Title: What to do to be a Christian? Ask Jesus!

Imagine this: Jesus is sitting in a classroom with a chalkboard behind Him. In front of Him sit a group of confused students who have to vote for the first time.

One student raises their hand:

“Teacher Jesus, I know someone who calls themselves a Christian but votes for a party that cuts funding for food banks and homeless shelters. How is that possible?”

Jesus smiles and writes on the board: “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.” (Matthew 25:40)

Silence falls over the room.

“Yeah, but,” another student objects, “it’s complicated. Politics is tricky. There are issues like the economy, tax cuts, job creation…”

Jesus clasps His hands together. “Let’s keep it simple. If someone is hungry, feed them. If someone is homeless, help them. That’s not politics, that’s love.”

Another student hesitates: “But Jesus, does that mean you can’t be a politician that has to make tough economic decisions and also christian?”

Jesus shakes His head with a warm smile. “You can be whoever you want, as long as you live the truth of love. But if you forget love and think power, money, or ideology matter more, then you’ve missed the point.”

The class sighs. A Republican student still in confusion raises his hand: “So… if I want to help the poor, but I believe the free market is the best way to do that, does that mean I’m wrong?”

Jesus looks at him with love. “It’s not about who’s right or wrong. It’s about whether you’re willing to love. Don’t ask yourself if you are a Christian—ask yourself if you do Christianity.”

…..

Jesus doesn’t ask who you vote for; He asks how you show up in love. Being a Christian isn’t about checking a box on a ballot—it’s about being a living expression of love in action.

So instead of asking, Can that person be a christian and do those things? ask yourself: Is he living the way Jesus taught?

With love and light,

G.