You Can't be Both?

I vaguely remember seeing this bumper sticker before, but today, for some reason, it struck a chord:

You Can't Be Both Christian and pro-Choice.

I beg to differ, of course, or I wouldn't be writing about it. I am not sure that the bumper sticker represents a good, solid biblical view.

So, first with tongue in cheek, I will think about some of the things that the Bible would tell us we can't be (or have) and still be followers of Jesus. How about:
You can't be both Christian and

• have tattoos
• wear cotton/wool/polyester blends
• swear falsely
• want what others have
• play/watch sports on the Sabbath
• work on Saturday (the real Sabbath)
• be a women with your head uncovered in church
• be divorced

Or perhaps a cultural one from some branches of the Lutheran Church and others,

• You can't be a Christian and worship with others who are not Christian or are not the same brand of Christian as you are.

But instead of being only snarky in this post how about some of the ideas I would add to the list from my reading of the Bible:

You can't be a Christian and

• be for capital punishment
• think war is a good idea
• be willing to let children live in poverty
• ignore your neighbor in need
• believe the rich deserve special treatment
• believe the poor don't deserve special treatment.

Well, obviously many Christians (and other religious people) can and do believe these things, even the ones I listed that are MY beliefs. For any one branch of Christianity to believe that they have THE answer is a hubris beyond imagination and a grandiosity that begs for forgiveness. None of us has the answers. Yes, being a Christian is about a lifestyle and not a set of doctrines. As far as I can tell it in my own imperfect way, the only thing we can probably truly say with any human certainty is

You can't be a Christian and NOT believe that Jesus is Lord.

All else is interpretation.