"Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!" Psalm 141:3
"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Ghandi
Hear, hear, Mahatma; hear, hear.
I have this big thing with associating with many present-day Evangelical Christians. I feel, 90% of the time, that identifying myself as a Christian does more harm than it does good. Thank you, Jonesboro Baptist fanatics. If Bon Jovi were a Christian rock group, they could have written a song inspired by you entitled You Give Christianity a Bad Name. Truth be told, that song title could apply to most Christians nowadays.
There's one major issue I have with the majority of today's Christians that makes me irate and makes me want to disassociate: their bloody mouths.
"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Ghandi
Hear, hear, Mahatma; hear, hear.
I have this big thing with associating with many present-day Evangelical Christians. I feel, 90% of the time, that identifying myself as a Christian does more harm than it does good. Thank you, Jonesboro Baptist fanatics. If Bon Jovi were a Christian rock group, they could have written a song inspired by you entitled You Give Christianity a Bad Name. Truth be told, that song title could apply to most Christians nowadays.
There's one major issue I have with the majority of today's Christians that makes me irate and makes me want to disassociate: their bloody mouths.
A few years ago, my husband, mother-in-law and I were hurrying through our city to get an early morning train to London. On the approach to the station, in the cloak of dawn and in the rain, a woman stood, stretching her arm out to hand religious tracts and leaflets to passersby.
The three of us held up our hands to refuse the tract. We each spoke "No thank you," in unison. Our train was due to leave in 10 minutes. We were still a five minute walk away and would need to scamper up the escalator, find the platform and rush onto the train before it departed, hurtling down the rails to London.
Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the rain. Whatever it was, inspired this woman to respond to us in one of the most disgusting and ungodly ways. When we politely refused her tract, she snarled through the rain, "What a shame to be a lost soul and to end up in hell!"
It took everything within me not to turn around and slap her in the face. Instead, I kept quiet, shook my head and we forged along, up the incline. My mother-in-law muttering under her breath about religious fanatics.
Today, a Sunday, my husband and I took our son to the cinema. It has become a monthly ritual: one Sunday each month we go to brunch and then a family friendly movie. (I don't agree with conventional organized religion and I don't agree with most modern day churches so that's the last place you'll find this believer on a Sunday.)
In the theater, we pick up our prebooked tickets and head over to the group of people gathered at the bottom of the escalator leading up to the screens. We stood around in the throng for a few minutes before I spoke up and asked why no one was heading up the escalator. A man in a checkered button down answered, "We've been instructed to wait. The church service has been moved to another screen."
"The church service?"
"Yes, if you're here for church, we have to wait."
"We'll we're not," I said, pushing my way through and to the escalators.
Going past, the man said, "Maybe you should be."
This time, I couldn't let it go. I spun around and looked him square in the face. "And why is that? You think I'm headed or hell? You think I'm going to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire? Has it not occurred to you that I might be a believer? Instead you stand here judging and wrongfully condemning me to a fate that will never be mine instead of taking the time to check. Instead of genuinely asking after the welfare of my soul, you pass judgment and are rude. People like you ruin Christianity."
And it's true. People like him ruin Christianity. What right did he have to assume that I was not a Christian because I wasn't queued up to join their cinematic church service? This type of quick judgement and alienation ruins people's perspectives of Christianity. What if I hadn't been a Christian? How likely is it that someone who doesn't know me judging me and insinuating that I was headed for hell purely because I wanted to enjoy a family film with my family on a Sunday morning would then be able to win to Christ? After an insinuation like that, I wouldn't think this guy would be good enough to tie my shoelaces. Much less would I listen to him preach fire and brimstone at me.
Christians can be so quick to jump onto the horse of superiority and scowl down their noses at those they think are unworthy and headed for a smoldering dip in hades. It's disgusting and damaging. It's the type of thing that creates unnecessary derision. Instead of showing Christ through me many of today's Christians (and I'm preaching to the choir here) are guilty of besmudging Him and besmirching Him with all of our other shit and letting what really matters get screwed.
For the sakes of those around us who aren't Christians and who are genuinely looking to Christians to be different and to act differently and to treat other Christians and non-Christians differently, please let us watch our words. Let's remember that Christianity and our relationship with Christ can be personal. Let's remember that not every Christian is going to do the same things as you but that they are not less of a Christian because of it.
The three of us held up our hands to refuse the tract. We each spoke "No thank you," in unison. Our train was due to leave in 10 minutes. We were still a five minute walk away and would need to scamper up the escalator, find the platform and rush onto the train before it departed, hurtling down the rails to London.
Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the rain. Whatever it was, inspired this woman to respond to us in one of the most disgusting and ungodly ways. When we politely refused her tract, she snarled through the rain, "What a shame to be a lost soul and to end up in hell!"
It took everything within me not to turn around and slap her in the face. Instead, I kept quiet, shook my head and we forged along, up the incline. My mother-in-law muttering under her breath about religious fanatics.
Today, a Sunday, my husband and I took our son to the cinema. It has become a monthly ritual: one Sunday each month we go to brunch and then a family friendly movie. (I don't agree with conventional organized religion and I don't agree with most modern day churches so that's the last place you'll find this believer on a Sunday.)
In the theater, we pick up our prebooked tickets and head over to the group of people gathered at the bottom of the escalator leading up to the screens. We stood around in the throng for a few minutes before I spoke up and asked why no one was heading up the escalator. A man in a checkered button down answered, "We've been instructed to wait. The church service has been moved to another screen."
"The church service?"
"Yes, if you're here for church, we have to wait."
"We'll we're not," I said, pushing my way through and to the escalators.
Going past, the man said, "Maybe you should be."
This time, I couldn't let it go. I spun around and looked him square in the face. "And why is that? You think I'm headed or hell? You think I'm going to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire? Has it not occurred to you that I might be a believer? Instead you stand here judging and wrongfully condemning me to a fate that will never be mine instead of taking the time to check. Instead of genuinely asking after the welfare of my soul, you pass judgment and are rude. People like you ruin Christianity."
And it's true. People like him ruin Christianity. What right did he have to assume that I was not a Christian because I wasn't queued up to join their cinematic church service? This type of quick judgement and alienation ruins people's perspectives of Christianity. What if I hadn't been a Christian? How likely is it that someone who doesn't know me judging me and insinuating that I was headed for hell purely because I wanted to enjoy a family film with my family on a Sunday morning would then be able to win to Christ? After an insinuation like that, I wouldn't think this guy would be good enough to tie my shoelaces. Much less would I listen to him preach fire and brimstone at me.
Christians can be so quick to jump onto the horse of superiority and scowl down their noses at those they think are unworthy and headed for a smoldering dip in hades. It's disgusting and damaging. It's the type of thing that creates unnecessary derision. Instead of showing Christ through me many of today's Christians (and I'm preaching to the choir here) are guilty of besmudging Him and besmirching Him with all of our other shit and letting what really matters get screwed.
For the sakes of those around us who aren't Christians and who are genuinely looking to Christians to be different and to act differently and to treat other Christians and non-Christians differently, please let us watch our words. Let's remember that Christianity and our relationship with Christ can be personal. Let's remember that not every Christian is going to do the same things as you but that they are not less of a Christian because of it.