Those Radical Christians

A strange thing happened to me the other day. I was sitting in a coffee shop with my daughter, waiting for my son to finish his homeschool class. I brought a good book with me to wile away the time and my daughter brought her Bible study homework. I don’t know about you, but when someone stares at me, I automatically look in their direction. I’m not sure what that is, but I’ve always done that.

So I’m sitting there, drinking my coffee and enjoying my book, when I feel eyes on me. I look up to meet the eyes of this very young girl, literally staring me down. I’m not sure what her deal is, so I return to the comfort of my book. A little while later, I automatically look up from my book to catch the same girl’s eyes, staring me down again. She wants something, but I don’t know what it is. She’s acting a little off, so I don’t engage. I just return to reading my book. Minutes later, I look up again, to look right into the same girl’s staring eyes. The Holy Spirit tells me to ignore her, so I do. After a few minutes, I decide to catch a glimpse of this girl to see what she’s about without getting caught. I quickly look over at her and see she’s sitting with a girl, wearing a hijab. So she’s sitting with a Muslim girl. The girl that’s staring, is not wearing a hijab. Her head is uncovered, she’s got a short, masculine haircut. After ignoring her, her conversation gets really loud. She’s been triggered, but I can’t figure out why. I’m not wearing a giant cross, or a t-shirt that says, “I hate Muslims.” So what is her deal?

I quickly return to my book and figure the only way to keep her at arm’s length is to ignore her. She and the Muslim girl leave before we do. When my daughter and I leave, I ask my daughter what could have triggered it. My daughter holds up her Bible that says in big, silver letters on the side, “The Holy Bible.” “Probably this!” she replies. Oh, yep, that’s probably it.

The girl saw the Bible, and decided she was going to start something with those radical Christians. Her mind has been filled with the lame stream media telling people that there are radical Christians about and to be afraid, very afraid.

But that’s not what the Bible teaches us. When a Christian is radical, my definition, they are closer to God. They are walking with God and are filled with the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit become more manifest in the radical Christian: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Those are the “symptoms” of a radical Christian. We will not hurt you. Our Bible tells us not to. We will not curse you. Our Bible tells us not to. We will not try and kill you. Our Bible tells us not to. The only thing we will do is try to convert you to Christianity by telling you God loves you.

Christians do not hate Muslims. Our Bible tells us to even love our enemies. Truth seems to be a rare commodity these days. There’s a new Lego movie coming out about Batman. My daughter and I laugh at the trailer. At some point in the movie, the Joker asks Batman who his enemies are. Batman replies that Superman is his arch enemy. Which the Joker replies, “Superman’s not a bad guy!” Just like the line in the movie, Christians are not the bad guys. A true Christian doesn’t bring harm wherever we go. We bring the fruits of the Spirit, against, which, there is no law. How can there be a law against love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control? These are the things we bring with us. These are the fruits we bear in our lives. The truth is, you want Christians near you. You want Christians bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, around you. The fruit is good. It’s all good.