached against interracial marriage by twisting scripture. Women have been told they cannot be in leadership roles in the church. (Many church's still do these things today!) Couples have been told they cannot be married in a church because it is at least one of their 2nd marriage.

I took it upon myself to personally research a topic that has been bothering me for some time... How can the church preach the love of Christ along side all this condemnation? And they wonder why people are so "unaccepting" of the wonderful message of Christ... The main people who manage to twist the words and take scripture out of context to fit their personal agendas are the ones teaching it.

We are taught in John 8 that Jesus does not condemn - he forgives. We are also taught that he does not condone - he tells us to go and sin no more. We are taught we must choose to change a behavior or lifestyle that is displeasing to God. This is easily understood. The issue with this as it applies to consensual homosexual relationships is this: we as heterosexuals cannot possibly judge whether or not homosexuality is natural or not - for one we are taught not to judge others, and we are taught to love our neighbors like we love Jesus. But for two, we only know what we feel as natural heterosexuals. One person cannot possibly fathom what another person feels. Only God can truly know this answer - and the Bible does not specifically condemn these relationships (unless you take it out of context). I will not (personally) risk God judging me because I chose to blatantly judge others based on disputed scripture. And this scripture is not just disputed by atheists, agnostics, or other religious groups. This scripture is disputed between Christian people who both claim to be totally knowledgeable of the Bible and it's content. And they are all imperfect humans. Do not follow man - follow God.

The Bible should not be used to judge or condemn others. Period. When you do this, you don't look like a man or woman of God. You look like an ass. You are not living a life that people see and want to be a part of... which in turn, causes them to shy away from God and his blessings. Why would they want to live like that?

Reviving this Blog! Today's Post: Unification

So it's been a while since I've posted anything here, but I hope to revive this blog back to weekly postings... so onto today's post:

Can you imagine for a minute... if we could come together - every believer - no matter their differences, their denomination, their choices... and stop bickering among ourselves... what changes we could make in this world?

I read the other day that the most common reason for arguments is misunderstanding. And you can't please a person who is out to constantly misunderstand you. But if people would just open their minds for a minute... stop arguing about whose right and whose wrong about everything, and realize we as believers have the most important thing in common - our God.

He is amazing, he is God of the universe. He is probably up there right now smacking his head at us... we're supposed to be leading lives for Christ, and living by example - we should be working on one accord.

Stop trying to nitpick every verse and condemn every person. Stop dividing church's and denominations because someone has a different point of view... stop being so angry at each other and being so pessimistic about everything. Instead of harboring anger we should be finding the positive in every situation - because God is ALWAYS in control!!!  If we'd just trust him and believe that no matter what trials we're going through, he is there - everything happens for a reason. 


We should be loving each other as Christ loves the church. How do we as Christians expect to win new hearts when we can't even win each other's?

Say NO to Bullying

I pray every day my kids have a better experience growing up than I did. I tell them every day, if anyone hurts you or bothers you at school you tell me.

Bullying. It grows more and more serious. I walked in to school every day afraid of what I was going to have to face. I skipped school. My grades suffered. Best day of my high school life: Graduation.

I don't want that for anyone else, especially my kids. People are hurtful. Clicks and labels. Popular or not. Kids today have been pushed to suicide to get away. Where was the help for them?

Know you child. Talk to your child. Teach them that bullying is wrong on both sides. They shouldn't be bullied, nor should they become the bullier.

Signs a Child is Being Bullied 

Look for changes in the child. However, be aware that not all children who are bullied exhibit warning signs.
Some signs that may point to a bullying problem are:

• Unexplainable injuries
• Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics, or jewelry
• Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness
• Changes in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating. Kids may come home from school hungry because they did not eat lunch.
• Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares
• Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school
• Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations
• Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
• Self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming themselves, or talking about suicide

If you know someone in serious distress or danger, don’t ignore the problem.

Signs a Child is Bullying Others 

Kids may be bullying others if they:  

• Get into physical or verbal fights
• Have friends who bully others
• Are increasingly aggressive
• Get sent to the principal’s office or to detention frequently
• Have unexplained extra money or new belongings
• Blame others for their problems
• Don’t accept responsibility for their actions
• Are competitive and worry about their reputation or popularity

Why don't kids ask for help? 

Statistics from the 2008–2009 School Crime Supplement show that an adult was notified in only about a third of bullying cases. Kids don’t tell adults for many reasons:

• Bullying can make a child feel helpless. Kids may want to handle it on their own to feel in control again. They may fear being seen as weak or a tattletale.
• Kids may fear backlash from the kid who bullied them.
• Bullying can be a humiliating experience. Kids may not want adults to know what is being said about them, whether true or false. They may also fear that adults will judge them or punish them for being weak.
• Kids who are bullied may already feel socially isolated. They may feel like no one cares or could understand.
• Kids may fear being rejected by their peers. Friends can help protect kids from bullying, and kids can fear losing this support.

Love is Simple

One thing I've learned A LOT lately: Love is simple. Religion is complicated. But in the end the central message of most religious group books is love. That is the most important part, the part that should bring us together in unity.

For years I've watched "the church" interpret the Bible and contradict this message. People who wonder why others would turn away from such a wonderful message, such a wonderful gift... well it's because the presenters of this message aren't living it. They aren't showing it. In fact they are showing the opposite. They are too worried about preaching, instead of practicing. Judging, instead of helping. Condemning, instead of caring.

I've got a friend that has had a pretty tough run with life. Growing up around drug use, in the foster care system, never shown a better way... turned to drugs herself. Until recently, was not shown another way. A way out of that life. But in the church most of her life. Who dropped the ball?

Now genetics and drug use have left her at a young age with kidney damage. Early 20s, and on dialysis. Needs a transplant. Can't get an ounce of help on her medical bills when she needs it. Struggles just to find the money to pay the required out of pocket amount to be treated. She struggles with life or death every day.

And where are the people around her? Most of them, judging. Assuming. Condemning. Wondering why she let herself get addicted, and let the drug use go on "so long"... In reality, drug addiction is a complex disease, and quitting takes more than good intentions. Even good people can be lured into an addiction.

And the thing we need to ask ourselves when concluding how we treat someone with "problems" (which is anyone really) - is WWJD? How would Jesus Christ treat this person? How did he treat the woman with leprosy? The adulteress woman that was supposed to be stoned? Jesus is the example we are supposed to follow.

But we're too focused on "interpreting" the Bible. On reading verses out of context to sit around determining if someone is condemned. We need to relearn our place. It is God's place to judge, to convict, to condemn. It is our place to show people his love that is offered to all.

Courageous

God's working. So about 2 weekends ago we watched Courageous... it hit Adam hard. He told pastor he was ready to serve and get over his "grudge" over the crap that went down with running the sound. Stuff started happening at work, and he felt like ever since he said he was ready to serve, he is being tested - but his faith will not waiver. This weekend his boss called and told him his work van got broken into and he'd left a TV in it that got taken... they are supposed to bring any merchandise back in when they get back, but they were late getting back and Adam had to go to the chiro (and there were plenty of instances where they got back after the store was closed and couldn't take stuff inside...) Adam told his boss he'd help cover part of the loss, as he was responsible for the van. Come Monday he went in and they had a big meeting - the whole thing was a setup... his boss wanted them to be more responsible for the items in the van, but said he appreciated his willingness to help cover the loss, and that showed him a lot about his ethics... he also said they'd be trying to get them back before closing from now on to avoid having to leave items in the vans over night - which will cut down these extremely long hours (60 hour weeks) and take some stress off of Adam. Remember in the movie Courageous where they tell Havier they want to promote him but ask him to lie about incoming shipments? It was to test his ethics... they gave him the chance to think it over, and when he came in and said he couldn't lie, they gave him the job (and said that they had gone through this with SIX employees before him who didn't pass...) Clear to say after all that, I had chills running up my spine.

Actions are Louder than Words

Great bible study last night. I love it when our class is able to pull away from the religion side of things and talk about the true way we should be spreading God's love... Sure we should be knowledgeable of our faith and even of science for the sake of truly understanding and being able to communicate both sides. But having that knowledge simply for the sake of argument is not Christ's way. Living our lives humbly and as Christ would - making a statement by our actions - is what we should be focused on the most. Gary told a story about how they were out eating one night as a group after a bang up performance of the He Touched Me passion play. There was about 30-40 of them... and in the restaurant a couple of tables over was a couple. One person in the He Touched Me group poked fun at a lady's weight at the other table. It was a quick comment, but made none the less. Gary went up the salad bar and was approached by a man who asked if they were from the play - Gary told him yes, asked him if he'd seen it, enjoyed it... the man said yes. Then he proceeded to say "I heard what you all said about that lady, and it wasn't nice..." OUCH. That ONE comment, made by ONE person effected the entire group. That one negative remark made all of them look like hypocrites, and it gave Christ a bad name. All of the hard work of what the passion play was intended to do - spread the love of God, was down the tubes to that man who saw one act of hate. As Christians, do we focus more on arguing our point to people through words, or do we focus on showing people Christ through loving actions? Does how we live our lives and act in places other than church portray the person we claim to be? James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”