What does it mean to be a Christian?

i wonder only because i try to love the way Christ loves, but sometimes it can be hard. i look at my friends who love Jesus, and show what it means to follow Christ, but then we are not the ones who get recognition from the world around us. i do not consider my self very conservative, and i struggle with what it means to be a progressive Christian...
Because i want to share my faith non-verbally, through my actions; and sometimes for me this feels difficult with someone who taxes me.
i just started pod casting from a progressive magazine, and they were discussing religion and politics- which are two comments not to be discussed at work or over the dinner table. But what if instead of telling people that they were going to Hell if they didn't repent, we told them of the love that God has for them? What if we advocated for them, and showed them grace.

__________ __________ __________ __________ __________

Last night before Vibrant i finished a book called "The Tortilla Curtain," and i have to say that it left me raw. i am very interested in dialoguing with my friend who had lent me the book, regarding just the ugliness of humanity that sometimes displays itself in our lives. i really don't know if i like the book, it was interesting, heartbreaking, and honest... i like that, i am not a confrontational person, and in the words of Atticus Finch "you need to walk a mile in a man's shoes to really understand who he is". Not to gloss over it, but i think i need to read something a little more uplifting-> although to mark the third anniversary of the war, i will probably try to read "The Non-Violent Alternative" by Thomas Merton.
Not at all that it will be an easy read for me, but i do love Thomas Merton.