Listen (Read) closely. I am not embarrassed of Christ or being a follower of Christ. I could not agree with Paul any more in Romans 1 where he states that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. I am not ashamed or embarrassed by the Gospel or Christ who is the bestower of the Gospel. I am NOT embarrassed by that. I am embarrassed to call myself a Christian because of the name and stigma that “Christians” have put on the “title” of Christian.
Yes, I said it. I am ashamed of the name/stigma that those who call themselves “Christians” have given Christianity. It’s ridiculous. Christianity has the stigma that it has because of these people.
We first see the word “Christian” in Acts 11 where church was happening in Antioch and the disciples were called Christians. Not to go all Bible College/Seminary nerd on you, but the word “Christian” comes from the Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos), which derives from the word Χριστός (Khristós), or Christ. Christian literally means follower of Christ.
For some reason when I think of being a follower of Christ, I have a flashback to my childhood and the movie The Jungle Book. I think about the scene when King Louie, the ape, sings “I Wan’na Be Like You” to Mowgli. In the song he says “I wan'na be like you, I want to walk like you, talk like you, too. You see it's true, an ape like me can learn to be like you, too.” I feel like this is how a follower of Christ should be. They should want to be like Him, walk like Him and where He walks, and talk like Him. Some say it is not possible, but just like King Louie believes an ape can learn to be a human; a human can learn to be like Christ.Is it easy? No, not at all. However, in the words of Tom Hanks in one of the greatest movies of all time,
“It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. One big problem is that a lot of people think that it is easy. They think that all they have to do is say a prayer, walk an aisle and fill out a card and they are good to go. They have their “Get out of hell for free” card and they do not need to do anything else. Therefore, they continue living their lives just as they always have, and there is little to no change whatsoever. This is a problem. A big one. This is where my embarrassment comes in. People call themselves a Christian, but they are not being a Christian. They are not being a follower of Christ. Now, I am not passing any judgment, I am just making a plea to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to be followers of Christ and not just mere “Christians.” I am SICK of “Christians” judging others for their sins. I am SICK of “Christians” not sharing their faith. I am SICK of “Christians” passing off their “duties” of being a follower of Christ. I am SICK of “Christians” being selfish. I am SICK of “Christians” thinking they don’t need church, prayer or the Bible. I am SICK of “Christians” passing judgment on other Christians. I am SICK of “Christians” thinking they are better than everyone else. I am SICK of “Christians” refusing to live and minister among the sinners. I am SICK of “Christians” who use passive aggressive comments on social media to get back at people. 
I am SICK of “Christians” wasting their money on meaningless, useless, material things when there all people all over the world dying of starvation. I am SICK of “Christians” who do not go to church on a certain Sunday because they don’t like the music or the person that’s preaching on that certain day. (REALLY?!?! This is a BIG pet peeve of mine. I mean, if you are truly hungry for God and His Word it wouldn’t matter who is delivering it. Don’t get me started.) I am SICK of “Christians” thinking that they are always right. ***NEWS FLASH*** You’re not always right! Just because people do not interpret Scripture just like you doesn’t mean that they are wrong! God uses His Word to speak to different people in MANY different ways. I promise, you’re not always right. (More to come on this subject later…) I am SICK of “Christians”. I am SICK of “Christians”. I am SICK of “Christians”.You see, Jesus loved all and worshiped One. He walked among the sinners and taught among the saints. He gave and expected nothing back. He stood upon His beliefs until it hurt. Literally. He prayed for those closest to Him and He prayed and forgave those who persecuted Him. He set the perfect example for Christians, His followers, to follow and live by.
However, nine time out of ten we (yes, we.) look right into His eyes, spit in His face and turn and do our own thing. We do not try to be like Him, walk like Him or talk like Him. We simply want the benefits of Him without doing His work. When we do this, we show the world that He really doesn’t matter. We show the world that we are no different from them; therefore, we portray that the world does not need Jesus. This is embarrassing. This is shameful. This, unfortunately, is the new “status quo” for “Christians.” Times are changing and with those times, this needs to change too. Everything we say and do should point back to Christ. Everything. If we are going to be a follower of Christ, we should actually follow Him. It is not until we choose to talk the talk AND walk the walk that the embarrassment will go away. I am ready to rid Christianity of this embarrassment. Let’s stop being “Christians” and start being followers of Christ. Who is with me? If you are with me, do something about it…
