{"id":345,"date":"2018-11-25T18:49:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-25T18:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/?page_id=345"},"modified":"2019-09-09T20:52:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T20:52:39","slug":"the-true-christian","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/let-your-light-shine\/the-true-christian\/","title":{"rendered":"The True Christian"},"content":{"rendered":"Last updated: September 9, 2019 at 20:52 pm\n

\"jerusalem\u201cWhich of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?\u201d – Jesus
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Perhaps the same question can be asked of people on earth today: which of these are true Christians? The ones going to church and singing or the ones doing God’s will outside of the church. Remember, faith without (good) works is dead.<\/p>\n

Today, there are people going to church, singing and praising God with their lips, but their hearts are not with God. These are not “true Christians.” These people only give disbelievers a reason to point a finger at Christians in general and drive them further from believing.<\/p>\n

When Jesus walked on earth, He told the story of “The Good Samaritan.” He told the story of a man who was going from Jerusalem to Jericho. This man was attacked by robbers and beaten, and left for dead at the side of the road. A priest passed by and saw the wounded man, but the turned his face and walked the other way. Another religious man passed by and did the same thing. But then, a Samaritan passed by. At that time, Samaritans and Jews were not on good terms. They were bitter enemies. But when the Samaritan saw the wounded Jewish man lying on the ground, he stopped. He treated and bandaged the man’s wound. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he further cared for the wounded Jewish man. When he left, he paid the keepers of the inn to care for the man, promising that, if there are further expenses, he will pay it when he returns.<\/p>\n

This is a story of an enemy who acted as a friend and neighbor, and friends who acted as enemy. Sadly today, there are people in the church who do not play the role of true Christians, and there are people outside of the church who do.<\/p>\n

Remember, what name you give to yourself does not define you, but your actions and your words do. When you see someone genuinely in need, reach out and help them as much as you can. Then you will be a true Christian. Then you will store your treasures up in heaven. Then your light will shine, and the world will see it, and come to know Christ because of you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhich of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?\u201d – Jesus Perhaps the same question can be asked of Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":350,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,17,9,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-345","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-blessings","category-charity","category-obedience","category-prosperity"],"yoast_head":"\nThe True Christian - Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/patrickcarpen.com\/spirituality\/let-your-light-shine\/the-true-christian\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The True Christian - 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