by Susie M. Arviso

Created on: November 18, 2010   Last Updated: August 22, 2011

The Christian perspective on any topic is generally relative. It depends on what the Christian perspective is determined to be.

There are many world religions which refer to themselves as Christian while their doctrines show otherwise.

Are we referring to the perspective of anyone who claims to be Christian, or genuine Christians who know and follow Jesus? Are we referring to our own ideas of what a Christian is, or what the scriptures say about it and  the words and concepts of what Jesus spoke?

Jesus warned of the 'goats' of Christianity ... the legalistic, religious, self-righteous and judgmental. Genuine Christians who have been spiritually reborn through their encounter with Christ are what I refer to as followers of Christ, or genuine Christians.

Take,  for example, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. This church which contains more than 80% relatives of the same family; many of which are lawyers, traveling around the U.S. protesting with hateful disdain for Americans.

This "Church", or what I refer to as "hate group", are based in Topeka, Kansas. Their church is surrounded by high walls, locked, iron gates and security cameras.

At their protest locations, they hold up signs which state "God hates fags", "God hates America", "Thank God for dead soldiers".

They state that God is pouring out his wrath on America because America won't obey Him. They protest at the funerals of soldiers, at High Schools and street corners.

This hate group refers to itself as 'Christian' and yet, there is nothing Christ-like about them, nor do they share the gospel. They use scripture and yet - take it out of context.

God doesn't "hate" people. He loves people. He hates sin and what it does to people's lives.

The Christian perspective as a follower of Christ is based on - and will align with the scriptures. Judging has been a malignant presence in all forms of Christianity since its beginnings.

Wherever man has had his finger in the pie, there has always been problems and disagreements. Yet Jesus Himself is our pattern and example, and He always made it a point to adhere to and refer to the scriptures.

In the book of Matthew (7:1), Jesus started out by saying to "Judge not ". Many Christians and others have built a theology on these two initial words, completely missing the point Jesus was making.

He wasn't saying not to judge, He was beginning to explain righteous judgment. There's a difference between passing judgment and righteous judgment.

He went on to ask

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