"I'm a Christian, but..."

Oh, the times I have heard this sentence, ending in so many different ways; "I'm a Christian, but I don't have to go to church." "I'm a Christian, but I don't have to believe everything the Bible says." "I'm a Christian, but I support abortion." "I'm a Christian, but I support homosexual marriage." "I'm a Christian, but..."

I'm a Christian, but...NOTHING. I am a Christian, AND I believe I go to church each week to receive the fresh infilling of Christ's love, lift up and pray for and with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and to prepare myself to more fully serve Him. I am a Christian, AND I believe the Bible is the true, living, and inspired word of God. I am a Christian, AND I believe that all children born, and unborn, old, and young, sick, and well are precious in His sight, as we were all made in His image and likeness, I believe murder is a sin, and I believe it is our job to protect those that cannot protect themselves. I am a Christian, AND I believe that marriage is a wonderful covenant,  a precious gift from God through which we honor Him, and that it is meant to be cherished, and respected.

I am a Christian, and I support, uphold, and defend the Word of God, no matter what the world thinks of me, because I answer to a higher judge.

My problem with the "I'm a Christian, but.." or, also, "I believe in God, but..." is this, by whose authority do you believe in God, but not His word? By whose authority do you believe in God, but don't agree with His teachings? Who says this is okay? God certainly didn't say this was okay, so on whose authority are you basing your belief system? Your own? In which case you are putting YOU and your "authority" above GOD and His authority, and I think  the first commandment may have a little to say about that. Your parents, or grandparents? Again, let me reference you to the first commandment. If your ideas on what you can believe and how you can believe are centered around, and come from anything other than God's authority, and His word, then you're doing it wrong. Then you are gravely mistaken, and headed down a bad, bad path.

What page does your belief start? For those of you that say, "well, I don't agree with ALL  of the Bible..." at what point do you then say, "okay, now I believe starting here"? Either you believe, or you don't. I know I'm being rather harsh, but sometimes that's what it takes. I am far from perfect, I sin daily. We are all works in progress and we all struggle, but if we aren't striving to live in accordance with His law, then we are setting ourselves up for failure. The Bible is not a bag of trail mix that you can pick the M&Ms out of and leave the hard stuff for someone else to deal with. You must take the easy, fluffy, loving stuff right along with the harder stuff.

The second we stop following God's law is the same second we fall. Hard.