Rachel: My mum is jewish, but not practicing. I am told this means I am jewish. Is that correct?
Mrs. Shaffer: if her mother is Jewish, then she is Jewish, and you are Jewish :)
Mrs. Shaffer: practicing or not...Jewishness is yours :)
Rachel: Even if they know less about judaism than the next guy on the street?
Mrs. Shaffer: yup
...All I can say to that is, wow. I know we are talking about Judaism and it's a whole new ball game because of the whole lineage thing but that just seems odd to me as a Christian. But it presents the question, can you be a non-practicing Christian? I feel like I see more and more Christians today who are on the fence or completely NOT practicing but would still whole heartedly consider themselves “Christians”. If you are half following the world and half following Christ, how can you be considered a Christian? Can you be partly of Christ, and part of this world? And, is it possible to be a non-practicing follower of Christ? I would argue that this is impossible...that you absolutely can not be a Christian without actually following Christ. You are either wholly a Christian or you're not. Jesus makes this very clear throughout scriptures. (Galations 1:10, Romans 12:2 and Revelations 3:14-17 are merely a few examples of this) The very heart of Christianity is deeply rooted in acting as a response to faith. Faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26). Without stepping up, taking action and living out your faith, what else is there to Christianity? Without the practicing part of “Christianity”, you can’t be a Christian.
So, I found this on Yahoo Answers:
What exactly is a non-practicing christian?
SDB Deacon: I've noticed that some on here say that they are christians, but that they aren't practicing christians. What exactly are these people?
Rebelarm: These people have the good strong christian values but don't go to church on a weekly basis. I am a non practicing christian only because I can't find as good a church that I belonged to before I joined the army.
Since when did acting or practicing your faith get belittled to the sole act of going to church on Sunday? Good moral values, church on Sunday...Yup, put a check mark next to Christian on my list of personality traits! I'm sorry but that's just crap. That completely demeans Christ and everything Christianity stands for. Yes, the church is essential to our faith. The church is the body of Christ but if that church (I'm talking about the people in the church here) does nothing more than hear a message on Sunday, if that church doesn't take their faith outside the church doors, if that church doesn't reach out to those in need, if that church doesn't consider God in their daily lives outside the four walls of the church then Christianity is stupid. I know these are just some random sample opinions from people online but I don't think they are too far fetched from what a great deal of people believe about Christianity today.
This is far from being a new revelation for most Christians, it's been preached countless times before but I would argue that it begs repeating because obviously it hasn't hit home with a lot of people. It took me four years for any of this to click with me. To realize that being a Christian meant I actually had to BE a Christian and that required action beyond getting baptized and taking communion on Sundays (even when I had been drinking on Saturdays). I really don’t understand what took me so long or why I didn’t start acting on my faith sooner and it makes me want to kick myself but I do know that since the lights went on for me, they are never going off.
Caution! Extreme understatement: Following Christ will be hard. I know will feel disconnected at times from those who have had different revelations from God (or none at all) and in my experience, those people are usually the ones closest to me. I will feel confused, asking God why he is asking me to do crazy, outrageous things; things that this world deems as “stupid, foolish, naïve”; things that I don’t understand. He will ask me to trust him through those crazy requests, even when I feel like they are so far off base from where my life should be going (cause I know better than God does, right?). Despite all of these reasons and a million others as to why it will be hard following God at times instead of giving in to temptation, the “easy way out” and conforming to the patterns of this world, I will continue to seek the Lord. I know that if I seek him, he will draw near to me (James 4:8). I know that if I believe in him, he will reward me (Hebrews 6:11). And I know that because of the trials I face on this Earth, this life will all be made worth it by my Father when I get to heaven (Luke 6:20-26).
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