Do not call me Christian

Greetings Dear Readers,

I know that those of you who know me personally may be shocked by that title. I do have a reason for what I am saying. Over the last decades, I have seen, as have others that the label "Christian" has lost much of its power and respect. In the words of my pastor (yes I have one of those), I believe the word no longer communicates. My faith has not changed but what I call myself has.

I regret that some who claim the name Christian do so much to hurt the image of God that Christ brought us. God does not hate anyone and commands his followers to love even their enemies. So I have chosen to leave the label behind me so that I can communicate better that which I am commanded to:

• Love God with all my heart, soul, and mind
• Love my neighbor as myself

Anything else is just footnotes. This means I do not hate you just because your life is different than mine. It means that I do not care about many of the issues Christians rally around. I do have feelings and opinions about many things, but I will not reject anyone just because they disagree with me. I apologize for those who identify with Christ and then hate others. That is not who Christ is. Please do not judge Christ by the poor examples of his followers you encounter. If you read my blog, you are much too intelligent for that.

If you must find a way to label me, try Christ Follower. I do not feel that I am worthy of that title, but it is my heart's desire to become a man who can be seen that way. I am not as good at this as I wish to be but I also know that today, in this moment, I am following Christ as best I can, and that is all I may honestly offer you. For those of you who do not know about my faith, here it is in a brief explanation.

I am, like all persons, a fallen sinful human.
I know that God exists and he loves me.
I know that my sinfulness separates me from that love.
The only just penalty for my sin is eternal separation from God.
God would rather die than live without me.
He chose to live in the form of a human as Jesus Christ.
As that God/man he never sinned but paid the price of his unjust death for my sin.
I can do nothing to merit God's favor, but by faith I can avail myself of this payment for my sin.
It is by faith alone that I find my relationship with God the Father through his Son, Jesus.
He offers this free gift to anyone who will accept it

So please, when you talk about me or my writing, do not call me a Christian. If you wish to discuss this feel free to email me, aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com, or you can comment here on the blog. Other than that, I as always wish you the same thing.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn