TOP TEN REASONS AND ROADBLOCKS TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN

Hello friends and neighbors....

I became a follower of Jesus Christ (aka...a Christian) back in the fall of 1970. To some this would be a good thing...to others it would be something to endure...to others it would be an act of intellectual suicide. For me it was life.

I was 19 years old...confuse, paranoid, depressed, impressionable, rebellious, independent, a LEMMING (thinking that I was an independent thinker... but really running over the edge of the cliff with the rest of the independent thinkers). I considered myself at that time to enlightened and free. That was the era of FREE LOVE...where free meant NO RESTRAINTS...FREE to do whatever you wanted to do...as long as you did not hurt anyone...but of course since I was NOT an island unto myself...my actions always affected someone...BUT in my free and selfish state of mind...it really did not matter because IT WAS ALL ABOUT ME BABY...ALL...ABOUT...ME.
The anthem was IF YOU CAN'T BE WITH THE ONE YOU LOVE...HONEY LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH.

Even back then (pre-fall of 1970)...I had the spark of a writer in me (or so I thought). I would write stories about Jesus and His band of merry men who were really not merry...but gay...homosexuals... sodomites...as they travelled around the country side giving themselves holy kisses. I found myself become more and more CYNICAL of ORGANIZED RELIGION...and about life in general. Remember... I had grown up in "THE CHURCH."

I was in a band at the time (The Blind Distortion) ...and we were practicing across from the church that is famous for putting on the Bethlehem Market place. It was a Sunday night (I had long ago quit going to church)... and we were rockin' and rollin'. Someone from the church came over and demanded that we stop the loud noise. My response...as they turned around to go back to church...play a rock and roll version of bringing in the sheaves. Boy...was I open minded passing around some of that free love mentality.

This was in the time when JESUS and "spirituality" were in vogue. ON the radio...you were encouraged to "put your hand in the hand of the man who stilled the water"...as George Harrison was singing to his "sweet Lord" (who happened to be Krishna)...while Ocean was taking "one toke over the line Sweet Jesus"...and Judy Collins was singing about His "Amazing Grace" (along with every drunk at Willie Nelson's Picnic)...and the Beatles were having visions of Mother Mary who told us it would be alright if we would "let it be". The radio air waves were charged with this religious fervor. The Edwin Hawkins singers were singing "Oh Happy Day...since Jesus washed my sins away"...as Norman Greenbaum (a Jewish rocker) was singing about "the Spirit in the sky" and informed us that he "never was a sinner...I never sinned...I've got a friend in Jesus"...and The Lord's prayer was in the Top Ten and Jesus Christ was a Superstar on Broadway and on the radio. In the Weber and Rice play...Mary Magdalene informed us that she was confused about her love relationship with Jesus...because she did not know how to love him...and Judas was just a misunderstood disciple. Another Broadway show told us to take it..."Day by Day...and to pray three things...as the Byrds and later on the Doobie Brothers (as they toked their doobies) proclaimed that JESUS WAS JUST ALRIGHT WITH ME.

Remember...this was not church and Christians singing about God and Jesus...it was your average everyday, recording artists. This was the atmosphere...that the JESUS MOVEMENT (Jesus moving among people) was birthed within. It was your average everyday hippie...accepting Jesus...becoming BORN AGAIN (a phrase found in John 3:3) and brought to the forefront by Jimmy Carter...the President of the United States...and later by a book by Chuck Colson...the Richard Nixon head henchman).

Lots of people were making decisions to accept Jesus and become a follower...or NOT accept Jesus...because they were open minded...intellectually superior than those weak minded fools. Lots of people had reasons and excuses for NOT becoming a Christian...and it was not limited to the 1970's or even the 1960's. From the time that Peter preached his first sermon after Pentecost...people have made the choice...and people have their reasons and excuses...their ROADBLOCKS FOR NOT BECOMING A CHRISTIAN.

With all that said....here are THE TOP TEN ROADBLOCKS TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN.

NOTE: These were reasons and rationalizations that I used over the years. Others may have their own top ten lists.

#10 It would be crimp in my lifestyle. It's kinda hard to get drunk, do drugs, have sex with a male or female or both, watch pornography, cuss, commit adultery (fill in the blank of your favorite sin)...when you are suppose to ACT (definition of a hypocrite) like "A CHRISTIAN".

#9 I'm not WORTHY to be a Christian...so I will clean my act up first and then become a Christian. NOTE: Of course the self cleansing never takes place...because the more I try to clean...the dirtier I become.

#8 I keep 6 out of 10 of the Ten Commandments..and I'm pretty sure that is good enough to get me into heaven (if heaven really does exist).

#7 My sweet, dear, old Grandmother Boyd was a Christian...and she was praying me in before she died...and she told me this many times. I know that God will answer her prayers and I will slid on in...on her prayers.

#6 I like that Jesus do...he's just alright with me...but it's His followers that I can't stand. if I've got to be like THEM...then I would just as soon go to HELL. NOTE: This is usually followed by "I don't like ORGANIZED RELIGION".

#5 Until I have every answer to ever secret of the universe...or at lease to where all of my questions about God are answered...I WILL NOT BELIEVE. And even if I do have all the answers...I may or may not become a Christian...after all...it is very inconvenient and might disturb my free loving, free thinking lifestyle.

#4 I refuse to become a LEMMING like those people who watch the "T.V. Christians"...and send my money to those big haired, tear crying, charlatans. I am too WORLD SAVVY to be taken in by them.

#3 Christianity is an insult to my INTELLECTUAL PROWESS. I refuse to commit intellectual suicide for a fairy tale about some poor Jew...who thought He was God's Son...and allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross...to become a substitute for my sins...die on that cross...and then was buried..and three days later...rose from the dead. NOTE: This is also known as D.B.R... Death, Burial Resurrection...nothing more...nothing less. I would rather teach my kids that a bunny rabbit came in the middle of the night and left a bunch of candy and eggs or that a fat man in a red suit infiltrates our home in the middle of the night leaving gifts and eating cookies. At least those are more credible than that Jesus thing. After all...it is all about the children...isn't that what Easter and Christmas is all about?

#2 One word...HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!!!! I refuse to become a HYPOCRITE like them. I would rather be a HYPOCRITE like other people. They say one thing and live another. They act like a saint one day a week and live life like hell the other six. They dress up in their fine clothes...while the rest of the world suffers. They are nothing but a club for the rich. The preacher makes more money than some of the people in his congregation. Some of those deacons are driving better cars than I am. All they want is MY MONEY. They want to tell me what sinner I am...and then do the same thing they condemn me about. Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Eddie Long, John Welsey Fletcher, those pedophile priests, Tammy Faye Bakker, Benny Hin (fill in the blank of whatever current religious person that failed to ACT like a Christan). Of course the ratio of believers who never steal, lie, cheat, commit adultery, etc... is NEVER taken into consideration. The bulk of the New Testament is written to "believers" who were still sinning and not ACTING LIKE A CHRISTIAN...and had to be corrected. Consider the church of Corinth...who lacked in none of the spiritual gifts, eagerly waiting for the coming of Jesus, were selfish, divisive, getting drunk at the Lord's supper, having sex with their mother in laws, not being considerate at the cover dish and eating up all the food, out of control...you know...HYPOCRITES. NOTE: I glad that the Bible was written to cover up the sins and fault of those HYPOCRITES...oh yeah...it didn't.

AND THE #1 REASON AND ROADBLOCK TO BECOMING A CHRISTIAN:

IT'S ALL ABOUT ME BABY....IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well...that's a few of the reasons and roadblocks that I HAVE USED in the past...and sometimes still use. you probably have your own...or have heard others.

COMMERICAL BREAK

Has God been speaking to you about getting connect with the church again? Have all your reasons and roadblocks and excuses for not being a Christian left you feeling just as empty as before. I would like to invite you to ease back into a new life...by attending the Ruminator Sunday School Class...meeting every Sunday Morning at 9:00 A.M. at SPRINGHOUSE WORSHIP AND ARTS CENTER. We meet in the Fellowship hall for food, fun, laughter...and then at 9:30...we begin to chew on the Cud of the Word of God.

Love and Removed Roadblocks Kisses
Rodney "Reasons No More" Boyd