As many know, I have a lot friends outside the whole "Christian circle" thing. Becoming a pastor was probably as much a shock to the majority of my friends as it was to me at the time. Yet, despite our differences in theological belief, I appreciate these friendships on a variety of levels. One of them is, if nothing else, to keep a pulse on how Christians are viewed by many of the non-Christians of the world. Many days - it ain't pretty.
For instance, one of my friends posted the following this past Sunday on her Facebook page:
Now arguably, Christians are not perfect people. Not by a long-shot. We sin. We screw up. We have emotions like everyone else. Sometimes our emotions get the best of us and we do and say things that are extremely un-Christian-like. It happens. No one is immune from sin and anger.
But as you can see from my friend's posting - it isn't something occasional. It's a pretty regular occurrence by an easily identifiable group of people. We're most recognizable on Sunday because many still "dress up" to go to church. It's a good thing we're looking good sitting in a pew, because we can apparently be pretty ugly everywhere else.
This highlights one of the biggest problems facing Christianity right now - the behavior of Christians. It's a basic failure to connect what happens in the worship service with what happens in daily life. It's not a new problem, by any means, but is becoming an increasingly detrimental problem when it comes to how we continue to drive people further and further away from the church.
It would seem our perceived "inness" on account of our faith has resulted in something other than expressions of joy and thanksgiving that we take out into the world, but rather, rude, demeaning, condescending behavior that reeks of the kind of class and social division that Jesus spent his entire ministry fighting against. Many Christians have seemingly become the new class of Pharisees and Sadducees. The keepers of the moral and religious codes that looked good at the synagogues and Temple, but fell short when it came to actually treating their neighbors with love and respect. Whether their neighbors were the Romans, the Samaritans, the blind, the poor, the sick and infirm, or the outcasts - the religious "ruling class" usually wanted nothing to do with these people. They hid behind purity laws to keep from getting their hands "dirty" in the work of serving their neighbor. They were a club that included only particular people. A club that Jesus had harsh words for.
My friend's posting also reminded me of a conversation I had last week with a former soldier who had returned from Afghanistan. He told me how a Muslim friend of his had walked into a church somewhere in Europe just to kind of see what this whole Christianity thing was about. He walked in - and was immediately told to leave because he wasn't "one of them." Needless to say, this Muslim now doesn't care if he ever steps foot in a Christian-based place of worship ever again.
If worship has become about being part of a club, part of us celebrating our "inness" while ignoring - or worse, demeaning and excluding - the people outside our church doors... we've missed the whole point. We've missed what it means to be a follower of Christ. As both the prophet Amos and the Apostle Paul point out:
Are Christians perfect? By no means. Do they always do the right thing? Of course not. Do Christians still sin? Have bad days? Not always act like they're supposed to? Focus on the wrong things at times? Sure. We're human. The Gospel message is that we are indeed forgiven of our flaws and sins. That all fall short.
That said, forgiveness is not a license to behave the way we do at times. It is not a license to treat the people around you - especially strangers - rudely or with disdain. How we carry ourselves matters. How we treat other people matters. Not because it's what "saves us from hell," but because the message that we have been entrusted with sharing, the love and freedom of God in Christ, is not being heard. People are watching and what we say and do in our day to day lives speaks as loudly as what we profess. Actually - it speaks louder. As what we profess many times winds up sounding like its own form of judgment rather than a message of freedom, mercy, and grace.
If you ask non-Christians what they think of Christians, "loving people," is not usually what comes to mind.
And that's a problem.
Because that means people don't hear the gospel. They hear our judgmentalism. They hear our "righteous anger" over moral issues. They hear our disdain over God being removed from public venues. They hear us bicker and fight among each other over doctrine, worship styles, and social issues. As Paul says - without love, this is all just a noisy gong and clanging cymbal in the ears of a culture that is skeptical of anything that sounds "institutional" to begin with.
Our noisy "gonging" drowns out the radical nature of God's love. Our clanging cymbals deafen people to the lengths to which God has gone to make that love known in the world. They don't see or hear about the daily, ongoing work of missionaries and relief workers. The countless homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other community and world-wide projects that are Christian-run that serve the needy, poor, and oppressed.
I know the work Christians do that is good. I've seen it and been a part of it. There are important issues that we need to discuss and deal with. But we have an image problem that overshadows all that at the moment.
How will the world know we are Christ's followers? By how we love and treat each other. Perhaps that should be our starting point. Once we get that one down, maybe we can address some of the other issues.
For instance, one of my friends posted the following this past Sunday on her Facebook page:
"In the retail world Sunday means...when you're done being forgiven at church, go into as many stores as possible and be the biggest jerk you can be. Seriously it has happened every single Sunday at every single retail job I've had. Today was no different....I can't even begin to list the number of people who gave me problems, attitudes and spoke to me like I was a moron while still dressed in their church clothes. I should've just told them "is this how Jesus tells you to treat people? Cuz if he does you're doing a great job.""Sigh. Perhaps this is an argument for not having stores open on Sundays? Because Christians just tend to come out of church all cranky and annoyed? (Which, in and of itself should cause us to go, hmmm...what's wrong with that picture?)
Now arguably, Christians are not perfect people. Not by a long-shot. We sin. We screw up. We have emotions like everyone else. Sometimes our emotions get the best of us and we do and say things that are extremely un-Christian-like. It happens. No one is immune from sin and anger.
But as you can see from my friend's posting - it isn't something occasional. It's a pretty regular occurrence by an easily identifiable group of people. We're most recognizable on Sunday because many still "dress up" to go to church. It's a good thing we're looking good sitting in a pew, because we can apparently be pretty ugly everywhere else.
This highlights one of the biggest problems facing Christianity right now - the behavior of Christians. It's a basic failure to connect what happens in the worship service with what happens in daily life. It's not a new problem, by any means, but is becoming an increasingly detrimental problem when it comes to how we continue to drive people further and further away from the church.
It would seem our perceived "inness" on account of our faith has resulted in something other than expressions of joy and thanksgiving that we take out into the world, but rather, rude, demeaning, condescending behavior that reeks of the kind of class and social division that Jesus spent his entire ministry fighting against. Many Christians have seemingly become the new class of Pharisees and Sadducees. The keepers of the moral and religious codes that looked good at the synagogues and Temple, but fell short when it came to actually treating their neighbors with love and respect. Whether their neighbors were the Romans, the Samaritans, the blind, the poor, the sick and infirm, or the outcasts - the religious "ruling class" usually wanted nothing to do with these people. They hid behind purity laws to keep from getting their hands "dirty" in the work of serving their neighbor. They were a club that included only particular people. A club that Jesus had harsh words for.
My friend's posting also reminded me of a conversation I had last week with a former soldier who had returned from Afghanistan. He told me how a Muslim friend of his had walked into a church somewhere in Europe just to kind of see what this whole Christianity thing was about. He walked in - and was immediately told to leave because he wasn't "one of them." Needless to say, this Muslim now doesn't care if he ever steps foot in a Christian-based place of worship ever again.
If worship has become about being part of a club, part of us celebrating our "inness" while ignoring - or worse, demeaning and excluding - the people outside our church doors... we've missed the whole point. We've missed what it means to be a follower of Christ. As both the prophet Amos and the Apostle Paul point out:
I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! (Amos 5)
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13)Faith is more than just professing what one believes. It is more than just showing up at church on Sunday mornings. Faith is a way of life. It is transformative. God's grace and love active in our lives means we live different lives. It's how we interact with the people and world around us. While worship services and religious ceremonies are an important part of one's faith life (worship is where we're fed and God's word and promises continue to be delivered to us) by themselves, they accomplish nothing if loving one's neighbor is not an integral part of that faith life. I can have all the faith in the world, as Paul points out, but if that faith does not move me to loving action - then what good is it? As James states, "Faith without works is dead." No, this is not works righteousness. It is about what faith actually entails. It's about what faith "looks" like. It's about what faith "is," and when faith doesn't involve caring about the things that concerned Jesus most, then what sort of faith is it?
"Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." (Matthew 7)A lot of things get done in the "name of Christ," yet as this scripture points out, simply because you do things "in the name of Christ" doesn't mean you are actually a follower of Christ. Loving your neighbor, helping the poor and needy, breaking down class, social, racial, ethnic, and gender barriers - these were the things that concerned Jesus. Jesus never stated that the world will know we are his disciples by how much we try to "protect the sanctity of marriage," or how often we hold up signs telling the world who and what God hates. Rather, Jesus stated: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13)
Are Christians perfect? By no means. Do they always do the right thing? Of course not. Do Christians still sin? Have bad days? Not always act like they're supposed to? Focus on the wrong things at times? Sure. We're human. The Gospel message is that we are indeed forgiven of our flaws and sins. That all fall short.
That said, forgiveness is not a license to behave the way we do at times. It is not a license to treat the people around you - especially strangers - rudely or with disdain. How we carry ourselves matters. How we treat other people matters. Not because it's what "saves us from hell," but because the message that we have been entrusted with sharing, the love and freedom of God in Christ, is not being heard. People are watching and what we say and do in our day to day lives speaks as loudly as what we profess. Actually - it speaks louder. As what we profess many times winds up sounding like its own form of judgment rather than a message of freedom, mercy, and grace.
If you ask non-Christians what they think of Christians, "loving people," is not usually what comes to mind.
And that's a problem.
Because that means people don't hear the gospel. They hear our judgmentalism. They hear our "righteous anger" over moral issues. They hear our disdain over God being removed from public venues. They hear us bicker and fight among each other over doctrine, worship styles, and social issues. As Paul says - without love, this is all just a noisy gong and clanging cymbal in the ears of a culture that is skeptical of anything that sounds "institutional" to begin with.
Our noisy "gonging" drowns out the radical nature of God's love. Our clanging cymbals deafen people to the lengths to which God has gone to make that love known in the world. They don't see or hear about the daily, ongoing work of missionaries and relief workers. The countless homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and other community and world-wide projects that are Christian-run that serve the needy, poor, and oppressed.
I know the work Christians do that is good. I've seen it and been a part of it. There are important issues that we need to discuss and deal with. But we have an image problem that overshadows all that at the moment.
How will the world know we are Christ's followers? By how we love and treat each other. Perhaps that should be our starting point. Once we get that one down, maybe we can address some of the other issues.
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