Am I really a Christian? A challenge for all Christians.

I recently found myself super irritated with someone and I just happened to glance into something I was reading and I noticed this tiny little paragraph at the bottom of the page that started off with he is a Christian who now that tiny little paragraph was such a punch in the gut because I realized pretty quickly I wasn't being a very good Christian like all around now it was written in the year 300 something by one of the greatest minds of Christianity and I don't care what church you belong to this guy had an influence on

it and it's just 14 short little phrases that I'm going to go through as quick as possible yeah right and for those of us who go around calling ourselves so-called Christians this is a challenge and I hope it's not a big of a punch in the gut for you as it was for me he or she is a Christian who's merciful to all now I don't care who you are we all need God's mercy and the way it works is be merciful to others as we want God to be merciful to us now think of

how many times I've screwed up made mistakes turned my back and just walked away from God and every single time God has been patient understanding gentle and forgiving now to be merciful is to be like God so am I patient understanding gentle and forgiving and not just to the people I like but to all he or she is a Christian who does not get angry for an injury this is the one that hit me apart because like I said I caught myself getting super angry with someone for something so small and stupid barometer for the

state of my soul is how do I react to every little annoyance in life if I find myself getting angry super irritated or just flying off the hook for every little thing those are all just symptoms for something being off in my soul now however react to all those little things is just a choice if we're taking our baptism seriously this is the old self that has to be put to death because only then can we rise again as something new he or she is a Christian who gives Aid to the poor how do I

feel when I hear that now we all know the story of the rich man and Lazarus what was the rich man's sin indifference he was too self-absorbed in his own world to see his neighbor right next to him who needed help sound familiar as Christians we have to be able to see our neighbors in need and then go to them and yes it's the materially poor the Bible is clear on that but also the poor and tenderness companionship love kindness and just basic dignity we're all poor in some way he or she is a Christian

who suffers with the afflicted now if you're anything like me and maybe this is a guy thing but we like to be the fixer the solver the savior and that's all fine but sometimes then we just see a problem that needs to be fixed and we don't see the person so go to those who are struggling but before trying to fix it just see the person and just imagine that whatever it is they're going through you're going through the exact same thing compassion means with suffering so just be there with their suffering and then you

figure out the solutions together he or she is a Christian who participates in the Sorrows of others as though they were his own imagine you're standing in the crowd that day witnessing all the cruelty and the brutality and a soldier points at you and says get over there and help him with his cross what would you do I hope I would fly to that cross now in the exact same way when we see others carrying their problems their burdens their sorrows just picture this and then fly to that thing let's go out there and find

each other's crosses and bear one another's burdens and fulfill the law of Christ he or she is a Christian who does not shut his door on the unhappy when I was growing up our house was one of those Open Door houses where everyone friends neighbors whoever just love coming and going I had a lot of friends who came from very broken houses broken families and they would come by and my mom would make them pizza or sandwich and give them rides when they're embarrassed because their own parents wouldn't give them a ride anywhere and they

would leave feeling a little more special a little more loved and a little happier now think of someone who's struggling or unhappy it shouldn't be very hard because we're all unhappy with something and ask yourself am I that open door where anyone feels comfortable coming or going and maybe can get a pizza and a sandwich and leave feeling a little more special a little more loved and a little happier where's my door mostly closed he or she is a Christian who doesn't insult anymore [Music] now I know you're thinking yeah I don't go around insulting

people all day but take a mental note of how many times you insult mock criticize judge or just make fun of somebody throughout a day and I'm not just talking about out loud I'm talking about on the inside in my mind and under my breath or only myself and God hears I hope you're not as shocked as I was now think of Jesus mocked criticized humility slandered how did he respond he returned no insult and if he said anything he answered gently he or she is a Christian who serves God day and night who or

what do I serve day and night who or what do I worship day and night [Music] when I look back what's the one thing I've traded my life for I know some of you are thinking well yeah but I gotta work and pay my bills and support myself and serve my family but look at it this way we serve who we love the most and Jesus said unless you love me more than these you're not worthy of me now whoa I know that sounds kind of heavy but kind of like it King of the universe

wants that first spot in my heart and once we give it to him everything else just seems to fall in order and really unlocks the true way we're supposed to love and serve all these they may be thinking well what does that mean to serve God does that mean I got to work at some church the rest of my life it means we've become the person on this list and we do that through our work and through our families and through our lives he or she is a Christian who continuously meditates on his ways what

occupies my mind throughout a day being a Christian simply means we're followers or imitators of Christ and this isn't something we just do blindly we have to choose it every day and if we're going to choose to follow anyone we first have to get to know them and the more we know them the more we believe in them the more we believe in them the more we're like I love this guy I'll fall into the day I die now Jesus says if you know me you know the father and the father knows you and he

says if you love me you love the father and the father loves you just as he loves me meaning himself now just let that sink in a little bit God the Father loves me just as he loves his son I mean the more we can grasp that I'm telling you this this is what changes Our Lives but in order to really know him we have to get to know him through the scriptures and in order to really love him Jesus says if you love me keep my commands my word my ways so he or she

is a Christian who continuously meditates on his ways he or she is a Christian who's poor in the eyes of the world but rich in the eyes of God this one actually comforts me because I'm poor there's a certain way we can live our lives and make our day-to-day choices that's very pleasing to God and there's a certain way we can live our lives and make our day-to-day choices that's very pleasing to the world I think as we all know especially now more than ever the two don't always align actually they can sometimes be the

exact opposite now as Christians as hard as this may be there's really only one that we care about and the world's going to think we're fools and they're right we are fools fools for Christ and what does that mean well Saint Paul says it means when we're vilified we bless when we're persecuted we endure when we're slandered we answer gently and when the whole world rolls their eyes at us we respond with goodness then we're rich in the eyes of God he or she is a Christian whose soul is simple and upright if I were

to look into my soul right now what would I see is it simple upright or is it a dark Tangled mess of pain and confusion that's barely alive our soul is what gives life to the body the mind so if our Soul's off we're gonna feel it usually in the form of that deep emptiness or restlessness but if our Soul's all good we're going to feel that too always in the form of now if you look inside a simple Soul you only find three things goodness love and truth in an upright Soul stands up for

three things goodness love and truth and goodness love and truth is simply what we call [Music] he or she is a Christian whose conscience is faithful and pure our conscience is that thing deep down inside that lets us know of the thing we're thinking of doing in the process of doing artery done is good or bad we're gonna know because we're gonna feel it either with inner peace or inner conflict now pure conscience Echoes only the voice of God a faithful conscience listens but we ignore it and the more we ignore it the weaker it

gets the weaker it gets the more it opens up the door for other voices to come in and take over we call this a corrupt conscience so the hard questions we all got to ask are who is my conscience faithful to and am I faithful to my conscience we're all trying to get closer to God Jesus said blessed is the pure of heart for they shall see God it all starts with a pure conscience he or she is a Christian whose Spirit rests in God and places all its hopes in Christ this is my go-to

throughout the day ask yourself in times of total desolation where do I turn we're all tired we're all struggling and we all need some Hope on something try this just take that thing whatever it is that's giving us anxiety stress that we need Hope on and just hold it in your heart now just release it Let It Go hand it over to him and just watch it slowly disappearing into his heart and say only I know you can do all things but let your will not my will be done and then say nothing else that's

it and just rest with him we waste so much time and energy with our overthinking this takes tremendous amounts of trust but it is the way to peace and fine or totality he or she is a Christian who prefers the treasures of Heaven to those of Earth and turns us back on the world in order to unite himself totally to God if you had the choice right now between all the treasure the world has to offer and all the treasure God has to offer which would you choose then ask yourself which one of these do

I think will bring me more peace in which one more anxiety which one of these do I think leads to Freedom and which one to slavery and which one of these do I strive for with all my being and which one do I think I can rely on more now here's the thing we can only choose one because as Jesus said where your treasure is so will your heart be and it can't be in two places at once everything God has he wants to give to us but it's not until we abandon and totally empty

ourselves to the one that we can be filled up with the other now I know some of us are thinking yeah but I really want and need that other stuff he knows to me this is the most fundamental question of our faith Our Lives [Music] so after all that there's only one more question to ask