How to Become a Christian

Apologies for the language here, but the thing I can never understand is how you can call yourself a Christian and act like an asshole. It happens all the time and it just blows my mind. Seriously, I have a whole chapter about this in my book Reviving Old Scratch.

How can you call yourself a Christian and treat other people like trash? How can you claim to follow Jesus yet treat others unkindly, aggressively, rudely, roughly, dismissively, haughtily, intimidatingly, selfishly?

How--How!!!--can you call yourself a Christian and act like an asshole?

Listen, I get all the big debates we have about what's wrong with Christianity, but isn't this the biggest one? Isn't the biggest problem with Christians today this disjoint between confession and lifestyle?

So what's the solution?

I'll tell you mine.

Become passionate about the Fruit of the Spirit.

Love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Make these virtues the central focus of your Christian practice. Discipline yourself to attend to these virtues from your first waking moment to the time your head hits the pillow at night. Do not, for one minute, let these virtues slip from your mind. Let the pursuit of them become your obsession, the animating agenda of your day.

Hold yourself to these virtues in every interaction, with every person in every situation. With your spouse. With your children. With your co-workers. With everyone online. With everyone in the traffic jam. With everyone standing in the line. With the cashier. With the person sitting next to you.

Pursue these virtues, with passion and discipline. Never take a minute off. Never allow yourself a slip or an excuse. Never let them slip from your consciousness. Right now, right here, with this person, am I being more kind, loving, patient, gentile, joyful, good, faithful and self-controlled?

Disciplined, intentional obsession with the Fruit of the Spirit in every interaction with every person throughout the day.

For me, that's how I'm becoming a Christian.

This entry was posted by Richard Beck. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply