Miguel Alex Cantu

Have you ever had a friend who identifies as a Christian, but their living does not match what your view of who a Christian should be? I have. Actually, I was that friend. Growing up, my living was far from the teachings of Jesus described in the four gospels. It's not that I didn't want to be nice, love my neighbors, and share my possessions. It's just that it wasn't in my nature to do so. For non-believers, this can be bamboozling. It can even be a point of attack towards a believer. They might think that the hypocrisy is a perfect excuse to denounce Christianity. Why should they believe in Jesus if it obviously wouldn't make them any better off? Why commit to a set of beliefs and practices that didn't work for the people around them? I don't blame them. I sympathize with them. This concept of Christian commitment producing a well-behaved, good, and moral individual has been tainted by Christianity for centuries. Now, many believers and non-believers...

Every Christian should be able to answer this question. If you're a Christian then you should be able to explain "Why?". Is it just because your parents told you to believe in Jesus? It is because everyone around you is doing it? If any of these reasons are your answer, then it is not enough. The testimony of believing in Jesus should never be an inherited religion or a result of cultural appropriation. I think about this almost every day. Why am I Christian? Why do I believe in Jesus as my Savior? A part of me wonders that if I have gown up under different circumstances, would I have believed in Jesus? If I grew up in, for example, the Middle East. Would I still have turned out to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? While I can't completely negate the possibility, I can say that the odds would be low. However, fortunately I grew up in a household and community that was conducive to believing. My Mom raised us to be Christian. Of course, this isn't the only reas...