Is there a wrong kind of Christian?

The Body of Christ is big and encompasses all Christians, regardless of denomination. In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12:13 (KJV):

"¹³For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews of Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. ¹⁴For the body is not one member but many."

Unfortunately there have been sibling rivalries among God's children since Cain and Abel. Perhaps it is because often the word 'member' is taught in reference to individuals in a church body and not whole denominations of the Body of Christ. However at the time of writing, the church was in its infancy and its leaders were hunted men. Their goal was to find common ground among its followers who came from different faiths with very set customs. Some of these customs went against Christ's teachings and St. Paul's letters laid the foundation for acceptable behaviour.


To this day, one of the major points of contention is which member is the "right" kind of Christian. However, who are we to say that our particular group is the only acceptable one to Almighty God? This is a disservice to Father God who doesn't see us that way. In 1 Corinthians Chapter 12:18 (KJV):

"¹⁸But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him."

No one is supposed to feel out of place in His Kingdom. As we all worship differently, there are denominations that suit us differently. Luckily the Word allows us the freedom to choose the church with a personality that fits us best. In Romans Chapter 14:5 (KJV):

 "⁵One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind."

Despite dissimilar customs and regulations, all Christ's followers must not only tolerate but respect each other. St. Paul addressed this in Romans Chapter 14:10 to 12 (KJV):

"¹⁰But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. ¹¹For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. ¹²So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

If there is a wrong kind then that would be any number of so-called Christian groups gaining exposure in the digital world from their contemptuous behaviour. They blatantly contradict God's Word and grab headlines with the shock value of their actions. To focus on hateful division instead of grace, forbearance, charity, forgiveness, healing and love as Jesus Christ instructed, makes them not only the wrong kind of Christian; but not Christians at all. Without love, we have nothing. Without love, we are nothing.

God Doesn’t Use Reward Tables

Several years ago, one of my colleagues with whom I was sharing an after-work meal, asked me if I tithe my salary. To tithe is to give ten percent (10%) of your gross salary to the church. It is an Old Testament practice that is still followed by most modern-day Abrahamic faiths. It is different from the offering and is on a voluntary basis. She was quite taken aback by my view that the tithe was not mine but God's. The job itself was a gift from Him and such a small portion of my salary given to His church was not an unreasonable demand. My tithe is an act of love and appreciation. Only the cleanest or newest money was used for the tithe. They were folded neatly and placed in envelopes provided by the church. Freewill offerings were handled in similar fashion. Moses said In Leviticus 27:30 (KJV):

"³⁰And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's; it is holy unto the Lord."

Tithes and freewill offerings to the church are supposed to be given with the mindset of any charitable donation. We don't expect anything in return. We don't feed or clothe the homeless expecting them to clean our yards or wash our cars. It's our duty as Believers to help the unfortunate, as commanded by our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He spoke prophetically in Matthew Chapter 25:31 to 46, of the coming time when all nations shall be gathered to Him and sorted into two groups. Those considered to be goats, did not live charitably and will be sent to "eternal punishment" in the "the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". Of those that He called sheep, who will inherit the kingdom prepared "from the foundation of the world", He said in verses 35 to 40 (KJV):

"³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: ³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? ³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  ³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

 ⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Currently there is a prevalent teaching among evangelists about sowing seeds. Believers are to give a certain amount of money to the churh and in a fixed period of time, God will return their sown sum with a specific increase. For example, sowing a seed of $500 will lead to a harvest of $5,000 and so on. Even a scripture verse will be used to support the scheme, even if it has no bearing whatsoever on the subject matter. Psychological manipulation can pervert any text and convince the ignorant of anything. This is the source of much ridicule that Believers face today from non-Believers.

There is no Reward Table in the Kingdom of God. We cannot quantify God's all-encompassing blessing into dollars and cents. It is not our place to expect a monetary blessing from our Creator simply because a self-proclaimed man or woman of God has said so. Especially, when a monetary blessing is not part of God's plan for us at this time. God's Will may be that we have good health for our entire family. A loved one may overcome their battle with an addiction. A long-time single person may meet their life partner. A natural disaster may not destroy our home or an accident may not cause severe injury. How narrow-minded it is, to convince Believers that God's blessing will only come in the form of money.

It is just as bad to convince Believers that a monetary seed can guarantee a non-monetary blessing. As aforementioned, it is by God's Will and not our own. There is an old saying among Believers that 'God does not give us what we want but what we need, whether we like it or not.' We may want a particular job but He knows what is best for us, and we need to stay working where we are because of a coming promotion; or a job opportunity at a place we didn't consider within our reach. The Holy Spirit speaks to us in our hearts and warns us against teachings that are contrary to God's own Word. If the still, small voice tells you that the preacher is preaching bunk then he or she probably is. It is such a shame that with so many lost and hurting people, evangelists don't choose to speak of God's love, healing, forgiveness and compassion. That message was good enough for Jesus Christ's ministry here on earth. Isn't it good enough for us now?

‘F’ is for Fornication

Human beings can be pretty obsessed with sex. As a result, this is a topic that will be covered here more than once. It's intricate and will require more attention than this post. Nowadays, people spend a considerable amount of time concerned with who's doing what, with whom, when, how, and why. Most Believers don't have pre-marital sex at all and for some reason, this fascinates people who do. Notice that I didn't write 'All Believers' because there will be no hypocrisy on this blog. Of course, there are Believers having pre-marital sex. They aren't supposed to but everyone has a weakness. For some unmarried Believers, carnal pleasure with a willing party can weaken willpower faster than kryptonite drops Superman. That is their cross to bear and it is absolutely not our place to judge them.


The general modern view is that to abstain from pre-marital sex, is to deny ourselves the breathtaking experience of completely connecting to another human being. In addition, we're missing out on the most pleasurable recreational activity in the known universe. Herein lays the misunderstanding. Believers are not anti-sex. We're anti-fornication. Fornication! The mere word conjures up images of angry zealots pointing fingers, pumping fists and throwing stones. According to the Concise Oxford English dictionary, the word means "to have sexual intercourse with someone one is not married to" AKA pre-marital sex.


For brevity's sake, I'm going to highlight just one scripture that outlines why Believers are not supposed to have pre-marital sex. On St. Paul's last visit to Jerusalem, the church elders there told him in Acts Chapter 21:25 (KJV):

^"25As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication."

God's Word shows His intent that sex was designed for married couples to enjoy. As a matter of fact, marital sex is described as not only enjoyable but ravishing. In Proverbs Chapter 5:18 to 19 (KJV) a man is told:

^"18Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. ¹⁹Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love."

The Bible doesn't consider sex to be dirty but intensely delightful. However fornication among God's people is not allowed under either the Old or New Testaments.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a virgin bride or groom. Those who have openly chosen to save their sexual activity for marriage often become objects of ridicule, curiosity or even on rare occasion, admiration. No matter what, there is a tremendous amount of peer pressure to just give in and "get some". Once it is understood that Father God did not lay down rules to restrict us but to protect us. To share your body with someone who is really physically attractive or really rich and smart is just not good enough. To share your body and life, with someone you're absolutely in love with is not good enough. For them to absolutely love you is not good enough. It is the act of commitment, a man and woman publicly vowing to spend a lifetime together. That alone is good enough and we all deserve nothing less.

Reach Out to Win Souls

Planet Earth is very different from the New Testament days. Crime, pollution and global warming have made for an intrinsically distrustful human race. Thus a Believer's approach to witnessing has to adapt from the methods used back then. It isn't easy to connect with perfect strangers. Much less to engage them in conversation long enough to touch on our beliefs. To our advantage, we have the perfect template provided by Jesus Christ and his apostles. We must use our interpersonal skills to make the template work for us. Here's the rub, not everybody has people skills. Accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, does not automatically fix our personality flaws. When we read about the disciples in the gospels, they sometimes come across as petty, self-important and frustrating. It wasn't until Lord Jesus completed His task and went home, that they finally came to terms with the mantle of leadership.


We have to, at least, come to terms with our negative idiosyncrasies before reaching out to non-Believers. If we want someone to consider changing their lifestyle, mindset and philosophy; then we must have the courage to accept that we too are a work in progress. Human, fallible, flawed but living our lives for Him is far better than anything else we could imagine. We are not better than them but we have our purpose and that makes all the difference. Psalm 51:1 to 3 (KJV) encapsulates the humility that we must express:

"¹Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  ²Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me."

When I was in high school, our homeroom was right next to the Form where all the school prefects were. One day, during a free period, the quiet was shattered by sounds of tumult from a nearby classroom. We heard a desk get flipped over and a student screaming, "How dare you! I am not a whore!" Apparently this was the sound of a crusade invitation gone horribly awry. The young lady, invited to the church crusade, was gently told the Believer classmate, "It's time to put aside your whoring ways." They were not friends before that incident and certainly not afterwards.


We Believers are often broadly painted as judgmental, but telling somebody that they have "whoring ways" is flat out slanderous. Even if the young lady was sexually active, that gives no one the right to call her as a prostitute. What was the Believer thinking? Was she thinking at all? Reaching out to non-Believers doesn't mean that you must become a social butterfly, but you can't condemn someone like that. You're damaging the images of your church and faith. If you're going to break someone down with the invitation, why would they want to attend the event? Nobody willingly goes somewhere to be abused.


In addition to God's Word, there are other resources to help you fly the flag for Jesus Christ without traumatising the non-Believers in your life. In 1936, a man named Dale Carnegie wrote a book called "How to Win Friends and Influence People". This tome taught many to do just as the title declares. My Dad has had a copy in the house for decades but I only read it recently and was very surprised at how insightful it is. Originally geared towards sales people, it is clear that this is a good . However, many Biblical principles are seen applied in everyday situations. It's not about manipulating people. It's about positively influencing people. Jesus Christ has changed our lives for the better and we want as many people possible to experience the same. People are so jaded, burned out, stressed out, freaked out and worn out. If we want them to take a leap of faith and join our family, then we have to make them feel like welcomed not condemned. We have to think before we talk. Walk a mile in their shoes. Reach out to the non-Believers and be the salt bringing out the flavour in their lives.

Believers, read the Bible!

All Christian leaders urge their congregations to read the Bible everyday but most people don't. Most people don't open their Bible until the sermon starts. Or they will read a few psalms then pray as a daily devotion. In fact, some of my church-friends have said that reading the Bible beats insomnia every time. It's as if every fibre of our being doesn't want us to read this book. The flesh and spirit are battling for your attention. The flesh wants you to sleep and the spirit wants to be fed by God's Word. The flesh usually wins this battle unless we are very determined. Hearing the Word and reading passages in church are not enough. Reading the entire chapter that a sermon passage comes from is not enough. You have to get the whole picture. The Bible must be read from cover to cover, beginning to end, start to finish. As God's people, we cannot know where we're going if we don't know where we've been.


Admittedly, the Old Testament is a tough read, especially the genealogy. A study Bible is a great resource to have on hand. We have multiple copies of the Zondervan Study Bible (King James Version). You get more then in-depth notes on passages. Before each book, there is a history note telling you of the political climate of the time. Knowing what was going then adds even more flavour and meaning to the text. This is important especially for the proselytes because the Word of God is life. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of God's Word and knowing the Word helps us to know Him.


The Bible is the foundation of our faith. It is the source of our history, divine doctrine, traditions, instructions and the plan for our Christian lifestyle. It is all laid out for us to take in. When you read the Bible, the Holy Spirit will reveal God's intentions for you. God will speak to you and show His purpose for your life. No offense, but the Holy Spirit will speak to you in a clearer voice than any from the pulpit. By not making the effort to read your Bible, you're ignoring a huge part of your faith and the consequences are far reaching.


New converts are always eager to share what God revealed to them in a church service with their social circle. There is nothing wrong with that but it's not like the early days of Christianity. There was no New Testament and copies of the Torah (Old Testament) were kept in the synagogues. So the apostles didn't have any books to support their sermons. They were preaching under the direction of the Holy Spirit and winning souls for Christ. In this day and age, it is a far different story. Bibles are available everywhere in printed and electronic forms for little or no money. There are books, blogs, videos, seminars, conferences and degrees on Bible teachings. If we're basing our life on what is written in this book, the very least we can try to do is read it. Non-Believers are reading it, so why aren't we?


Oh yes, there are unsaved people reading the Bible and often out of sheer curiosity. We Believers must be ready to field questions and even defend God's actions in the Old Testament. After the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, there were hostile actions against nations occupying the Promised Land. For example the destruction of a city called Ai. Joshua Chapter 8:23 to 28 (KJV) says:

"²³ But the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. ²⁴ And it came to pass when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them, and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword. ²⁵ So it was that all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousand—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back his hand, with which he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. ²⁷ Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as booty for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap forever, a desolation to this day."

God instructed His people to wipe out the occupants of whole cities. We have to know about those battles, why they happened and what they meant. A Believer can't effectively fly the flag for the faith but be almost clueless about its history? This is one of the reasons atheists are laughing at us. The common misconception is that are naive, backward thinking, prudish and uninformed. This couldn't be further from the truth. However, if they know more about God's Word than we do, Hosea Chapter 4:6 (KJV) comes into play:

"⁶My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children."

Remember the little children's words, "Read your Bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow!"

We Make the Pot Tasty

Hello and welcome to this blog. It is called 'Being the Salt of the Earth' because it is intended to bridge the gap between Christians who love Jesus and the non-Christians in their lives. There are Christians who are shell-shocked when their beliefs are tested; and, there are those whose patience is tested by the Christians. This is the place for questions to be answered, myths to be dispelled and hopefully we'll understand each other a little bit better.


In Matthew Chapter 5, Jesus Christ called His people "the salt of the earth". Unfortunately, not enough people understand what that means. It's a very simple analogy that doesn't require too much analysis, and at the very least, a passing familiarity with food. Food must taste good. In order for flavours to be released, and/or amplified in any recipe, one must add salt to taste. Only a little salt is added to the pot and must mix with all the other ingredients. Add too much salt and the meal is yucky. Not enough salt in the pot and the meal is bland. Our bodies need salt in order to be healthy but only in the right amount. Jesus wants us to be the salt, in the melting pot that is the human race. We have to mix with the other ingredients, even though we're outnumbered and often taken for granted. However, we have a place and sometimes overstep our bounds. There is a difference between being bold and being boldfaced. The trick is to know when to be bold and how to avoid being boldfaced.


Who am I to start this blog? I noticed that a young sister from my home church has expressed her continued frustration with the people around her. Undoubtedly, they may be frustrated as well. She is certainly stressing herself out and I realised that there needed to be a resource dedicated to helping people like her to find the middle ground that does exist. This year will be the twentieth anniversary of my Salvation. Growing up, my parents made sure that our family had an appreciation for all faiths. We lit deyas for Divali as Mum had a Hindu background. We made sawine for Eid-Ul-Fitr as Dad had a Muslim background. We celebrated Christmas and Easter as, somewhere along the line, we were Presbyterians and I was Catholic. Then Mum and Dad accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour; then the kids followed suit. To this day we have all been baptised in water and the Holy Spirit. The kids joined the Choir ministry and participated in church events, while the parents gave support. We've been through trials and tribulations but this family has stuck together, clinging to the Rock that is Jesus Christ.


Although we gave up some things as we embarked on our journey as Believers in Christ, we never gave up our unsaved friends. We never separated ourselves or ostracised anyone. There was little understanding of our choices and many stereotypes to dispel. However, we learned to fly the flag of our faith without disrespecting anybody. It took me a long time to learn how to be like salt; and I would like to help others if this is the way they would like to interact with the world around them. Feel free to send me questions or situations that you would like addressed. I will do the research and answer them as best as I can. God bless you all!