Other restaurants for non-Christians

Since it's Holy Week, I decided to untangle some of the top misconceptions people have about Christians as what I have read on friends' Facebook posts and comments shared to me by non-Christian friends.

"Christian ka 'di ba? bakit mo nagawa yan?" (You're a Christian, how come you did such?)

When we declared that we're Christians, never did we say we won't make mistakes any longer. We're still human striving to slowly move away from what our old sinful nature desires. So if you happen to see us lose our temper, struggle to forgive, make wrong decisions or simply not live up to what you expect of us, please be patient because we are work in progress until the day our Perfecter calls us Home.

“I’m not perfect. I’m never going to be. And that’s the great thing about living the Christian life and trying to live by faith, is you’re trying to get better every day. You’re trying to improve.”—Tim Tebow

"Christians are boring"

Believe me, we're not! I used to party with friends with alcohol and cigarettes (maybe I had 5 sticks in my entire life), staycation, movie, etc. and I truly enjoyed those moments then. However, if I'm being honest, I don't feel any longing to do those things anymore. If that's so, how do we have fun if not with those?

When we gather together, we usually talk about God's goodness. But hey, we don't always just talk about the Bible. We party, we go on picnics, staycation, play games, watch movies, sing at Karaoke (we don't sing Christian songs there if you're wanting to know! LOL!). We do normal things but the aftermath does not include hangover from alcohol but unexplainable joy and fulfillment as we encourage and sharpen one another, thus resulting to renewed hope.

I dare you to try going out with us and see for yourself :)

"Christians are judgmental"

I have seen this comment over and over especially when controversial topics were laid on the table. As per Merriam Webster, judgmental- characterized by a tendency to judge harshly; judgmental error.

Although I acknowledge the fact that there are some who throw Bible verses and shove them on people's throats in an unrespectful manner, which I strongly oppose, those verses are true and infallible. No matter how we feel about it. Truth is absolute not based on how it makes us feel.

If only all our spiritual eyes will be opened, we'll see everything that the enemy has been doing to deceive this world and to make everything sound offensive.

"Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God." 1 Corinthians 4:4 NLT

If telling the truth based on the Bible is being judgmental, then yes, you can call us judgmental and we'd rather be called that than know the truth but sugarcoat it with a loving lie. However, we can be as gracious and loving as possible. Please believe me when I say that we care for you so much that we don't want you to miss out the beauty of God's amazing love.

"All Christians are hypocrite"

Hypocrisy happens when our talks don't match our walks or when we say one thing and do otherwise. I'm not gonna lie, there are some who are (maybe at times, I still am) but please understand that while we campaign about some things, we may not be able to consistently do it right all at once as we're still learning to navigate things by God's grace. When we fail, we ask for your patience rather than hearing disappointments that oftentimes make us look disqualified to be a catalyst of change. A change we all need to live a life that God wants for us.

For us Christians, we can minimize people seeing us as hypocrites if we'll increase our walk and humble our talks.

To sum it up, Christians are normal people who made a decision to walk and follow Christ.

We still sin but sin no longer holds us captive.

We are not boring, we just have fun differently as the world does. In fact, we have unspeakable joy that transcends night outs and the best party there is.

We are not judgmental but we desire for all of us to be at the right standing with God when Judgment Day comes that's why we speak up.

We are not hypocrites, we are also sinners forgiven by God who need His grace to enable us to walk our talk.

So if you're not a Christian and you've been hurt by some, allow me to sincerely apologize to you and I pray you can still find in your heart to give us a chance to make it up. I remember this analogy I heard from a preaching:

"If the food you've eaten at a restaurant isn't good, you don't stop eating, instead, you try out other restaurants".

You can try other Christians, genuine Christians who can help you mend the broken piece of your belief if Jesus is real.

Trusting Jesus to have saved us through His death and resurrection and allowing Him to transform us is what really encompass our Christian faith.

And to you, my fellow Christians, let's not waste what Jesus did on the Cross and let's not add one more Mahatma Gandhi who said this sad line, “I like this Jesus fellow, but it's the people who claim to follow him that worry me.” :(

Let's be the "other restaurants" that non-Christians would want to go to so they, too, can have the Bread of Life and The Living Water that can satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst away, the same way it satisfies and quenches ours.

May we all have a meaningful Holy Week as we remember His death and resurrection that paves the way to our eternal life with Him.