La Vie Chrétienne: Why be a Christian?

Good morning, readers, and happy Sunday! Welcome to my first of more articles to come on living the Christian life. Perhaps the first question we should ask is, “Why be a Christian?” It’s no secret that Christianity gets some pretty bad press these days, and from a variety of sources. Secular “progressives” hate us for several reasons, but, at this point in time, primarily because we defend God’s plan for human life, love, marriage and family. We always have and always will insist that God created human sexuality as something holy, that sexual expression belongs in holy matrimony, that holy matrimony is entered into by only one man with one woman who are both free to marry and not bound in marriage to another, that children are a gift and blessing from God and are meant to be the fruit of their parents’ love for each other. We cannot give in to the world’s demand for contraception, sterilization, abortion or so-called euthanasia. We believe in the sanctity and dignity of human life from natural conception until natural death. Because of this, some groups and individuals call us things like backward, unenlightened, fanatical hypocrites who are totally out of touch with reality.
Right. And who has the biggest health care system in the world? Who carries out the world’s greatest acts of charity to the world’s most needy? What kinds of people have done more good for the world uplifting humanity through the arts, sciences and education? Christians.
It’s true, lots of “Christians” have at times said and done some horrible things to others. But, is Christ okay with those things? Of course not! Sin is sin, and as we know, all have sinned and deprived themselves of God’s glory. We also know that the outcome of sin is death. So why Christianity? It is a call from Christ to sincere conversion, to turn from the sorrow and heartache of sin to the fullness of life and the joy He brings by living in us and through us! Christ forgives and redeems; He heals and restores! After all, the glory is God is us being fully alive in Christ!
Do I get disappointed because of some of the misguided, or even sinful, things some especially high profile Christians and clergy have done? Of course. Do I, personally, get or do everything right all of the time? Of course not. I am Christian because the Church is bigger than I, bigger than any one person. It is the Body of Christ on earth. I love the fact that I am part of a communion of believers who hold to the same faith in the Gospel of Christ throughout the world, regardless of nation, race, background, status or language. I love that our history of nearly 2,000 years goes back to Christ and His apostles, with thousands of heroic saints who changed the world dramatically, and for the better, by their love for God and love for others. We have the guarantee of Christ that He has made the Church His bride, that She was born from His side on the cross as He cleansed and purified Her by His blood. He has sent His Holy Spirit to Her to guide Her in all truth, something humanity desperately needs in these times of darkness and confusion. And we are put at ease by the fact that nothing will destroy Her, not even hell itself. We are Christians not only for what we believe, but primarily for what God calls us to be. And that is the essence of Christian life, to be saints by the power of Christ’s resurrection!