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Apparently Rice made this announcement on her Facebook page on Wednesday, July 28, 2010. She stated, “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. In the name of … Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.”
I would be the first to say that believers are being sadly mislead and side-tracked by right wing political activists. Christianity is being given a bad name by politicians, platforms, and platitudes that have been “baptized” by a type of Christianity that is not biblical.
Most of us remember the so called Moral Majority led by the late Jerry Falwell. Believers were made to feel as if they were not in the “fold” if they did not actively, forcibly, and vocally take up the favorite or “anointed” causes of religious leaders. Soon God was joined to so many causes and paraded around on so many platforms that even He might have gotten dizzy, that is if the Almighty can get dizzy.
Anne Rice’s mistake is that she obviously does not know the meaning of Christianity. Christianity is not a political party of platform. Christianity is certainly not a club or sorority that you can tender your membership with or without written notice. Unfortunately, the majority of the world whether moral or not, does not know what it means to be a Christian.
The word Christian means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It actually was a term given to the disciples, or those who followed the “way.” The term began as a term of derision. The term Christian is first used in Acts 11:26. The disciples were called “Christians” in the city of Antioch. The term began to gain usage and by the time of Nero it was commonly recognized. The Greek word is “christianos” and it means a follower of Christ. The word is derived from the Greek word Christos which means “the anointed one.”
Christian was not a self-designation, in other words it did not originate with the believers themselves. The term came from the pagans of the day. Over time it came to be accepted terminology in the church itself for those who were adherents or followers of Jesus Christ. By the way, Christians are not “Christians” because they follow Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, or a denomination.
Rice says she is no longer part of any denomination. Formerly she had been Roman Catholic. Rice is right in seeing things like politics, platforms, and problems as things that are not part of biblical Christianity. She is wrong, dead wrong, on understanding what Christianity is and what being a follower of Christ means.
Christianity is not a denomination, a church, a group, philosophy, or ideology. Christianity means understanding and accepting all that Jesus Christ is as delineated in the Scriptures. Christianity is following Christ. Following Christ is forsaking this world and all that is in it while being faithfully obedient to the commandments, standards, and teachings of Christ.
Christianity includes recognizing oneself as a depraved sinner under the condemnation of God and justly deserving of punishment. Christianity includes repentance and turning to God through Christ by trusting in the atoning work of Christ on the cross of Christ.
So, Anne Rice, you cannot leave Christianity. You cannot quit Christianity nor can you quit being a Christian. You can quit a church, a denomination, a philosophy, and even a political agenda, but you cannot quit Christ.
Now, if you deny Christ be prepared, Christ said He will deny you (Matthew 10:33). You cannot deny Christianity without denying Christ. John told the churches of Asia that a number of disciples had left “Christianity”:
“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (I John 2:19, ESV)
Be careful Anne Rice, rethink this decision, and repent. Turn to Christ and be saved today while it is still today. Do not return to your former denomination which is a counterfeit Christianity but turn to Christ and become a Christian, a follower or adherent of Jesus Christ.
11 comments:
yes I hope she rethinks her decision :(I will be praying for her.
Very strong declaration to make , perhaps she has issues we know nothing about but none the less to denounce Christ is another,
I do hope she reconsiders to decision.
Have a lovely week-end;
Yvonne.
I am not against being called a Christian (as some who call themselves "Christ Followers" are) because it is a broad term. I think that Rice's word's reflect a black and white understanding of what being a Christian means. I think that many Christians see the world in black and white terms and prefer to jettison the term "Christian" rather than to accept a different view of it.
So sad Gregg, but you hit the nail on the head with this post.....Thanks for sharing....Anne Rice doesn't need to leave Christianity! She needs to get saved by the Gospel that saves to the uttermost and the Bible says He will keep you and He will present you blameless...."Now to Him being able to keep you without stumbling, and to set you before His glory without blemish, with unspeakable joy; to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty and might and authority, even now and forever. Amen." Jude 24-25. SDG!
Hello Gregg,thank you for popping in :) The Welcome mat is always open :)
The battle is in the mind. And if we are not knowledgeable, how can we know the Truth? And our spiritual enemies are always so active to make us ineffective for His Kingdom. I'm glad you explained what being a Christian means. God bless.
It's sad that Ms Rice and probably many others feel that they can pick up and drop Christianity as though it's like dropping membership with a club. People have no problem with "Jesus" if they can have Him on their own terms. But if we have truly born from above, we are not our own, we've been bought with a price.
So sad Gregg! but not surprised as I'm sure we will continue to see more being deceived in their beliefs!
So excited as I know tomorrow starts your Home bible study! :) Been praying, declaring and decreeing for you and all those who come to your house!
Bless you!
RenJac - I too hopes she reconsiders her thought process before she is eternally lost. Thanks for your commnet. Please come again.
Yvonne - she did make a very strong declaration; unfortunately one from ignorance and deception. I pray that she might find salvation in Christ.
KB - I am not sure Rice's comments were "black and white." She made them because she does not know what biblical Christianity is. She has equated salvific faith idealogies and philosophies which are not part of the actual meaning of the term.
Mike Andrews - Yes, she doesn't need to to leave something as much as she needs to be transformed by the Holy Spirit as He sovereignly applies the benefits of the cross to her soul. She needs to be saved.
RCUBEs - yes the battle is in the mind. This is where the enemy blinds us or deceives us. You are welcome and God bless you also!
PM - yes, it is so unfortunate and heart-breaking that men can imagine a God of their own making and then take that God on their own terms. They are nothing but idolators.
Loren - it is sad and yes many are held captive by the enemy with deceptions of all sorts. Thank you for your prayers and for remembering the bible study that begins tomorrow evening!
i agree with martyn lloyd jones, we should stop using the word decision in relation to salvation. :)
That's really dumb on her part. By dumb I mean, "This makes no sense." I also find it really bizarre that a professor in my seminary was so enamored by the fact that Rice became a "Christian". He seemed to love her little stories about Jesus, etc. He was taken by the imaginative way she wrote about him. I was always skeptical. Wasn't she more along the Roman Catholic lines? In my opinion, that's a transition from nothing to nothing.
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