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When one's fundamental commitment is to liberalism and then secondarily to Christianity, all sorts of wildly inaccurate results are inevitable.

But if you flush all the liberalism - and incidentally any secular conservatism - and read Scripture as best you can without your preconceived notions - then you are getting back to Biblical Christianity.

That is not to say that Biblical Christianity is simple or easily summarized...but I do know one thing for sure: Biblical Christianity is profoundly different from liberalism and it turns my stomach when the socialists try to capture Christianity for their evil purposes.

The mistake "liberal Christians" make is centering around a gospel of social justice and getting along with others. Christ's teachings, although they bring personal peace to their practitioners, are intended to be divisive. Jesus was not a "consensus builder." Instead, he told listeners, "If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." His message and ministry provokes the hearer to committment that leads to eternal life, not temporal prosperity or security. The proponents of "liberation theology" place Marx and Jesus on the same pedestal.

It's not the intent of "non-liberal Christians" (I'm not a fundamentalist, but I'm not a "liberal Christian," either) to give offense. But you have to take a stand upon the divinity of Christ, which makes him more than a great teacher or even a prophet.

I like Bill O'Reilly's question posed to Patricia Ireland, who is now the head of the YWCA - a supposedly Christian organization. When he asked her if she was a Christian, she said she didn't know what he meant by that, that she had a Christian upbringing. He called her on that answer and said, you know what I mean--a Christian believes that Jesus Christ is God. She hemmed and hawed her way out of that one, but O'Reilly, bless his heart, really nailed her on that one.

I'm sure many here will agree that "liberal Christians" are those who simply lack faith in Jesus Christ. They draw near to him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

Greg West