What is so special about Christians? In a word, NOTHING! or EVERYTHING? What makes Christians special is ... nothing. Christians are really no different than any other person walking this globe. They live, hurt, get sick, get married, and die just like everyone else.  Some Christians learn they have cancer. Some go to church every week. Some lose a loved one tragically.  Some develop addictions to various substances or behaviors.  Some Christians get divorced. Christians are regular people.

Some Christians see themselves as different ... better ... spiritually elite. We may say we are the same, but we don't act it. There is some truth to the arrogant Christian stereotype. You see, when we proclaim what we believe (or know) to be Truth that is one thing. But when we disrespect the beliefs of others, we are saying we are somehow superior. Many times we tell someone they are heading to hell if they don't believe like we believe. At this point in a conversation, Truth is no longer the issue. Respect is. It's not what we say, but how we say it that makes the difference.

If we actually try to live and love the way Jesus lived and loved, it doesn't take long to realize that all people are the same. We all have the same needs. We all, in my understanding, instinctively know there is a God out there someplace. I also think we are drawn to Him because of His "everlasting love". 

Religion tells us there is a God, and diagrams the way(s) to please Him.  Theology only tells us what shape God might be. Scripture will speak Truth to us if we take the time to listen, but even then, it is only partial, finite, human understanding. Who wants a God they can understand, anyway?

What's left? GRACE. You know, the bagpipe song played at thousands of funerals ... Amazing grace. What is grace? I have a favorite definition that goes along with mercy since they are often, though, mistakenly, used interchangeably. Mercy is when we don't get what we deserve. Grace is when we get more than we deserve.

Example: because of my sinfulness, I deserve hell, but because of God's grace, I am still alive and may even be headed to heaven.

Grace is the only thing Christians can claim that others may not have, and we have that as a gift. By definition, we did not, and cannot earn it. It is God's gift to His children, kind of like our inheritance. We often hear, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." Do we actually believe that? I know I do! That's just BlogSense!

Happy   4th!!!!

~ Barb