marks of the true christian

let love be genuine. abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. love one another with brotherly affection. outdo one another in showing honor. do not be slothful in zeal (enthusiastic devotion), be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation (great adversity, oppression or persecution), be constant in prayer. contribute to the needs of the saints (followers of Jesus) and seek to show hospitality.
bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. live in harmony with one another. do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly - give yourselves to humble tasks. never be conceited. repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. if possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
"if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink" (proverbs 25:21)...do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
as for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions...let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? it is before his own Master that he stands or falls.
for none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
so then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. for Christ did not please himself,
may the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Jesus Christ, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. therefore, welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
excerpts from Jesus' apostle paul's letter to the romans

lately God has been bringing me back to the basics of true Christianity - what our community should look like and what's important to Him. i was reading a book yesterday and came across an amazing quote the author had fallen in love with by the late singer/songwriter rich mullins as he was preaching at wheaton:

"you guys are all into that born again thing, which is great. we do need to be born again, since Jesus said that to a guy named nicodemus. but if you tell me i have to be born again to enter the kingdom of God, i can tell you that you have to sell everything you have and give it to the poor, because Jesus said that to one guy too...but i guess that's why God invented highlighters, so we can highlight the parts we like and ignore the rest."

who makes the parts of the Bible we deem "more important".....more important?

it would be a very interesting life if we were meant to take a lot more of the Bible seriously than we actually do in america.
growing up in the church, it's been hard for me to take away all i've known and read the Bible like it was the first time. we know, as christians, to take "more than what meets the eye" away into our lives, but i wonder if we skip over some of the stuff that is "what meets the eye."

"Jesus never says to the poor, 'come find the church,' but he says to those of us in the church, 'go into the world and find the poor, hungry, homeless, imprisoned,' Jesus in his disguises."
tony campolo, eastern college professor

"have we even begun to be christians?"
dorothy day

"...over and over in the Scriptures, Jesus warns people of the cost of discipleship, that it will cost them everything they have ever hoped for and believed in - their biological families, their possessions, even their very lives. he warns them to count the cost before putting their hand to the plow. and Jesus allows people to walk away."
shane claiborne, founder of the simple way

how do we live true christianity in america?

already you have all you want! already you have become rich! without us you have become kings! and would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! for i think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. we are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. we are weak, but you are strong. you are held in honor, but we in disrepute. to the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. when reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. we have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
i do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. for though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. for i became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. i urge you, then, be imitators of me.

paul, in his first letter to the church in corinth