Christianity has more detractors lately than friends. I sadly find myself among the critics.
Both friends outside, within, and without the Church at large seem to know there is a problem. There is a famine in the land, and it evidently is one of iPods, catchy slogans, and clips of Disney movies during sermons.
The basic problem with modern Christianity, is that it has become a self-centered, sadomasochistic something. I fault no one but pastors who have preached a message that they call a “holiness” message, which is mainly concerned with showing how great you are, and how messed up everyone else is. Well, the pastors, and the congregants who beg for the preacher to “step on their toes” every week.
You become like the gym rat we all have met, whose eating, social, and sleeping schedule is all organized around body building. Eventually, they become so entranced by their own image (and the upkeep thereof) that things like relationships, education, and even relaxation are forced to fit in a used container of whey protein powder.
The image becomes the idol…
How do I know this? I’m an ex-bodybuilder, in the moral sense. I had the image down pat. For while there, I was “working out” for my health, and the enjoyment of it all. That changed, around the age of 14, when people began noticing my “spiritual six pack”. Now, all my work in this area was pretty much done to maintain the image. Pride changed my motives, and the way I viewed others around me.
I was disgusted with myself and others, but mostly with God, for being such a slavedriver. I thought he had asked me to set up and maintain the image. He had done no such thing. I had erected a monument to myself, consisting of my own morality, and appointed myself the person most qualified to judge the thoughts and actions of others.
Once you’re in this camp, the only friends you will have are those who meet your standards. You’ll spend time humbly showing them the very few flaws in the great monument of your superiority, and they in turn, will do likewise. You will spend countless weekdays judging others for listening to secular music, having a pint of beer, going to R-rated movies, and counting the cuss words during the PG feature that your arbitrarily applied convictions forced you to attend instead.
The sole solace you will find in this stance, is that while you are miserable, you are somehow more holy. Somehow the irony of wishing for (shall we call it…coveting) their ability to break the rules you set up, has left you untouched.
And You Call Yourself A Christian…
Around the age of 22, I discovered the concept of the grace of God. You would think that this concept would have taken root earlier, especially since I had known the Lord from a young age. It wasn’t like people hadn’t tried to convey the idea. It’s just that many well-meaning adults explained that these people were wrong.
In these same communities, there was something called “Being a bad witness”. The idea was, that you generally had to be perfect before admitting that you were a Christian, because if you happened to screw up in front of people, you could forever turn them off to Jesus. Thus, their eternal damnation would be on your head, because you couldn’t hold it together in public.
Let me denounce that line of thinking as a lie from the pit, and on a lesser scale, a complete failure in logic.
This, if taken in reverse, means that someone would have to constantly be sinning, without a letup in the action, in order for them to be a proper sinner. I can assure you, that doesn’t happen, even in the worst possible cases.
So, in order to be a witness who displays God’s grace, it would follow that you don’t have to perfect. In fact, weakness is a strength, if you believe the Apostle Paul at all.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel, anymore…
Many times, in my earlier years, I failed to share the gospel, or even own up to the fact that I was a Christian, based on keeping the image intact. To my great displeasure, the very people who I thought shouldn’t be sharing the gospel at all, were the ones who were the most vocal.
The people who occasionally got wasted, and began witnessing to people really bugged me. I mean, they showed a lack of self control, engaged in excess, etc. While I don’t think getting sloppy drunk is a good idea, I never bothered to consider what would have come up from the depths of my heart, had I found myself in the same situation. It would not have been pretty, at 15,21, and to be quite frank, now. The veneer was pretty, but there was some junk beneath the surface that would have found itself unbound, and free to roam around.
My behavior is not, on the whole(and truthfully, even in part) perfect. My perfection has nothing to do with the truth that Jesus died for the sins of the world. In fact, no sinner’s behavior changes the truth, or validity of that fact. Since the gospel has nothing to do with preserving my image, why should I let that hold me or anyone else back?
The truth is, people don’t need someone’s perfect behavior to show them that they messed up. Their conscience already kicked in to alert them of the infraction.
Why then, do many Christians feel the need to compare themselves to the person who just screwed up, or better yet, inform the other person of this fact?
Self-Satisfied Smuggery…
Instead of comparing ourselves to Jesus, and his perfection, we are in the process of comparing our morality with that of another human being. “I’m less flawed.” is not exactly resume material, when you think about it.
Unbelievers could care less about our theological arguments, our opinions on evolution, abortion, or the free markets. That doesn’t matter. In our day, we seem to lack the ability to love, listen, and empathize with people.
When Jesus struck up a conversation with the woman at the well, he did so knowing that she had a reputation. She was racially rejected, morally inferior, and widely despised. You wouldn’t have expected a leper to talk to this woman, let alone the Son of God. Even when he asked pointed questions of her, not once did he pass judgment.
In the moment of judging the behavior of unbeliever (and believer alike), we exclaim “I will be like the Most High”, and attempt to exalt our judgment as equal to His.
There is one judgment, and one alone that we are qualified to make, and that is one of self-examination. Only two options are available: We are either Christ’s, or we are not. Beyond that, our minds lie, our hearts dissemble, and our consciences deceive.
The One Regret of Jesus…
Recently, I watched a documentary called “The Kings of Pastry“. Essentially, it follows some of the best pastry chefs in the world, as they compete to be good enough to receive “the collar”. It is the highest award in the craft. All of the competitors can win, if they are good enough. It’s a pass/fail ordeal. The unique thing in this competition, is that the judges are all former contestants, and often are the coaches of those competing.
It won’t hold you spellbound for 2 hours, unless you really are a die-hard cook. However, there is one scene that drives a dagger through my heart. At the end of the movie, the Chief Judge is about to announce the winners, and by omission, the losers.
He begins to call the names of the winners. Sadly, it’s a short list.
Then, he does something I have never seen a judge do in any competition: He begins to cry.
Not just little drops that slowly trickle out the corners of his eyes. No. He bawls, barely controlling his sobs for those who did not receive the honor.
So, I believe, at the time of judgment, when the Father and the Son have to condemn those who have rejected Jesus to eternal torment. As Christians, we have done a poor job of relaying that God is not glib or indifferent about sending people to Hell. That thought causes him great sorrow, and regret.
Since God is indifferent about it, why should an unbeliever care about hell. If it’s an arbitrary act from a God who is indifferent, why should a sinner not be ambivalent about ending up there.
The Contestant…
The good news is that the Chief Judge became a contestant. Our ability to be judged flawless, and worthy of the honor, is based on something he completed already. That is the essence of Christianity. Not, as one translation puts it “the measuring of your own moral muscle.
It’s not about me, good or bad. It’s about the work of Christ, and anyone who will believe on what He did.
To refer to the backwards paraphrase of Romans 1:16-17, that serves as the title of this post:
For I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power which is at work for the salvation of every one who believes–the Jew first, and then the Gentile. For in the Good News a righteousness which comes from God is being revealed, depending on faith and tending to produce faith; as the Scripture has it, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”
Anything else is noise, distortion, and flexing in front of a fun house mirror.
