Hi, my name is chris and I'm a recovering american christian. I am 34 yrs old, I've been married to my best friend and soul mate for a little more than 12 years. We are blessed to have two beautiful daughters, Kelsey, and Sidney. We live in a small southern Illinois town called Metropolis. It sets on the Ohio river and claims to be the home of Superman.
Well that's about it, I am pretty normal. Although I am not sure that I have always believed that about myself. You see, I have been part of the american christian culture my entire life. I've been a company man, a product of a system that does not work. Let me explain.
Born into a paster/evangelist home, I was raised in the ways of the ministries. And let me say for the record, that I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving for my parents and heritage of faith that they have given me. Above anything else, they truly introduced me to God. Not their god, but the true God. But while mom and dad knew Him for themselves, They also were products of a system that does not work. Now in their day, it seemed to have better results than today. Our for fathers seemed to live lives that were far more spiritual than ours. There services resulted in more lives being transformed by the hand of God than our present day meetings. This is why you hear so many of our grandparents lament for day gone by, and a return the the old way.
I believe that what they had was real. Because God is real. But much like every other spiritual thing that man tries to control, the system was destined to fail. To much man, not enough God. It never works.
The american christian religion is vibrant in the world today. It uses all the right words, in all the wrong ways. It is full of itself, centered on spiritual truthes taken out of context in order to suit the pride of men. The american christian, as portrayed by most church bodies of our generation, does not reflect the life of Christ, or the early church of the new testament. And of these religious pretenders, I am chief.
I could make excuses about my "good intentions" but what good would that do. I desire to be free, and to be like Jesus. The one who walked on water, and died on a cross, not the one whole lives in worship centers, and tells others how they should sacrifice. Yeah, I have been a product of the system, and for many year, I really thought that I was something really special. I thought that God had anointed me to be a leader in the earth. Which of course means that there would have to be followers. I believed that I was anointed above other men, that I somehow a greater purpose than most anyone else. I was called to sing, I was called to preach, I was called to be heard! See, thats the system in america, and it is very easy to become full of pride. I did. And so have many others. Before you know what has happened, you find your self working to convince people of your own greatness instead of demonstrating the greatness of God. Which by the way is what Jesus did. He demonstrated the Greatness of God.
So that's me. As I am approaching my 35th birthday, I find my self caring less and less about what the system thinks of me, and more about what it means to be like Jesus. I find myself holding strong to the truth that has been given to me by generations past, and yet walking away from much of the junk that has held so many bound, a kept many more away. Today, I don't want to be a part of a church, but rather be the church every where I go. I want to love the same way that Jesus loved me. My hearts desire, is to be a true christian. To live the life of Christ before my kids, my wife, and Metropolis IL.
Jesus, please teach us how to Love.
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