Why I love being a Christian

The Creeds, Monitor Lizards, and Christian Pride

I love church.

I wish church was 7 hours long with a Q+A and provided meals.

I love learning about God, I love worship, I love it all.

And recently I have felt so prideful about my Christian heritage.

Each day I pray the Apostles Creed which reads:

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

Amen.

So fire.

Every time I pray it I am reminded: wait, I actually do believe this.

And believing this, believing that Jesus is out on the loose somewhere, believing the Spirit is guiding the Church, and believing that Christ is coming back to resurrect me with Him.

Fires me up.

I made that meme, I hope you like it.

Anyway, I say the creed every day because I need to be reminded: I am not the first Christian, nor am I the last, nor am I alone.

A lot of us (gen zers especially) tend to think that we are it! We suffer Elijah-syndrome thinking “God, it is just me. I am the only one faithful.” Nah.

There are Christians being martyred in Egypt, Iran, and many other countries as we speak.

There are Christians throughout America who are trying and failing and trying again to conform to the image of Christ and be led by the Spirit.

It is not just you. It is not just me. Let us not be so prideful to think we are the only ones!

Here is another thing I want Christians to be proud of: our moral code, our ethics.

I am sick and tired of people apologizing for what Christians believe.

All truth is divisive. No group of people is actually inclusive.

Jesus doesn’t teach inclusivity. He brings a sword and divides. He separates sheep from the goats.

BUT.

Our exclusivity is radically inclusive. Anyone can join. You just have to repent.

Your background does not matter.

Paul was a murderer. Peter was a coward.

And these guys built the church.

Christ will take ANYONE in.

That is why the gospel is good news. We have only to repent and reorient our lives toward this great purpose: knowing God and crucifying our flesh.

It is difficult. This is why Chesterton says:

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.”

It is difficult, but Chesterton even on the difficulty of the Christian ideal by saying this:

“If something is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.”

So yeah. Come into the Church with all your muck and mire.

And let it wash off through the sanctification of the Spirit, the waters of baptism, and the partaking of the Blessed Sacrament.

Finally, to continue my “not-apologizing-for-Christian-moral-codes” section.

I like to think of Psalm 119.

David (or a group of authors) are basically saying this for 15-25 minutes (that is how long it takes to recite).

“I LOVE GODS LAW. IM A FEIN FOR IT. AND IM PROUD OF IT.”

Same. I love it.

But, the author(s) is talking about the freaking Leviticus.

Leviticus 19:19

“You are to keep my statutes. Do not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock; sow your field with two kinds of seed; or put on a garment made of two kinds of material.”

Leviticus 11:29–30

“These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm on the ground: the weasel, the mouse, the large lizard of any kind, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.”

The author(s) are reading these and loathing that there are people who wear shirts with multiple materials and that people foolishly touch monitor lizards.

I find this hilarious.

They are rejoicing in some strange laws.

And you know what, Christianity is strange. The truth is always stranger than fiction.

Some things are hard to explain, but if we get down into nitty-gritty of it, it makes logical sense. For God is not contrary to reason.

And we should rejoice in our morality.

We should pray for God’s law to be honored among all.

We should feel pride in being a Christian—a little Christ.

I’m a fein for the faith.

And I am gonna continue to be.

Because as the psalmist says:

Psalm 119.46-48

I will speak of your decrees before kings
and not be ashamed.
I delight in your commands,
which I love.
I will lift up my hands to your commands,
which I love,
and will meditate on your statutes.