Do You Have a Religious Preference?
What do you do when you're asked a question that requires more than a one-word answer, but the answer has to fit in a little box?
"Do you have a religious preference?" the nurse asked me at a first-time medical visit recently.
"I'm a Christian," I responded, and then I watched intently to see if she found it on her list.
Because, to me, Christianity isn't a box you check on a list of spiritual preferences.
Christianity is a relationship, a way of life, a position before God that is undeserved and never-ending.
Being a Christian means I'm part of God's family and a citizen of another country. I have eternal life to look forward to and daily hope that puts joy in my heart despite my circumstances.
Who I am isn't a religious preference.
Being a Christian means God knew me before He created the world. Long before I was born, He sent His Son to die for the sins I would commit. He formed me in my mother's womb and planned every day I would live. He invited me into His family, forgave my sin, and promised me an inheritance along with His own Son.
I call Him "Father." I talk to Him every day. I don't go to mass or kneel before an idol. I don't rent a pew or check off a list of good deeds.
I have a relationship with the God of the universe, because He reached down and made me His own.
Christianity isn't fitting into a little box and hoping God is happy.
God is already pleased with everything His Son accomplished. Those who believe in Him are forgiven, changed, ready for eternity, and blessed every day of this life.
That truth doesn't put us in a religious box.
What God did for us defines who we are.
We are Christians.
And that's not a preference.
That's the most important thing that can be said about you and me.
Next post (June 25): The Tools of Providence
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
"Do you have a religious preference?" the nurse asked me at a first-time medical visit recently.
"I'm a Christian," I responded, and then I watched intently to see if she found it on her list.
Because, to me, Christianity isn't a box you check on a list of spiritual preferences.
Christianity is a relationship, a way of life, a position before God that is undeserved and never-ending.
Being a Christian means I'm part of God's family and a citizen of another country. I have eternal life to look forward to and daily hope that puts joy in my heart despite my circumstances.
Who I am isn't a religious preference.
Being a Christian means God knew me before He created the world. Long before I was born, He sent His Son to die for the sins I would commit. He formed me in my mother's womb and planned every day I would live. He invited me into His family, forgave my sin, and promised me an inheritance along with His own Son.
I call Him "Father." I talk to Him every day. I don't go to mass or kneel before an idol. I don't rent a pew or check off a list of good deeds.
I have a relationship with the God of the universe, because He reached down and made me His own.
Christianity isn't fitting into a little box and hoping God is happy.
God is already pleased with everything His Son accomplished. Those who believe in Him are forgiven, changed, ready for eternity, and blessed every day of this life.
That truth doesn't put us in a religious box.
What God did for us defines who we are.
We are Christians.
And that's not a preference.
That's the most important thing that can be said about you and me.
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Next post (June 25): The Tools of Providence
Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash
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