Early last week the Daily editorial cartoonist John Nilsen presented a cartoon that had but one purpose — to portray Christians as crazy killers who go around bombing abortion clinics. Let me first say that a true Christians don’t kill for Jesus. They lay their lives down for others. Not every person who claims to be a Christian is one.
Just because you stand in a garage doesn’t make you a car; likewise, just because you go to a church doesn’t necessarily make you a Christian.
You need to actually follow Christ and His word, not just claim you do. Bombing an abortion clinic and murdering people certainly does not follow the teachings of Jesus, and to suggest it does misrepresents true Christians. It is no different than one who, out of hatred, would draw libelous cartoons against people of other races in a white supremacist publication. Would the Daily tolerate such a cartoon as that? Well, it just did, because it is that same spirit of hatred that was so evident in Nilsen’s cartoon. (A note to the Daily: Just because you have freedom of speech doesn’t mean you have to print every vile message that comes to your editorial board, although you can. But decide if you want be a publication of intelligence and integrity or a promoter of hate.)
In the wake of such an awful stereotype, it is very important that the Daily’s readers get a good understanding of who real Christians are. First of all, Jesus is that standard, and the Bible testifies of him. To live in denial of the word of God and still call yourself a Christian is to make up your own Jesus — but that is not the Jesus of true, historical Christianity. Now, since Christians use the word of God and not their own feelings and opinions as the standard of truth, it is necessary to look at the word of God to see what a real Christian is.
The Bible says that the wages of sin are death. But Jesus died in our place, taking upon Himself our punishment. So, a Christian lays his life down for others, just as those Christians who lie in front the doorways of abortion clinics are laying their lives down for unborn children. A Christian does not take lives but saves them.
Second, the Bible says that those who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So, Christians are those who make Jesus their absolute Lord, not just their insurance policies. They repent from killing Jesus on the cross daily with their sins. (After all, Christians are obedient to Christ if He is their Lord. Christ said, “Put away your sword, for those who live by the sword will die by the sword.”) A Christian’s weapon is the word of God, not a stick of TNT. Finally, the Bible says you will know them by their love. Now this is a tricky one, because the word “love”, as most understand it today, does not have the same definition as the “love” referred to in the Bible. It does not mean warm fuzzies and appreciating people.
The Bible says the Gospel is an offense. If people are going to die, or worse, burn in hell, it is out of love that you warn them, stop them, even lay your life down to save them. It is out of selfishness and desire of personal peace and comfort that you would let a person or a nation die in sin without intervening. It is the same love a father shows when he yells at a child not to touch a hot stove. It’s not out of hate, but out of love, that the father yells. It’s out of that same love that our Father in heaven sent his Son to die for us. But, most today are still persecuting Jesus and His followers. They are still driving the nails through His hands. John Nilsen has shown a hatred for Christians, most likely because he has experienced hypocrisy from those claiming to be Christians. I was an atheist once, because I was fed up with dead religious practices that worshiped an idol of some unknown god named Jesus. But then something happened. I met Jesus and realized it’s not rituals that make you a Christian, but a relationship. Most of all, a Christian is someone who knows Christ. How many out there these days can honestly claim they know Him? It is no wonder there is such a hatred of Christianity. If you don’t even know Christ, how can you know what a Christian is?
Tom Gromacki is junior studying political science.