The trouble of Christian blogs

For awhile, I felt under the category of extremely cheesy Christian blogs.  I have taken simple concepts of the cross and Scripture passages and expanded on their deeper meanings.  I have taken a few world issues, topics in classes, and tried to make them applicable to a blog.  It's hard to live as a Christian and not make everything relate to the Christian Gospel.  A question I have been wrestling with lately is how far does Christianity participate in society?

This question is such a struggle for me because early on in Christianities history, it was not liked by those in society.  Many Christians died for their belief in Jesus Christ.  Even Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross because he talked about God in a way that was different than the Jews were used too.  One could say that we should live like the Early Church.  But, does that overstep boundaries and try to make Christianity something it is not?

Later on, through the Enlightenment period, Christianity was again criticized for their beliefs.  Except this time, Christianity was regarded highly in society for many years.  People were able to be a Christian and not worry about dieing for their faith (except in the Reformation period).  Generally, one could call themselves a Christian, while living a normal life.  In the Enlightenment period, one was again criticized because Christianity was not considered logical.  In this period, logic and reasoning ruled the day and Christianity did not fit this category because Christians rely more on faith than reason. 

In our world today, many Christians are criticized because we, as the common saying goes, "do not practice what we preach."  Many do not even want to be called Christian.  They would rather make up another name for it.  Some do not even want to be considered part of any denomination because they do not focus on the main doctrines.  Instead, these people say that Christians argue too much with each other.  So, do we as Christians even have the right to be considered a lifestyle?

An opinion that I have developed about Christianity is that it should not be part of society.  Christianity never was meant to be part of the world.  That is why Scripture is filled with examples that are against the views of the world (Jn 12:31; 14:30; 15:19; 16:11, 33; 18:36; Eph. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:10; Jas. 1:27; 4)!  Instead of living in the world, we should recognize that Christians are salt and light to the world (Matt. 5:13).

For in my opinion, I believe that Christians are counter-cultural to the world.  We do not look to the world for help, but we look to Christ for guidance.  Yet, we still pay what is due to those who we owe taxes, and we still respect those leading our country and the like (Mark 12:17).  This involves Christians living by the world's rules but different from the world.  I encourage you to read the Gospel's as well as the letter of James.  James says it beautifully at the end of the first chapter how Christians are to live in the world, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world (1:27)."

The trouble for me in blogs, is trying to get others to understand this as well as myself.  It is hard to hear this message and do something about it.  I can think about what it means to live as a Christian and type it in a blog, but it is so much harder to live Christianly.  Maybe Christians should remain under the history of what it means to be Christian by never being part of the world, but being something other than, because we are willing to care and love those around us.