I’m doing a little Series on how Christian’s should behave if we were following other Christians instead of the Word of God.

All the topics can be found here (How thou shalt livist as a christian!)

1)Thou shalt, and MUST join every facebook group that has anything remotely to do with Christianity (as we all know, the more Christian facebook groups you are part of, the holier thou art).

Firstly, can I just point out how frustrated and irritated I get when I keep getting invites to join all these Christian facebook groups. Just to name a few:
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Not Christian By Default, But By Grace ?
Can you give me ONE LOGICAL reason to believe God exists? ?
Christian Guys are hotter because… ?
I’M A CHRISTIAN..AND I’M PROUD TO SAY IT!!
I’m a Christian, and I want all my freinds to be Christians too (>< poor spelling)
Addicted to Jesus
Jesus Love’s You
Largest Christian Facebook Group Ever
Proud To Be Christian
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It seems that people have this urge/need to join Christian facebook groups, because they are scared that other Christians might see them as a lesser Christian if they don’t join. Like as if somehow we will grow in Christian stature if we join these groups.

Secondly, it all just seems so fake to me. All these “Christians” joining all these groups, yet if you look at their facebook pages it is covered with applications like “Would You Do Me?” I mean seriously now, just because facebook is your alter-ego, it doesn’t give you the right to post and do as you please. God judges sin, intellectual and physical, facebook or RL(real-life) sin. To God it is all the same.

See, the crux of the matter is as follows : The problem doesn’t lie in the amount of Christian groups you join (though it does start looking like a blunt sword and lose its impact) , but rather: does the rest of your life, and the rest of your facebook reflect this belief that you are confessing to.

1 John 1: 6-8 Clearly teaches us against such practice
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Quite simple really. Stop pretending to be a Christian and start picking up your cross and start suffering for Christ.

So well put in “The Pilgrims Progress” by John Bunyan (my new favourite reference book) :
The Evangelist says to Pilgrim and Faithful “My Sons, you’ve heard in the words of the truth of the Gospel that you must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven through many hardships (Acts 14:22), and again that prison and hardships face you in every city. (Acts 20:23) You can’t expect, therefore , to travel far on your Pilgrimage without them in some form or other. … ”

2)If a fellow Christian joins/adds a dodge group/application on facebook thou salt tell everyone else, and thou salt definately not confront the perpetrator (that shalt be done via the facebook grapevine).

Arg!! How this irritates me. If a fellow brother has got applications on their facebook profile which clearly screams “Look at me, I’m the fruits of the sinful nature”. Do not go to every other Christian you know and start gossiping about a fellow brother. No, stand up, and biblically rebuke your fellow brother. It is really that simple.. This bickering on facebook & RL is not only destroying Christian communities, but it is clearly against the word of God. God commands us to love those around us, to suffer with them when they are sinning (and by love I mean Christian love.. ie : not turn a blind eye but to rebuking them gently and with patience).

1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

In today’s world people are so quick to label themselves as “Christian” yet they do not even fully understand the fundamental basics of Christianity (the gospel).

See, a lot of today’s Christians believe that if you claim to be Christian, join a Christian facebook group and wear a cross around your neck then you are automatically saved. It is a one way ticket to heaven, no suffering or life change required. How much further from the truth can this be . No wonder so many Christians start to question God and their faith as soon as trials and tribulation’s come down upon them. This school of thought needs to stop!

Okay, that is enough for 1 week. I will tackle point 3 & 4 in the next 2 weeks.

For now I’m just going to end with a quick summery of the phrase”The Gospel”.

The Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:1-4
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you–unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,..”

Galatians 1: 3-5
“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Romans 10: 8-11
“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

God bless.