Too Christian?

The readers of my blog come from all over the stratosphere and sometimes I feel a little schizophrenic when I write.

I have a feeling that I'm probably over-thinking this, but I can't help myself. I do that a lot.

As a Christian, I find it really easy to write and speak to those who understand my language. There is an entire vocabulary that we use when we communicate with each other. I can relate everything that I do and think to a teaching from the Bible, and explain every concept in terms of something spiritual. When great things happen to me, I can let you know how I praise the Lord and when terrible things happen, I can tell you how I am leaving it all in God's hands.

All of these things are true in my life and I would give anything for them to be true in the lives of every one of my readers and all of my friends. But, they're not.

We all deal with this schizophrenia day after day as we work in the real world, shop in the real world, go to school in the real world. People might know that we are Christians, but we don't throw our Christian-talk at them over and over.

I’ve discovered that many of my friends actually stop listening to me (or reading my stuff) when I speak (or write) using this Christian language and use terms and stories that seem to beat them over the head with 'God stuff' all the time.

I get it. I’m supposed to be sharing the Gospel - I remember the commandment at the end of Matthew. My life is all about Jesus Christ. There is none other. When people look at me, encounter me, read my blog, talk to me; they should see Jesus lived out in my life. And I hope they do! But, not to the point that I am offensive because I can’t make the distinction between sounding like a Christian and acting like a Christian.

You can tell me that I shouldn’t hang out with people who are offended by my overly-Christian writings. Fine. You do what you have to do. These are people I care for deeply. I don’t want to be yet another in a long line of offensive Christians in their lives.

When I was working at the church, I found that it was really difficult for me to identify friends outside my Christian circle. I worked all day - I mean ... all day at the church during the week. On Saturdays I usually hid in the house to rejuvenate and then on Sunday I was at church again. When I was told (in a staff meeting one day) that I was to bring my non-Christians friends to church, I didn't know what to think! I'd gotten caught in something that was unacceptable. But, you know what? We all spoke the same language and were completely comfortable living in our small circle. At least I was.

As much as I love my church and the friends that I have from all of those churches I have been a part of throughout my life (wow, that’s a lot of people, by the way), I have friends and associates who don’t get all of that crazy talk. I am a part of a lot of lives … some who are comfortable with me speaking in Christianese and others who don’t understand a word I say.

What's a girl to do?

Well, I will probably continue to be schizophrenic on this blog. I ‘yam who I ‘yam and I will talk about leadership, about my faith, about my stories, about my crazy adventures. My readers will still get to know me and whether I use the right words or not, my faith which is just as much a part of me as my fingerprint or blue eyes will make a way.