A New Young Christian Speaks Out

Note from the moderator: This article was written by a young man who is a recent convert and new believer. As I read his submission I could hardly believe what I was reading! I realize that some “older” Christians might think his article is a bit “spiritually immature”, over-simplified, and/or “rough around the edges”. But the
more that I got to thinking about it, the more I began to realize that isn’t this exactly what Christ meant when He said to the older church generation of His day that “new wine must be put into new wineskins” (Mark 2:22)? God is calling a whole new generation of “young” people that seemingly don’t “fit the mold” of Christianity, or should I say, rather, “Churchianity”.
Sometimes, I think that we, older Christians, are too conservative and reserved in our thinking, and we forget that Jesus was actually looked upon by the church-goers of His day as a “revolutionary” and/or “rebel”. He and His disciples did not act like the pious religious church-people of the first century. In fact, that is why the “church leaders” had such a problem with Him! I am not saying that I necessarily agree with everything that David has written below, but rather, I think that it is very refreshing to see such a hunger and a real thirst (Godly zeal) developing in him by the Spirit of God to CHANGE THE WORLD by introducing them to His Truth and by demonstrating to them the life-changing love of God which this world so desperately needs Afterall, isn’t this what Jesus meant when He said, “For the people of this world are more shrewd [clever and astute] in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light” (Luke 16:8). And He also said, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men [aggressive and edgy men] lay hold of it!” (Matt. 11:12). Truly, God is changing the face of Christianity and the Church! He is raising-up “warriors” to leave the church system and pews and to go out into the streets and into the dark alley ways to witness His love and His forgiveness to the people. For He said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17).

Love is free. Value cannot be placed on love because love is invaluable. It is not a
commodity to be traded back and forth, and it is not something that should ever be
withheld. Love should not be controlled, love should be thrown about with reckless
abandon!

I am not talking about anything sexual. Sex is on a completely different level. I am
talking about L. O. V. E… The kind of love Jesus showed, and not just to believers, not
only to Christians. The kind of love He showed to EVERYONE!
Many “Christians” today hate gays, hate liberals, hate Muslims. I confess that until
recently, I did, too. Is this what Jesus would do? Heck no! Jesus loved everyone,
regardless of who they were, or are, or what sins they had committed.
It is not our place to judge, to say who’s wrong and who’s right. It is the Christian’s
place to follow Christ’s example. Aren’t we, as Christians, supposed to be striving to
emulate Him in every situation?

Truly, it is easier to hate, hate is of the Enemy, ruler of the world. God does not hate
anything save sin, and sin’s horrendous father, our eternal Enemy. Christians should
strive everyday, with all of their might, to eradicate hate from their hearts and minds.
Love your neighbor… Love everyone! Bring His Kingdom to life… Today! I am
writing this for myself as much as anyone else. I must remind myself that I am not
the most important in the world. The world does not revolve around me. I am not the
end all, He is.

Everything we do should be for the glorification of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Harboring pain, or judging others does not bring glory to Christ, it brings glory only to
our Enemy.

Are we, as Christians, going to be perfect in our Christ-emulation? Of course not,
we’re human after all. But is that a righteous excuse to give up? Does the fact that
sometimes we will get mad, or hurt mean that we should give up or not even try.
Absolutely not. God knows what is in each of our hearts, and if love is in our hearts,
how can we go wrong?

Just as God loves us as Christians, He loves the rest of the world, too, despite their
flaws, and despite ours as well. Why do you think it’s taking Him so long to return?
He wants to save as many of us as He can, and with the whole free-will thing, it’s
going to take a while. As hard as it may be to believe, God loves Osama bin Laden as
much as He loved Mother Teresa. As an American this is hard to accept, hard to
understand, I know. But Christian Americans do not have a stranglehold on God’s
love.

I have heard that for some it is too late to receive Christ, that some have done too
much wrong to be forgiven by Him. Do we know the heart of God? It isn’t for us to
judge “evil-doers.” That is a job for God, and God alone. Am I saying that if I ran into
Adolph Hitler on the street, I would ask him to my house for dinner? Actually I might,
think what the world may have looked like today had Hitler never gained control of
Germany. This sounds a little goofy, but what if someone had shown him some kind of
love or acceptance in his life? Would he have become the vile political figure he
became? Would he be known as the “Anti-Christ?” No, if he had been shown love and
acceptance, he wouldn’t have.

If you are filled with hatred, or if you have even a little bit of it in your heart, it will
consume your whole life. The good thing is, love can do the same thing. Love can
consume your whole life too, from just a little seed, it can grow, if nurtured. I don’t
mean the kind of love that most of us are used to, I mean the kind of love Jesus
showed everyone, unconditional love. If only everyone could understand this… If we
could all just let love rule, imagine how great the world could be. Imagine His
Kingdom becoming reality, right here, right now. It seems so impossible, completely
unattainable. I have to remind myself that through Him, all things are possible.
Heaven on Earth is possible through Christ Jesus. He has told us that He will one day
return to the world and reign forever. I believe that with all of my heart, as I’m sure
most Christians do, and I cannot wait for His return, but I’m talking about something
more tangible, something now. God’s Kingdom, now.

Little bits of His Kingdom are coming together right now, all over the planet. I’m a
good example of this phenomenon. Before I came to accept Christ as my Savior, I
was full of rage. Not to say that I am completely absent of rage, or pain, or self
addiction, but I am getting a lot better. Grace rules!

Sometimes, anger is righteous. Christians that make blasphemy of His word really tick
me off. How could the Good News Jesus spoke of be good news if it wasn’t for
everyone? He wants us all to get along, to set aside our differences and focus on our
similarities. If everyone could see this, and do it, we wouldn’t have any Osamas, or
Hitlers. If humanity could just swallow their collective pride and love one another as
Jesus taught, there would be an end to the b.s. that we experience on a daily basis.
Think about that. B.S. obliterated! We wouldn’t need to be concerned with feeding
the poor, they would be fed. Through glorifying Jesus Christ, we let His glory shine
through us. We need to be compassionate. We need to be merciful. We need to let
love rule, like Jesus taught.

God is love, He says so in the Bible, and with Him, we too can be love. Does this
mean that we should let our defenses down completely? Should we all give Osama a
great big hug when he is found? I don’t think so. Evil is evil. It needs to be dealt
with. But how do we deal with an act as heinous as 9/11 if we are supposed to be
love, as He was and is?

Corporal punishment? War? The Bible is full of examples of God using war, where He
had deemed it appropriate. Is it our decision to decide when and where war or murder
are appropriate? I don’t believe that it is, however God can use anything and
everything to correct injustice. War is not His only avenue.
The confusing aspect of this is that, as humans, we don’t know when He is at work.
We don’t know, conclusively, if what is happening is His work or not. It’s kind of
frustrating personally. I want to know when He is at work. It isn’t that I don’t trust
Him, it’s just exciting to feel His presence. I am becoming more in tune with Him
daily, and I am beginning to realize when He is at work more and more, but it’s still
frustrating. I want to know more of Him. If it was possible, I would want to know
everything! Of course, that’s not possible. I (as a finite human being) cannot know
everything of an infinite God.

I’m sure that I will spend the rest of my life seeking Him, learning more about Him and
His plan. Everyday I see Him, and what He has done and is doing. I can see Him in
the pages of a book, not just the Bible. I can see Him in a John Steinbeck novel. I can
see Him at work in an episode of “Lost.” I can see Him in a ray of sun peeking through
a storm cloud. I tell my daughter, Rachel that God is saying hello. You don’t have to
look very hard to see Him. The beautiful system He created is evidence of Him and His
love.

Even in His judgment, God shows His love. He may not be showing His love towards
those He is judging, but then again, He may be.
“Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord.” That line brings me great comfort. Not that He
hasn’t poured out His wrath on me before, but I trust that now that I am trying to lead
a Christ centered life, I will avoid incurring much more of His wrath. His wrath is now

on my side! I don’t need to fight anymore. I now have the most powerful weapon in
the universe on my side. God fights for me!
I used to do a lot of bad stuff. Stupid stuff. Nothing major, I never shot or raped
anyone, but bad stuff none the less. It always seemed to come back to me, or should
I say, on me. I always thought that it was Karma, but now I understand that it was
Love.

It was His love showing me that what I was doing was wrong. I have a really thick
head and it took Him quite a while to get through to me. It took a long time, and me
suffering through a lot of b.s., for Him to get me to the point I am at now.
“Love your neighbor” isn’t crap, it’s pure genius! It doesn’t come with any
qualifications. It doesn’t say; if they’re Christians; if they’re straight; if they’re well
mannered; if they’re of the same socio-economic class as you; if they’re pretty; if
they’re not fat; if they have their life together; if they abstain from premarital sex; if
they’re smart; if they’re the same race as you; if, if, if… There is no, “if” in the
statement, “Love your neighbor.” That’s it. I think that that is the central theme to
true Christianity. I think it is also the central theme to all major world religions. But
most people who claim to believe in a god, be it Jesus, Buddha, Vishnu, Yahweh, Allah,
or Jah, don’t seem to get it.

I do believe that you must accept Christ in your heart to receive salvation, but if you
can’t, at least make your time on this big, beautiful rock worth it. Make it a better
world for everyone, regardless of who or what they are. Let’s destroy the atrocities
that occur on a daily basis. Let’s shine the Light for everyone. Let’s take action! Quit
waiting for everyone else to wake up… Wake them up!
Get out in the streets, lift up the ones who need it most. Give it away, that’s the
secret to life. Give everything you have to give. For Him. For your him. Destroy the
Enemy! Let’s kick the Darkness until it bleeds Daylight!

I believe that He is waking up a lot of people right now. I believe He is coming back,
and very soon. But He doesn’t want us to wait for Him, we must blaze the trail ahead
of Him.
Dave Shobe