It's very simple, if you live by OT you can't call yourself Christian, Christians are literary Christ's followers and live by NT. If somebody thinks we should live by the Jewish law (like this pastor), he's subject to law not to Jesus, and thus is not Christian but rather Jew.
Anybody can call themselves a Christian, and anybody else can agree with them that that is what they are. Do you call yourself a Christian? Then you're a Christian to me. This is the same standard used in surveys and censuses. Google "number of Christians in the world" and you get 2.38 billion. Ask a Christian how many other Christians there are in the world and they'll give you a number determined by asking people what religion they belong to.
There is no behavioral or doctrinal test for Christianity beyond believing that Jesus is divine in such surveys, and we take it for granted that anybody who calls themselves Christian believes that, because that's what it means to say one is Christian. None of those people is followed to see how Christlike their behavior is, nor quizzed about what they actually believe. They're Christians because they say they are, and that's my definition as well.
I understand why many Christians wish to marginalize the failures of Christianity like Hitler and Stalin, and claim that they aren't true Christians. But all Christians are true Christians. Outsiders judge the religion not by what the religion claims for itself, but what it actually generates. They don't look to the book.
Think about your own reaction to a terrorist claiming to be a Muslim. Do you give him a quiz on Muslim doctrine, or do you accept that he's Muslim because he says he is? Do you follow him around to see how well he conforms to the five pillars of Islam before agreeing that he is a Muslim? Do you ever use the term true Muslim? Do you listen to the Muslims when they tell you that some of them are not true Muslims because they vary in doctrine and rituals from other Muslims?
Those are the kinds of things that matter to Muslims, not non-Muslims, and if you can see that, then you can understand why non-Christians aren't interested in the standards self-proclaimed Christians use among themselves to decide which are "true Christians" because there is no concept of false Christian outside of the religion.
putting me into the same basket as this "pastor" is not insulting and ignorant and stupid?
It may be insulting to you, but it is neither ignorant nor stupid to see all homophobes as bigots. I suppose you believe that the opinions you express should be respected because they're religious, and you have freedom of religion and speech, but it doesn't work like that. You immediately marginalize and demonize yourself to many if not most non-Christians with your homophobic opinions. Nobody supports anybody finding homosexuality repulsive except other homophobes. You put yourself in that same basket with the pastor.
Do you think he represents Christians or what Christianity is?
Yes. He's a Christian pastor. Christians define what Christianity is with their behavior. He defines Christianity for his flock, who will go out and spread his message of hatred elsewhere. Where did you learn to think like this? Not from humanists.
Do you not find this "pastor" contradictory to Jesus' teachings?
Irrelevant. There is no opinion on homosexuality that makes a self-identifying Christian a non-Christian to an unbeliever. I can't stress to you enough that unbelievers don't care what's written in the book. That's true regarding every religion. We don't judge Sikhs or Jains by their degree of conformity to their holy book, nor Christians and Muslims. Do consider Islam a religion of peace because Muslims call it that and point to some words in their holy book. If you do consider it a religion of peace, you do so based on the behavior of Muslims that you can see. Christians will tell you that theirs is a religion of love. Should non-Christians believe that because Christians say it's so and point to words in a book that say love one another? You might like that, but it's not how I judge Christian love.
I'm assuming that you call yourself a Christian given your homophobic opinions and your use of the concept of true versus false Christian. Is that correct?
Therefore what you're saying is that Christians live by the Jewish law?
Where do you think the homophobia is found in the Christian Bible? It's in the older, bigger part, the part with the most scriptures.
You can say "I'm good person because I believe so" but if you do bad things you're obviously not good right? it doesn't matter what you believe.
Being good DOES have a behavioral test. Being Christian doesn't.
