It has become really cool to hate on the church and Christians. A few years ago a book came out called They Like Jesus But Not the Church. I see people quoting Ghandi frequently with "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians."

True followers of Jesus and members of His church need to reclaim the terms Christian and church.

Is there anyone else out there who thinks it's ridiculous the mindset people have about Christians? Especially other Christians! Let me see if I can reign in my thoughts because I'm feeling a bit scattered right now. Here are some thoughts:

1. You can't like Jesus and dislike Christians. People don't understand what they're saying when they say this. A Christian is someone who has been called by God to repent of their sins and proclaim Jesus as God. They are heirs to the throne of God, are freed from sin, and are citizens of the kingdom of God. Their time in this life is spent proclaiming the kingdom of God and helping others who are proclaiming as well--they are on the mission of God. They are the church.

I want to focus on two images the Bible uses to describe the relationship between Jesus and the church. The first one is that the church is called the body of Christ. In other words, the church is how Jesus functions in the world--it's how He moves, lives, and breathes on earth. If Jesus wants to accomplish something in the world, He does it through His church. Jesus' mission on earth happens through His church, and the church's mission is Jesus'.

A second image is that the church is called Jesus' bride. Yes, Jesus is portrayed as the groom, and the church is portrayed as the bride. Do you sense the serious connection here? The church and Jesus are married--and not married like our society says marriage functions. This is an eternal marriage--Jesus and the church are one flesh. They function together, have the same heartbeat, and have the same goals.

If you come up to me and say you like me but hate my wife, we will not be friends. And I might punch you in the throat.

This is the connection Jesus has with His church. If you hate Christians, you hate Jesus. If you hate the church, you hate Jesus. Hate.

2. Many people who claim to be Christians really aren't. Let me point to one illustration Jesus used when describing how we can know if someone is a Christian or not. It's the illustration of a vine and branches. Jesus said, speaking metaphorically, that He is the vine, and Christians are branches. If branches are connected to the vine, and the vine is healthy (and since Jesus is God, we know He is), the branches will produce fruit. The analogy is clear. If people are Christians, connected to Jesus, they will produce "fruit" (or good works) in their lives.

If someone claims to be a Christian and either (1) continually lives in sin, (2) hates someone, or (3) wants nothing to do with other Christians, then they are lying and are NOT a Christian (1 John).

We accept people into our churches as members WAY too easily. Some people who go to church have not produced fruit in years. Others are continually living in sin. Let's understand, these people are not Christians! And I second what Mark Dever said in his book The Deliberate Church when he mentioned that for a church to not rebuke a member to restore them, and to not kick them out when they refuse to repent is to give them a false hope of eternal life and right standing before a righteous God!  

3. If you are a Christian, you must have a deep, convicting, abiding love for other Christians. Read the book of 1 John for starters. In it the apostle wrote about how someone could know we are the disciples of Jesus: by our love for each other. So to say you don't love other Christians is to say you're not a follower of Jesus! You cannot hate another Christian and be one yourself.

Fellow believers, we must reclaim these terms to their true, biblical meanings! The kingdom of Jesus is why we're here, and to let people who aren't true believers defame and belittle the gospel and Jesus' kingdom is eternally harmful.

Jacob