What it means to follow the way of the Shepherd.

I see it all the time, in every newspaper, on every news channel, on every religious channel and even on the radio. Self-proclaimed Christians telling us that we must think, act or do things this way or that. That you have to take a particulariar side on a given issue. And if you don't, they brand you as not being a "Real Christian".

And, of course, what they are really saying is that we all need to be their kind of Christian. They want you to become part of their denomination. It's all rather political. The Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists (among many others) all have their list of issues, their platforms. They all seem to believe that only their particular point of view or perspective on a given subject is the true "Will of God".

I am of the mind that instead of worrying about being a real Christian, mankind would be better off if everyone aspired to be a True Christian. What is a true Christian? My definition is; someone who studies the actual life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and strives to live his or her life emulating Him, not following the dogma of the Church, like lemmings.

Each denomination has it's own agenda and it's own interpretation of what the Bible says and thus, in their belief, the actual "Will of God". I don't think any of them have it completely right, some not even close. Despite all the various points of view out there, what really matters are the direct teachings of Jesus himself and the stories of not only what he said, but what he did, how he lived his life. Love thy neighbor, mercy, compassion, tolerance, understanding, etc.

Was he the real Son of God, a divinely inspired prophet or just a regular guy with some radical ideas? In the big picture, does it really matter? You can debate who he was and what his true origins were, but the fact remains that he was, above all other things, a great role-model. We should all aspire to be more "Christ-like".