The Good, The Bad, & The Holy Spirit
How can you tell if a Christian is really a Christian? Now that's an interesting question. Obviously if you ask a person, specifically a Christian, you're always gonna get a different answer. Personally, I believe it's a person's action that defines who they are. The same is said for Christians. In fact, why don't we talk about three individuals who are seen as good Christians in the eyes of the public.
Martin Luther King Jr.
I don't believe this is someone who needs any introduction. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the great pioneers of the civil rights movement. His "I Have a Dream" speech was been taught in every history class across America. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he fought against racism through nonviolence and civil disobedience. He inspired a national during the 60s and still inspires many generations afterwards.
Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu was a South African archbishop and human rights activist. Like MLK, he was a pioneer for civil rights in his country of South Africa, fighting against similar acts of segregation. His efforts and his teachings helped earn him the Nobel Peace Prize. His efforts didn't end there. He was also a strong activist for gay rights, believing that all were equal in the eyes of God. He has even stated that if God was homophobic then we would not worship that god. This is an exact quote from him:
"I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place. I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this. I am as passionate about this campaign as I ever was about apartheid. For me, it is at the same level."
He sadly passed away a few months ago from cancer at the age of 90. I've only learned of his passing recently and it pains me greatly.
Fred Rogers
Like King Jr. I don't think this man needs further introductions. Fred Rogers, better known as Mr. Rogers, was a Presbyterian minister and television host best known for hosting the beloved preschool television series Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, which aired on television from 1968 to 2001. You know him best from his friendly smile and his fantastic sweaters. His show helped teach children important life lessons such as not to tell lies and that it was okay to be a kid. He also wasn't afraid to discuss heavy subjects such as death and divorce to children, feeling that children are capable of understanding such subjects.
Now that we've talk about the good let's talk about three Christians who are deplorable in the eyes of the public.
Jim Bakker
Jim Bakker is a Christian televangelist and con artist. Some may recognize him from The 700 Club and his own television program, The Jim and Tammy Show. His shows mainly consisted of him preaching to the audience and getting them to donate to his church. He managed to steal from his congregation through their donations and used it for his own needs. H was arrested and charge with multiple accounts of fraud and was sentenced to eight years in prison, serving only five and released on parole.
He also raped his secretary Jessica Hahn. While she never said she never called the incident rape she never called the sexual encounter consensual, so I'm gonna call it what it really is. It's rape. Bakker kept her silent by paying her $279,000, some of that money was from the donations from his followers. To this day Jessica Hahn has not received any justice for the assault.
Fred Phelps
Fred Phelps was the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, which is essentially a Christian hate group. He's mainly infamous for his deplorable views on homosexuality and leading his followers to protesting at funerals for gay people, military vets, and disaster victims who he believed were killed by God as a means for tolerating homosexuality. Thankfully, the world got a little quieter when he passed away back in 2014.
Dennis Rader
Now this individual is likely going to stir up some controversy here but that's okay. For those who don't know Dennis Rader is one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. He is identified as the BTK killer. BTK are the abbreviations for "Bind", "Torture", "Kill", which was his modus operandi. Throughout the 1970s and 80s he tortured and killed ten people: seven women, one man, and two children. For the longest time he was never caught by the authorities, often sending them cryptic letters taunting them. He was finally arrested in 2005 when police traced a floppy disc that contained metadata leading back to his church. Rader is currently incarcerated, serving a life sentence without parole.
So why am I adding one of the most notorious serial killers to this list. It is important to know that he is in fact Christian. He was a fell active and devoted member of his church, Christ Lutheran Church. He was elected president of the church council and was a Cub Scout leader. Now it is important to note that he didn't commit these crimes in the name of Christianity. Yet he was still Christian while he committed these crimes.
I know someone will read this and say that I'm cherry picking the bad guys, or they'll say they aren't real Christians, but here's the reality. Whether you like it or not those people represent your religion to the world. When Fred Phelps and his members of the Westboro Baptist Church protested at soldier funerals it casts a shadow on all of Christianity. Or when a televangelist finds themselves in a major scandal, using donations to their church as a means for their benefits, it looks bad. Or when a pastor preaches horrible advice that have extreme and dire consequences, it looks bad. Or a youth pastor is arrested for things he's done to the people they were supposed to be guiding and protecting, it looks bad. To borrow a quote from Trevor of the Belief it or Not podcast, I'm not the one trying to make Christianity look bad, these people are. If there's anything you should take out of this post it this: the three I mentioned aren't not terrible Christians, they are terrible people. All they've done their entire lives is hurt people.
To me, this is how you tell if someone is really a Christian. On how whether their actions and words help people versus hurt people.
But let's say that you are right. Christianity had it right all along. Not just that but your version of Christianity was the right way. So my question for you is this, shouldn't you be way more angry that the people I listed are doing more damage to your religion and your god? If you are angry, what are you doing to change it? If not, why aren't you angry about it?
I've said this before but it's worth repeating. If you truly want to be a good Christian be like Martin Luther King Jr., Desmond Tutu, and Fred Rogers. These three have spent their entire lives helping people, not because it was their Christian duty but they saw the world as broken and in need of fixing. And the way they went about it was through kindness, generosity, and compassion. These are the exact teachings from the Bible that every Christian should be living up to. Honestly if there was a heaven I would rather spend an eternity with those three rather than spend it with Bakker, Phelps, and Rader. Because spending an eternity with horrible people doesn't sound like heaven, does it?
Now some of you are going to point out that I chose these individuals because I either like/dislike them or agree/disagree. Honestly I can do the same in regards to any other religion like Islam or Judaism. Heck, I can even do the same for atheism. There's certainly some atheists I like like Seth Andrews of The Thinking Atheist and other atheists that are insufferable asses like Bill Maher. Again, that's not the point of this post. Regardless of one's faith or lack thereof you are ultimately defined by your words and actions. That's what either compares or separates you from so many others. Bottom line, just be kind to others, treat them with respect even if you don't completely agree, and call out those who are intentionally doing harm to others.