Christian
A friend of mine regularly reposts things on Facebook from a page entitled Christianity for people who hate Christianity. The posts are classic Facebook - some are interesting and thought provoking, others are trying to be and aren’t. But the pages name... Its just been frustrating me recently!
There is a growing trend amongst some Christians and churches to try and make themselves more acceptable to others by stating that they aren’t religious, and/or they dislike Christians or even Christianity itself! To a certain extent, I sympathise with people who do this, and I can understand why they do it, but I’m not sure how helpful or how biblical it is...
When the Jewish people God had selected to be his representatives on earth were making all sorts of mistakes, he didn’t disown them or separate himself from them. In fact he became a Jewish human. And Jesus didn’t start his own religion or a version of Judaism with a new name, instead he brought correction and challenge to those who weren’t getting the Jewish thing right.
I’m all for using new language and terms in order to further our ability to preach the gospel. The church eventually adopted the termChristianto express the universal nature of the gospel - people didn’t have to be born as part of the Jewish race to follow Christ and share in the Jewish calling to be God’s representatives on earth. So if someone we are preaching to finds the termChristiana stumbling block, of course use something different. Call yourself aFollower of the Way, or aDisciple of Christ, or even just “Dave, someone who really loves this Jesus person...”but this careful use of language is very different to cutting yourselves off from other parts of the church or otherChristiansor claiming to hate or reject them!
Like many others, I’m horrified by some of the things that are done in the name ofChristianity. And let’s be honest, the Church has some hideous skeletons in its closet! Whilst the cliche’s and stereotypes such as the crusades, and child abuse, and the mistreatment of, woman, homosexuals, and those of other faiths etc can be blown out of proportion - we have all of them and more in our history.
We can be, and have been, oppressive, judgmental and violent; we misuse our finances, we’ve exacerbated, perpetuated and in some instances, taken advantage of unjust class systems; we’ve preached fear, not grace; we’ve generated fame for ourselves, not for God; we’ve distracted ourselves with inter church competition and personal gain whilst ignoring the poor and the needy; we’ve displaced entire people groups; used our faith as an abusive tool to tame and “civilize” others; and without fail, at nearly every turn, we alienate people all in the name or preserving our own misguided sense of righteousness.
But I say “we”, because I am aChristian, part of God’s church, and proud of that.
Because for every terrible thing the church has done, it’s also done amazing things. We get to hold serious claim to the abolition of slavery; to pioneering the redistribution of wealth; to initiating the creation of free health care and education for all; to bringing peace and reconciliation to fractured nations, society’s and family’s; to the establishment of recovery programs; to the raising of billions of pounds towards ridding the world of poverty; and to bringing the hope of the gospel to millions.
I haven’t had much direct involvement with many of these things but I’m proud to call myself a Christian knowing that I’m part of the same family that has achieved all this. And for all these major, high profile achievements, there are hundreds of thousands more untold and unknown stories of people faithfully bringing the healing, freedom, joy, and peace of the Kingdom of God to the world around them.
God is amazing, His gospel is amazing, His church is amazing,Christianityis amazing, and being offered the chance to be a part of all that and take on Christ’s name is amazing too! Why would you want to distance yourself from that!?
The issue I take with those who do, is 3 fold:
First, whilst I haven’t started any crusades recently, I cannot allow myself to think that I’m the perfect ambassador for Jesus. I’m not. And I don’t want to fall into the trap of pointing out other people’s failings when I know that I fail too - speck-plank, etc. Those Christians that distance themselves from Christianity or the church on the basis of past mistakes are in danger of falling into this trap. Moreover, if you’re out on a limb, under a new title or terminology for your faith that is supposedly ‘purer’ than Christianity, and a major mistake is made, there is no great legacy of the church to fall back on or hide within. Movement over. Yet another term or title tarnished by human error! Oh... and you will make mistakes!
Second, one of Paul’s, and in fact all of the Apostles’ biggest concerns for the early church was unity. We are one body, and we must seek to preserve that. Fracturing ourselves off from others isn’t an option! When a member of our family does something horrendous or even just makes a few mistakes we shouldn’t throw them out of the family or decide to leave it ourselves. That helps no one. The early church screwed plenty of things up, but rather than disown or distance themselves from them, the apostles highlighted mistakes, lovingly brought guidance and discipline and most importantly made sure the church weathered the storm together. Part of the mission of the church is the reconciliation of all peoples, how can we do that if those on that mission deliberately separate themselves off from one another!?
Third, and most significantly, to distance yourself from a problem is to do nothing about it. Its an abdication of responsibility. But we are called to lay our lives down for our cause and take up our crosses. That means we must lay down things - like our reputation - and work selflessly for the sake of the gospel. Allowing yourself to be criticized for the churches past mistakes can be costly. Tackling issues you see within the church, and seeking to change things for the better can be impossibly hard work. But that is part of our task and abdicating from that task is not an option.
So what do we do when faced with things done in the name of Christ that we believe are unchristian?
Why can’t we just be dead upfront about it all? Honesty is the best policy, right? Just because something has been done in the name of Christianity doesn’t mean it was Christ-like. We don’t have to be shy about it. Paul wasn’t. Jesus even called Peter “Satan”! That wasn’t a rejection of Peter, Jesus wasn’t disowning him, he was simply pointing out that what Peter was saying and thinking had no place in the life of one of his disciples. But Peter was still counted as a disciple after that event.
We can disagree but still love. We can reject behavior but stay united to people. We can hate it whenChristian’sengage in unchristian activity, but still relish the fact we are part of their family, heritage, and faith.
The name ‘Christian’, is important. It’s who we are: people learning to be more like Christ. If we feel it has been tarnished, we shouldn’t abandon it, we should reclaim it.
