I'm Christian, but I'm not…

Luke 18:9–14

"To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his chest and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The Buzzfeed video "I'm Christian, But I'm Not…" has been making rounds on social media this week: http://youtu.be/5bWHSpmXEJs

Well, I'm a millennial, a classical liberal, and I'm Christian, but I'm just not resonating with this video. :p

The Federalist senior editor Mollie Hemingway notes five problems with it: (1) It doesn't mention Jesus Christ, at all. (2) It isn't a diverse representation of the Christian community. (3) It's ironically judgmental and bigoted itself. (4) The fact is, Christianity does offend. (5) Finally, it looks like the Pharisee prayer that Lord warned us against, in Luke 18.

Brothers, we are "not of the world" (John 17, James 1:27) although we are in it and sent into it for a purpose. Once again, we are increasingly finding ourselves counter-cultural. Let's continue to make a stand for what we believe the bible says. Let's also refrain from thinking ourselves "better Christians than others" because we're not this or that, but simply, we measure ourselves against God's standards, repent and try our best to do better daily. Let us continue to pray the opposite prayer, "Father, have mercy on me, a sinner", and carry on with our struggle to be conformed to Christ's character, with His grace towards others.

"The Pharisee had no mind to pray to God, but to laud himself." –St. Augustine

~10.09.2015