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When I was growing up, there was a couple who attended my church who were very much like Simon of American Idol. They spent a tremendous amount of time traveling to and from the homes of members to call them out if they wore jewelry, skirts above their knees and even if the song that they sang at church was a few beats too fast.

Christianity at the time for me was more about the appearance of rather than actually having a relationship with Christ. A tremendous amount of energy and time was spent trying to look and be a certain way rather than submitting to The Way (John 14:6).

My problem was that there were so many don’ts and do’s that the freedom I was promised that came from knowing Christ never materialized. I had never experienced the joy that the Bible-thumping televangelists spoke about; neither did I the passion. What I had was a laundry list of what not to wear, where not to go, what not to eat, when to worship, how to worship, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

For close to two decades, I worshiped a false god. That is the false god of pride in that I ‘knew and kept’ the Ten Commandments, that I worshiped on ‘the right day’, that I did not wear certain things, that I did not eat pork, smoke or drink alcohol. That false god made me believe that that was all that I needed to do and that it all sufficed where a relationship with Christ was concerned.

What I did not realize was that all I needed to do was believe in Jesus Christ. (John 3:15). Belief in Jesus Christ was all I needed to do.

Belief in Jesus Christ…

• The Prophet who confronts us and calls us to repentance of sin.
• The Priest who comforts and saves us from sin.
• The King who asks us to give Him total control of our lives.

Last week we celebrated Christ’s death and resurrection. My understanding is that Christ did not come so that I would have a Xeroxed form of Christianity. A Xeroxed Christianity is one that is grounded in a desire to look good in the eyes of church folk or one that was handed down through the generations or by religious leaders. He (Christ) came and died in the hopes that I would develop a personal relationship with Him…starting from the ground up, not one that was handed down.

Where am I now? Is my faith still Xeroxed? Find out in Part II of this article.

Akhenaton
mail@pharaohsprotege.com