A Problem in Christianity

Growing up my idea of being a Christian was believing in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of my sins and not doing bad things.  My idea of the Gospel was a ticket to heaven and a list of things I should not do, i.e., don't curse, don't have sex before marriage, don't drink, etc.  I held to this theology for quiet some time.  However, when I got to college and was mentored by some amazing people I started seeing the truth of the Gospel.  I began to actually read my Bible for myself; chapter by chapter, book by book.  I soon realized that the Bible stories I was taught in sunday school had a lot more depth to them.  The things I heard from pulpits growing up didn't necessarily line up the teachings I saw in the Bible.  So as my study of the Bible and theology grew in depth, my view of Christianity in our culture became more perplexed.

I see buildings filled every Sunday morning with people listening to a sunday school lesson, singing a few songs, hearing a sermon, and leave with their main concern being about what they will have for lunch.  Is this what Christianity really is?  Is God's plan for our life to attend a church, be nice to people, raise kids, and then retire to the beach where we can live out the rest of our days?  To read the Bible and come to that understanding is beyond my mind capacity.

Christ did not save us just to save us.  Christ saved us to make us like Himself (Romans 8:29).  Many of us take joy in being loved BY Christ, but very few of us actually want to be LIKE Christ.  Because being like Christ means giving up some things you might treasure and maybe even your own life.  We CANNOT separate "follower" of Christ or "disciple" of Christ from "believer" in Christ.  Put yourself in the disciples' shoes really quick.  You follow a man around for three years,  you do whatever he tells you, you see him do miraculous things, and then you see him die then rise from the grave.  Then, this man looks at you says, "Go make disciples."  What would you do?  You would most likely go into all of the Earth telling people about this man.

Christ brought you to Himself so that He might be known in all nations through you.  He sends Abraham out to be a blessing to all nations (Gen. 12).  He sends John the Baptist out to prepare for Christ (Luke 3).  He sends his disciples out into the uttermost parts to spread the name and renown of the grace of Christ (Acts 1).  And He sends us to do the same.  We exist to make Him famous.  Not to live a nominal Christian life, then die and pull out our saved card on judgement day.  If we truly understand how sinful we are, how holy God is, and what happened at the cross we have no choice to spread this good news. Every disciple is to make a disciple.  Let us grasp the reality of that.

What is Christ Swag?

I guess since my blog is called "Christ Swag" then i most likely need to define what that is.  For you fundamental traditional people out there it might sound heretical, however it is not.  Actually, it maybe just what you need.

We might need to define the term "Swag" for those who have presumption or are clueless.  Swag is the way one carries his or her self.  It is the posture of a person, physical and in this case spiritual.  So Christ Swag refers to the way a Christian carries himself.  The focus is on how a Christian carries his or herself in a fallen world.  A few other athletes from across the country and I have focused a lot of attention on the subject over the past year.  We have seen that the idea that people have in their mind about Christians is so dull and lame.  They assume to surrender their life to Christ means signing up for a boring life filled with several Bible studies and Sunday worship.  Obviously, this is not the case.

So Christ Swag is about letting people know that Christianity actually brings more joy to life than as to indulging in the world.  Another focus of Christ Swag is about showing that we are called to be in this world but not of it (John 17:15-16).  So the question is, how can one be "Christ like" without separating him or herself away from the evil of the world.  It is a great and troubling question.  We are told be separate from the world but also in this world.  It is quiet hard to make sense of it.

I spoke on this subject a few weeks ago at a FCA camp a long with a few of my dear friends.  As kids poured into the room I was amazed at the interest.  I realized that this is a real question in people's mind.    I had kids asking for shirts, info, etc.  After the camp I was confronted about putting all this on paper to distribute.  So right now I am working on that.  Pretty soon there will be copies of Christ Swag spread abroad.  I am the last person to be writing anything.  I barely passed English 112!!  However, if God can used my horrible self, then so be it.

There areas or topic that this material will cover are; Our Joy in Christ, Being in this World, but not of it, The Application of Christ Swag, and The Teamwork of Christ Swag.  May sound dumb and corny to some of you, so I reccomend you be the ones to read it! Hope to bring more info soon.

Grace and Peace,

I fell into the Blog Trap

First it was facebook, then twitter, now its blogging. It seems that blogging is the new upcoming thing, or maybe I am just severly behind? I have found that all these social medias can used as a source of a ministry. I often have things that I love talking about, but frankly my roomates get tired of hearing them. So I decided to create a blog spot. I named the blog "Christ Swag" for a specific reason. Having a background in athletics and tradition Christianity I have found that the terms "fun" and "Christian" do not go together. I desire one day to write a book such topic, but that is wishful thinking; I hope to encourage, exhort, edify, and sometimes make you laugh through this blog. I will talk about tough issues, but I will talk about comical things as well. I hope that you might follow and keep up with my blog and maybe even give feed back on things I present!

Grace and Peace,