"Jesus Judy"

My wife and I had dinner with my parents today and my mother asked me if I remembered one of her friends named Judy. I didn't go into this with the intent one way or the other to talk about religion (I knew if I did, it would only be a dead end), but it came up. She said she called her "Jesus Judy" because all she talked about was Jesus. She was making a reference to how I always talk about Jesus. I do not think Jesus is the only thing I talk about (to say that literally is a stretch for anyone- for "no seeks after God" [Romans 3:11]) , but it must come off that way.

If anyone else were to tell me that, I wouldn't have much of a problem with it, but when it comes from family, it rings a little differently for some reason. What is even more troubling is that it comes from someone who claims to be a born again Christian.

Ezekiel 36:26 says, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." It should be natural for a born again Christian to want to talk about Jesus. Consider all he has done for us.

We (myself included) have all sinned and deserve death for our sin (Romans 6:23). That is not harsh- that is the truth. I think more people need to be told this. Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life and died as a propitiation for our sins (Romans 3:25). He took on death so you wouldn't have to go to Hell if you repent and trust in Him. He paid the ultimate price for nothing of his own doing, but something we did, and you want to scold someone for "only" talking about Him?

I can't talk about religion to my father. He is Catholic and when I try to bring up Scripture, he always blows me off. I tried explaining that I don't watch Dancing With the Stars because they dance around practically naked on that TV show and I don't want to fall into lust by watching it. He compared me to a legalist and he didn't see the problem with occasionally having a thought like that.

He told me the way I am acting (in his mind, legalism) is how it used to be and how the Catholic church has gotten more "liberal" recently. He described how it used to be prohibited to eat anything from 12:00 on the night before service down to just one hour before if taking communion. The ironic twist is that this is legalism and he doesn't see it, yet calling sin for what it is in one's life is prohibited because Jesus said not to judge. This is so frustrating because so many people use this as a defense! Read the rest of the paragraph and don't take it out of context!

Matthew 7:1-5: “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

It would be wrong for me to call out sin in your life that I am participating in myself, but once I have dealt with it in my life, I see clearly to help you.

He also acted like every "translation" of the Bible had different meaning. I mentioned they had the same meanings, except the New World Translation (used by Jehovah's Witnesses) and he asked me how I couldn't be sure about it, also. This is about where I cut my losses.

He also scoffed at me when I mentioned repentance and said he had just repented- through confession. I tried to explain the difference between the two but he wouldn't let me.

It is very frustrating to have two parents, one who says they are a born again Christian and then my father, a Catholic, who won't talk about religion- even his own. My mother thinks MacArthur is too harsh on the Catholic church. My father is the product of a religion where he is taught he can earn his way to Heaven by going to confession and not having any mortal sins on his soul when he dies. This is self-righteousness at the core and I will continue to condone Catholic doctrine.

What in the world is going on here?