Some of you who read my blog may take a look at the title of this post and begin thinking I've lost it. But if you think about what a Christian is perceived to be in our culture right now, there are many who would say that they don't want to be one. Here's my reasons why...
Christians are hypocrites - I readily admit that we are all hypocrites at some level or another. But isn't this one of the biggest complaints against Christians in our society? How many times have you heard somebody give the excuse that they won't go to church because the church is filled with hypocrites? They sit in their pews and say the right thing, dress the right way, and then proceed to go into the world and act just like everybody else.
Christians are always trying to convert others - Let's just call the world a Christian Sales Lot. Evangelism seems to have turned into the ultimate sales pitch using the Bible as a sales guide manual. Christians have determined that telling others about Christ follows a certain format that if used correctly could never be turned down. They count the number of lives "saved" and give value to their life by how many they've led to Christ. Christians have placed such a heavy emphasis on getting somebody to say the sinner's prayer/make a commitment/ask Jesus into their heart that they've centered all their outreach events on getting others to come forward and sign a commitment card.
Christians don't have fun - This is probably one of the most common perceptions about Christians that I've encountered throughout my life. A large part of it I believe spurs from the idea that Christians follow a strict set of laws. In other words, Christians have set up a legalistic lifestyle that doesn't allow for them to enjoy some of the things this world has to offer including secular music, television, and movies.
Christians talk funny - You ever notice that when you go to church there is a certain bank of words you need to understand? These words are typically ones that you would never use outside of a church building. They include words like evangelism, salvation, santification, justification, and hallelujah. They include phrases like, "invite Jesus into your heart," "eat the body and blood of Christ," and "living sacrifice."
Christians are cliquish - It's junior high all over again. Christians have formed two levels of cliques. There is the Christian clique, which you are in when you've accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. With this clique you are either in or out. If you're in, then you are treated as an individual who is overall good. If you're out, then you are always trying to be brought in through clever Christian sales pitches. Then there are the cliques within the larger Christian clique. These are known as denominations. Even though Christians claim to be inviting and accepting of all, they take up arms against other so called brothers and sisters in Christ.
Christians are so focused on the afterlife that they forget they are living now - Christians have placed such a huge emphasis on being saved and spending eternity with God they they forget they are living right now.
Christians use the Bible as ammunition - Christians have this habit of pulling out Scripture passages and using it to either strongly defend their own beliefs and actions or to prove something to another. The Bible is no longer seen as the way God has interacted with his children throughout history. It's used as a crutch and an answer book to all life's small and large problems.
Now I'm sure that I've probably overstated some of these reasons, or not given enough description of each one. If we were sitting down across the table from each other, I think I could better explain how I feel about these things. Writing them in a blog post is not allowing for a conversation to take place. I wish I could have this conversation with you.
Having said that, if this is truly how Christians are perceived, then I don't want to be one. I do whole-heartedly want to be a follower of Christ, which unfortunately we have confused with being a Christian. In my next post I'll try to put into words what it is that I do want to be as a follower of Christ.
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11 comments:
T.J. - Wow! Great post and great points. I appreciate your honesty and willingness to write what is sometimes unspoken or unwritten. I am looking forward to your next post.
Andrew
PS - I think that a blog is an invitation to a dialogue. The beauty of comments :)
thanks andrew. i think more christians are beginning to find out just how much we turn others off to christianity when we follow our traditional model of what a christian is. i'm also looking forward to my next post.
Like it or not, "Christian" is who you are if you claim to be a follower of Christ. Need I remind you that the "disciples" were called "Christians first at Antioch" (Acts 11:26).
It is true that the way we live and talk confuses people about what it means to be a Christian. However, I am unwilling to allow the culture to strongarm me into cowering away from the very word that defines me as a disciple - a follower of Jesus Christ. This of course means I must be very careful to be consistant in who I am and what I say and do every day of the week, not just a certain hour on Sunday.
When you get away from our culture, "Christian" means something altogether different - freedom, forgiveness, hope, opportunity, health, food, clothing, medicine, acceptance. That sounds pretty good to me, even if our culture is hung up on the stuff you've mentioned.
It's often easy to see what people are reading or thinking by what is written on the blogs. Be careful not to let all the externals make you say something you might not otherwise say. Otherwise the glass remains half-empty.
PR - agreed that I am a Christian. however, i hope to not be the "Christian" that seems to be the norm in our culture.
also agreed that being a Christian means many great things for my life and i do not wish to separate from what "comes with the package" of being a disciple of Christ.
clearly i have become affected, and perhaps infected, by some of what i've been reading and discussing as of late. i hope to stay true to who i am while continuing to learn more about what God wants out of us as Christians.
i'll always claim to be a Christian, but preferably different from that which is seen as a typical Christian in the eyes of many in today's world.
vI'm with you and besides, as Christians, we are called saints of God or "holy ones". And as you know, holy means set apart. So if we can be set apart from the diluted package so many people see these days, surely others will not only want to know about Christ, but know Christ.
May I dissect?
Hypocrites--Are there truly "levels" of hypocrisy? Interestingly enough, through our legal system, we have created a leveled system of punishment to fit crimes. One example is, I think, that we seem to put more emphasis on "Thou shalt not kill." Then "Thou shalt not lie." Lying on the stand can mean purgery and time in jail...Killing can mean much more. Does God put levels on sin? Adam and Eve damned us all by eating. hmm...
Cliquish- ok...the only comment I may have on this is that you were a little too literal. When reading the title, I thought you would write about how Christians can be looked down on for a "Holier than thou" attitude. I suppose a denomination is a clique, but the worst Christian clique by far is the one that includes all Christians who look down on those who drink, simply because they think it is wrong.
You did touch on Christians who are saved "pitching" to those who are saved and not doing the things they probably should be doing. I think this is probably the same thing. I find that many "born again" Christians look down on other "born again" Christians simply because they may drink alcohol.
I happened to notice an emerging church article not long ago in a publication that I often read that mentioned a church that served alcohol in there gatherings as a method of a catalyst for fellowship. Would this be wrong? As far as I know, it has been reaching a lot of people.
Language- Here, here...yep, we need to publish a Christian Dictionary, but isn't this the very thing the emerging church is getting away from? I happened to notice my pastor uses the same "Christian Phrases" when welcoming the congregation on Sunday mornings.
woops, nearly forgot.
Afterlife-the fact is, the after life is all that matters. What is it? We are but dust. I think "living in the moment" is yet another sort of Christian Phrase coined to help Christians get motivated to "sell" their merchandise. I think the trick is getting people to understand that the afterlife is all that matters. I was in a conversation the other day where we talked about the peace that surpassed all understanding. That peace can only exist when we understand that the afterlife is all that matters. We all know that a "Christian" Funeral is much different than any other funeral. It's because when you know the person who died truly is going to paradise there is a peace involved. I do, in fact, hate it when at every funeral you go to they say that "He is in a better place" I think that the only way to really "live in the moment" is to understand peace.
I feel the clique thing even though I've been a Christian and pastor for many years. I visited a church recently where I stood awkwardly in the foyer for a long time, waiting for someone to greet me. Many people greeted each other (obviously friends) but I just stood there, alone.
And this was my home church.
Very good points, well put!
Well done, sir.
Butterball 121:
i liked the points you put forward, i kind of think the same for most of them too.
i think that to God, sin is sin, whether by our standards big or small, they still prevent you from being with the Holy God in heaven when you die.
but, there is forgivable and unforgivable sin. the only unforgivable sin being blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32)
clique-wise, i was thinking more on the scale of 'Anonymous' haha. in my country (Singapore) we dont really have much division between denominations; they clearly are just differences in doctrines. EXCEPT that protestants who dont know any better, think that catholics are non-christians and dont hang out with them (which in itself is a problem, we should hang out with non-christians more)
i think christians 'always trying to convert others' isnt an issue if not for the fact that it's coupled with hypocrisy. if we live how we're supposed to, people wouldnt be so irked by our sharing of the gospel (not to mention, sometimes we bring forward the incomplete truth when we present the gospel)
'Christians are so focused on the afterlife that they forget they are living now' - yes we are, we should be, but in the right context. we are to use this time on earth to glorify God, not to waste it away fantacising about our time when we meet God.
make the best use of it!
i hope i make sense
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