Where is the Love

I am a Christian. Lately, I've come to realize that there's a lot of animosity towards Christians, so I decided to do an informal survey on Twitter. I have followers from all over the world, and I wanted a global perspective. I posed the question, "What do you think when someone says they're a Christian?" I received results from Canada, Jordan, Singapore, and from across the United States. Most of these people I have never met in person.

These are some of their responses:

"Crazy"

"Unaccepting"

"Wants everything their way"

"Follower of Christ"

"Judgmental"

"Hypocrite"

Unfortunately, the negative comments far exceeded the positive. The most fascinating comment I received was from a Jordanian, who happened to be a Muslim. He answered with, "The Church, a follower of Jesus". Does this mean that there is more co-existence in Jordan, or anywhere else outside the US? Does this mean that mainly American Christians have alienated non-Christians? Does this mean that politics is more important than Christianity to some? I do think that the political climate has contributed to the animosity. I must also mention that I am a Democrat, and because of that I have had my Christianity questioned. Can you be a Christian and a Democrat at the same time? Apparently, some people think you can't.

There was a recent event which took place in response to the planned Koran burning in Florida, which did not make the mainstream news. The Jordan Times reported that a group of young Muslims offered flowers to Christian clergymen in Amman as a gesture of “peace and coexistence” against the backdrop of a Florida pastor’s recent threat to burn copies of the Koran.

In the Bible (Luke 10:25-37), someone asks Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life and Jesus answers, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"; and, "Love your neighbor as yourself." In a recent sermon I heard, "neighbor" is defined in reference to this verse. Who is your neighbor? Can you guess?

If we disagree with a persons' lifestyle, political affiliation, or whatever, we still must show mercy and love towards them. I remember going to YMCA camp as a young girl where we would sing a song with the words, "And they'll know we are Christians by our love." I now have to ask, do they?