Words Mean Things

Have I said that before? I know I wasn’t first, but I am going to keep using that phrase because it is so important in the struggle to present Truth.

Ann Rice (a well-known novelist from the vampire genre, and her Christ the Lord novels) has announced that she has “quit being a Christian,” although she insists she is still committed to Christ. She has said that following Christ does not mean following his followers.

Maybe we need a little clarification regarding the word “Christian” or “Christianity.”  Originally the word was formed by those who were not followers of Christ to signify those who were followers of Christ. It was originally a term of derision and only much later did Believers adopted it as a name of honor. 

It is safe to say that anyone following “anyone” other than Christ Himself is making a huge mistake. The guidelines for life, for faith, for belief, and the walk of obedience are clearly defined and delineated in Scripture. Many “Christians” are foolish people who live lives in whole or in part separated from the Truth of God’s Word. But many others are patterning their life on the Truth and following Christ in the strength of His Spirit within them.

Ann Rice is, in my opinion, concerned with ideas that she values without regard for the Truth of God’s Word. Believers who reject sin and false doctrine are not the enemy, rather those who reject Truth while “embracing” Christ, are destroying the very foundation of the meaning of the word “Christian.”

Ann Rice says, for example (and I am just choosing one of many), she refuses to be “anti-gay.” And it is there that she departs from Truth because Truth abhors sin. Ms. Rice is free to choose what she rejects and/or embraces. She is not free to assume that because she chooses to embrace sin that those who choose to embrace Truth are the enemy. It would appear that while she may be “redeemed,” she is not willing to follow the path of the Redeemer.