1. What is a Christian? Bear with me on this: you may have heard echos of what I write, but not how the answer is made.
A Christian trusts one thing and acts because of that single trust. Christians trust Jesus; that he, for them, is lord.
2. Anything else brought to the forefront of a Christian’s will is apostasy and, likely, idol worship. This ‘anything’ could be another human, an inanimate thing or even the scriptures or the ‘name of Jesus’, if they are used in ways that
3. harm others.
Christians do not require that others trust Jesus. They do not blame, punish, harm or distrust others who do not share their trust. Without this trust, mere belief in elements of a creed or a statement by a church or a
4. famous Christian leader are but whiffs of wind ill spoken; at worst they are means of turning Jesus’ cross around and making it a sword. The result is suffering.
Christians act (1).
Prayer is not acting. Prayer is a post-it-note
5. to remind oneself or a group of Christians what is, required by their response of trust to their Lord. Prayer is not a means to cajole God into giving them want they want; God is not a divine slot machine; prayer is an act or remembrance for the care you owe another human.
6. Christians act (2)
For other people, not against them. They do not persecute or harm (sin against) others. They do not use their emotions, fears and disappointments to blame others for their own place in life, sins, or errors.
7. Christians act (3)
They sin. When scripture says God hates sin, it means God hates it when humans are harmed by other humans. What is not required is perfection, even in love, because humans are imperfect; it is part of our nature.
8. Denial of this reality is itself a sin because it leads to harm. What is required is that when one sins, with knowledge of what they are doing against another person or group of persons, one repents in the name of Jesus.
9. Sin is the causation of harm to humans and their world (the latter because if enough harm occurs to it, then humans will suffer).
Christians act (4)
What God requires is that when Christians sin, they repent, and do not extend
10) that sinfulness by denial (King David). Repentance means ‘turning from one path and find another that leads to authentic life under the Lord. Part of finding that new path is making repair for damage one has done to others.
11. Christians act (5)
Those two two remarkable Jews, Jesus and Paul, gave Gentiles access to God. That is, to those Gentiles who choose follow God through that Lord. Gentiles who trust that Lord have been given direction how to show
12. that trust.
The first is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. The second is to love your neighbour as yourself. With a contemporary Jew, Hillel, these two Jews quoted these two commandments from the Hebrew Bible.
13. These Jews imply or said outright that while they are of the essence of law, the law for Jews is Torah; the law for Christians – the Gentile who turns to him- is walking the way of Jesus.
That way for both is similar because the way of love is the same: do mercy, kindness and justice toward other humans.
14. That is it; what a Christian is and does.