Christian, not Christ-and

Matt Self, one of Christian blogdom's best storytellers, shares the story of his trip to a local restaurant and a young Christian man's overly strident defense of his pet political cause:

What struck me -- and I made a point to mention it to my wife -- was how much the young man reminded me of my younger self: Sold out to the wrong cause for the right reasons and the best of intentions. It was not my politics that were inherently wrong. It was how my politics always got in the way of the Gospel.

Matt brings up an important point--when Christians become dogmatic in partisan politics, what messages do we send about the gospel:

It heightened in me the need to always be about the Gospel, about Christ and the Cross. Even if I am not speaking of it, I need to live it, so that people do not know me by my politics, or my social causes, or my extraneous theology. Even to those who I fellowship with as believers, I want them to see Christ in me so that I do not stumble them. Especially to those who I fellowship with who are not believers, I want them to see through me to the One who has rescued me and redeemed me.

Amen.