Committed or Practicing?

Committed or Practicing?

David Cameron reportedly says that he is a "committed Christian" without being a "practising Christian". Is that possible? There is a temptation to go with the political slant on this statement, because it would seem he is trying to please all, but satisfying none. That aside, is it possible to be committed to Christianity, but not practice your faith?

My first thought suggested that there could be a group of people who ‘believe’ in the major parts of the Christian creed, but don’t want to get too close because they know it can be uncomfortable and show up many faults (and there are many!). So we could have a large majority who are ‘committed’ but don’t think they have to go to church to be a Christian, at least in name, or practice their commitment.

My second thought was that there could be some church goers, who are actually ‘committed’ to their creed by going to church regularly, but like the others who may not darken the church doors, don’t want to be affected by the message of the gospel, so are not practicing their overt statement of faith.

There are the obvious examples of some groups who use the title ‘committed Christian’ to add some weight to their own program. I immediately think of the homosexual community who promote same sex marriage, who often say they are ‘committed Christians’, but do not practice what it says in the only given and accepted Word of God. Oh dear, I have used the trigger words for my internet troll friend ‘Anon’ to respond to that one, but there are others who do the same thing. I have heard it said that you can’t be a Christian and vote ( ) … you can fill in the blank. Then there are those who use Christianity to support their views on Capital Punishment, for AND against. We cannot ignore nations who go to war ‘in the name of their God’ (Christianity being only one faith group here) to prevent wrongs committed in other lands.

So, to go back to David Cameron, it is entirely possible that he is using (yes deliberately using) a form of words to make it appear that he is taking policies in the name of Christian principles, when in fact all such people are described this way by Timothy:

...treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 2 Tim 3:4,5 NIV