Are Down Low Christians Giving God A Bad Name?

Some stuff will stick in your craw until you take the steps to remove it.

This post is one of those things because thus far, I've only written two sentences.

 All spiritual questions and answers align themselves to the ear of those whose heart's are inclined to listen.

I say a heart to listen because our ears only have capacity to absorb that which we find pleasing. Rebuke is not on that list for most. To relish in rebuke is almost unseen in  the human experience. Even the pope, feeling justified in wading into political waters, seems shocked when sprayed with the disdain of the disagreeable.

Christ came not to condemn, but to redeem.....and it worked.  He lived a life worthy of sacrifice for the cause of redemption. He did it so that we wouldn't have to.

Have to do what?
What is the IT that Christ came to keep us from doing? 

 Live a life worthy of redemption for ALL (which includes you).  What it takes to save yourself would also be sufficient to save the world. None of us is even good enough to make it through a day sin free, much less an entire life. This gift from God doesn't give us license to be lazy because lazy implies doing something is actually an option in this matter.

Understand what a gift truly means. What do we have to do to receive our birthday gifts? Arrive at the party and open them.  That's all!!

Let me repeat this for those in the upper balcony area.  THE WORK IS DONE. If you believe that, you too are redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say.....say what? That I am a Christian or that I am redeemed?

We Christians spend hours and sermons and days upon weeks upon years arguing over "Getting Right With God"; code words for going to church regularly and paying tithes....i.e., doing something, not just saying so.

By designating ourselves with the name of the actual doer instead of calling ourselves according to what has been done to us, Christianity became encompassed around an idea of a the blessed actions of a sent savior more so than salvation itself, in that we focus more on the act and actions of Christ the deity- past, present and future- instead of God the Alpha and Omega. If God had a seat at the naming seat, I imagine he would suggest we name ourselves exactly what we are, the redeemed of the Lord, not those people called Christians, because anymore, what does the term really mean?

How Many Christian Denominations Are There In America?  (That depends on how you define denomination)


In robbing the name of the redeemer, Christianity holds a self proclaimed supremacy of existence that offers privileges strictly from association, including a clue of end time prophecies and conjoining questions of each other (who already claim Faith) whether we'll be ready (a full functioning Christian associate) when he comes.

What Exactly Does Ready Look Like?

The humongous problem with this whole "ready" concept is the debate over who and what gets to define your qualified association- or readiness, if you will? If we both claim Faith but only one of us goes to church, who gets in to heaven first? Why? If heaven is our promise, does it matter the order of entry? And where are any of these answers written either way?


Is it tithing and attendance that offers a membership into the association, or is the association actually no more complex than accepting God's gift of redemption "just as you are", like some of us keep trying to describe it?

I'm not sure I care to debate that topic anymore. In short the answer to both questions is yes.

Yes. God can save you in your sin because, if we all agree that all have sinned and fall short, he really has no choice.  Right?

Yes you need to go to church and tithe if you heart has spoken to you in that fashion, and not because your family keeps wondering why haven't you shown up. Forget all those external voices. If that internal voice gets too strong, consider entering the ministry to calm the noise even more.  Keep in mind, however, that my informal independent studies have NOT shown that stingy people- even pastors- can become instantly benevolent from the act of tithing, regular churching or preaching. Our nature is coded to our DNA.

Some of our choices we think we would do differently given the opportunity to re-do them, but the likelihood is we will choose the path most aligned with our true nature.  If it's in my nature to dance, I'm probably going to that club even if the church folks don't necessarily approve.

Which begs the true question of who are you in Christ, and where is Christ in you?  Last I heard, Christ was living off of the grid and doing all of his best work in rent free temples that walk around and talk now.  He left many words of wisdom in a very special book, but he came not to just be heard, but to be seen of men. To create a living example of what Love in action looks like.  From my best analysis of what he did and what we've chosen as a response to that example, most of us ran back to the same synagogue that he rarely set foot in, because accepting ourselves as "the new church" makes each of us accountable to also be pastors of a sort.

I accept that call in the way I pattern my every encounter with another human, for if I am truly the church, fellowship can, and should, happen whenever and where ever I am. Many churches who function as a place you go on the weekend,  have started only helping their regular tithers and attendees instead of also helping those strangers or infrequent attendees asking for help . While that sounds like simple fairness, it also sounds like the slippery slope of momentarily earning the benefits of salvation....like an entitlement earned through taxation. Like government- a place where those who really need help get means tested and still somehow struggle to qualify. As a result, the church becomes blemished by the policy of fairness and not emboldened by the challenge to out give God.


In fact, way too many of my close friends and family keep wondering why church folks seem to be the last folks to help you anymore.

I hope not to suggest that any church can survive without financial support because no church can stay open without paying the bills. Turning their support inward is a reasonable reaction to dwindling memberships across the nation. Yet, some churches seem to trust in God's provisions enough to steer clear of pulpit fundraising campaigns.

Is that a rebuke against pulpit fundraising?

I'm really not writing to judge any man, or church, for their choices. This expose is an effort to shine light on outcomes....aka., fruits.

Unless it is natural to your DNA, pulpit begging has to be something incredibly tough to force yourself to initiate. It might get easier once you master the lines that fill the coffers, but those coffers are always going to depend on the mastery of that asker.

Master asker's rarely miss out on alter calls (membership building) or 'pay the bills' guilt preaching. Eventually, these are also the churches that close really soon after that asker dies or moves to do his asking of a bigger congregation.

In other words, even what appears to be economic growth might also be a cancerous growth in the gut of Pastor Stressoverbills as well as an unsustainable formula and a weak reflection of Faith.

I have never come to grips with so many Christians having such a clear ear for end of time prophecy (though the word clearly says that no man knows when) but not for the reliably consistent and sustaining blessings that ALWAYS come to him that waiteth on the Lord. If you haven't quite figured it out, all of God's blessings come when times seem most bleak, but also when you finally break and just Let Go and Let God. I may not know what Faith looks like, but I'm fairly confident it doesn't look like pulpit pressure.

There are examples of churches that try to give beyond their receiving (Salvation Army), but these are bad examples of regular churches because giving churches continuously struggle to keep pace with God's blessings despite their desperate efforts to help more and more people. Simply put, you can't beat God's giving, no matter how you try. Yet, so very few churches really try to do it.

It's as though the more those redeemed of God plant, tend and harvest the fruit for the redemption of others, the bigger and bigger the next harvest becomes.

This is why the more I live, the easier it gets to pray for blessings on even my enemy as I pray for myself. All conflict derives from the fleshly nature of ourselves, the material side of who we are,but none of us are truly reflected in our stuff or stature, because those things often bear hidden costs. Instead, we are all EXACTLY what our fruits say we are.

You DL Christians have not fooled anyone yet, because your fruit keeps giving you away. If you were stingy sinners, almost every one of you remains stingy while saved. If folks used to call you a liar a lot, they probably now just do it after y'all leave the church house. Hustlers on the street have surely taken to the pulpit, yet pulpit hustling is a grind and it creates the same quiet commentary that street hustlers endure. If you showed little integrity to your street hustle, it will likely carry over.

Which means, for some Christians, their reputation is the same bitter fruit it's always been. Meanwhile, that one Auntie who hates them church folk but also hates to see a young man down on his luck, seems to always put you up for the night without reminding you about missing church, and she'll put a $20 in your pocket that she will never ask for because it wasn't a loan, it was water on a struggling fruit tree.

I'm gonna stop now.

If I explain this one any further it will not be free of judgement. This message was only intended for Down Low Christians. You'll recognize them from that wilted fruit basket that used to feed the lost sheep. Now, that fruit is for members only.