Sunday, August 19, 2012

Some random thoughts ....

Being Christian

 
Today politicians use the word "Christian" as a badge of honor.  They are quick to assert that they belong to that exclusive club, and quick to assert that their opponents don't.  

When I was growing up, you didn’t hear people say, “I am a Christian.”  I suppose it would have sounded like boasting to people who were only too aware of their imperfections.  Being a Christian was not something you were, it was something you worked at, and it didn't come easy.

My parents were always polite with people who had more money, bigger cars, nicer homes, but they never seemed to admire them for those reasons.  Their admiration went to the few people that they considered "good Christian people." 

In those days, maybe because our parents grew up when everyone was poor, a person was judged by how they lived their lives rather than by the price of their cars.  The highest praise was to say that someone was hard-working and their children were “well-brought up”.  If their faces were scrubbed and their hair neatly combed, it didn’t matter if their clothes were patched and home-made.  

Whether or not someone was a Christian, well that was something private, something that was between them and their God and no one else's business.  You didn't ask anyone if they considered themselves "saved" any more than you asked them how much money they had in the bank.  

Often it was at a funeral that the community awarded the title, "a good Christian".  It was high praise and it sometimes took a lifetime to earn it.