Beloved, it seems we have a problem. It turns out that the Western church is embroiled in a battle; a schizophrenic civil war, to be more precise. This shouldn't surprise you. Dating as far back as the penning of Romans 7, we have done, and continue to do, that which we shouldn't, forsaking that which we ought to do. Shoot, this dates back to the advent of the sin nature, then. More specifically, however, I find that, in my own life, in my reading, and in my daily experience, there is an inner struggle between what is "nice," and what is "holy."
It's a natural tendency, of course. The path of least resistance rarely, if ever, merges with the straight and narrow, and yet, it must be a four-lane highway, with all the traffic it gets. "Now, we don't want no trouble," do we? No, for our own self-preservation, the only thing we fight for is the lowest common denominator, a banal mediocrity that quietens everyone and pleases no one. Yet, when I consider the life of Jesus, I find that He very often was confronting the niceties of established religion, and was consorting with the rough rabble of prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers. I think His most telling statement to this end was, "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13)."
And, let's be honest. Doesn't even our neighbor see through our niceness? If we can see in each other our own insincerities, doesn't God certainly see through it, He who searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts (1 Chronicles 28:9)?" Sincerity of heart is what counts, not appearances. Jesus' track record with the Pharisees and religious leaders should well demonstrate that.
What lies at the root of our ingratiating desire to "just be nice," anyway? Do we fear our fellow man that much, that we sacrifice what we know to be right for what we know to be easy? Do you realize that the nicer your facade, the less relevant you become? Don't we understand that Christ made such an impact precisely because He moved past cliches, past the status quo, so that even the secular voices need respect His impact? People don't want packaged answers and glib diatribes nearly as much as they want honesty. Think back to when you became a follower of Christ. Were you responding to your deep-seated need to simply have a pleasant life? Of course not! You had found in Christ Jesus the answer to your deepest need, and a God big enough to handle any question, even if you can't understand the answer. Let's be real for once, because things aren't always nice. Wipe away the veneer; be geniune, and find true satisfaction.
9 comments:
Good words Jeremy.
Question about the book unChristian: How much should we be concerned with what non-Christians think about us? Should we not be more concerned about what God's Word tells us to be?
the stereotypical Christian is: judgmental, hypocritical, and has a superiority complex. they also are better defined by what they're against (ex-homosexuality), than what they are for (fighting injustice). our evangelism tends to come off as "getting another notch in the belt," so that once they're saved, our work is done, and we may or may not invest as much time in the relationship as before.
all that to say, they're not far off, and none of that is the proper view depicted in God's Word. Ergo, because we as a people tend to emphasize one end of the spectrum at the expense of the other (ex-legalism vs social gospel). we would be insanely remiss to completely ignore their viewpoint. you HAVE to see through their eyes if you expect to reach them, not 'packaging' the gospel, but addressing their real concerns, and need for authenticity and truth.
I do think that we should listen to people to find out where they are at and what questions they may have so we can address them personally.
What I think rubs me wrong is that we need to listen to non-Christians tell us that we are judgmental, hypocritical, etc. Although I think Barna has some good things to say, I am not a fan of polling people to find out what the trends and feelings are. The Bible tells us those things are wrong, we don't need nonbelievers to tell us that. Instead of adapting ourselves to please nonbelievers we should adapt ourselves to match what God's Word tells us to be (which is unchanging).
I have found personally that many non-Christians who complain about Christians being judgmental has less to do with actually being judgmental and more to do with being guilty in that judgment. And those who are being hypocritical or unloving shouldn't need to be told by a poll of unbelievers, but should be rebuked by their church.
I have a lot of thoughts rolling in on this and am probably not laying them out very clearly. Just throwing them out as they come for discussion. What do you think?
1 question: Have you even read the book?
No, I was reading some articles that referenced surveys and then I saw the summary of the book which made me think of some questions. My thoughts aren't specifically with the book, just with the idea of asking lost souls how they think we should act.
Wow you are fast at replying.
yeah, it's more to the point of what has been their experience. many of those polled are very familiar with a Christian subculture and a church community, and for the reasons aforementioned, are no longer. He doesn't ask them how they think we should act; he imports the Biblical record to that end.
To the question of the church calling hypocrites on the mat for their actions, they are typically unqualified, as their hypocrisy is most evident to the nonbeliever, more than the fellow believer, who very likely finds themself in a similar position to said hypocrite.
I think you would have to admit that we do tend to be glib in our witness, with pat answers that ignore the messy parts of life, the very place where these people find themselves. Since we so often live in a Christian bubble, having very few, if any, unsaved friends, I think it is of utmost importance that we hear how we are percieved by the outside world. you've said yourself, you'd just as soon escape the 'real world,' and be cloistered in the church as a minister. if that's our tendency, and i think it is for every Christian, then we've no other help of understanding the lost than from the horse's mouth.
Yancey reminded me that, if we were truly more Christ-like, we would find ourselves much more at ease among the sinners, as Christ did, than the religious order, b/c they (the sinners) are often much more transparent and honest. it's like pulling teeth among Christians to even get a prayer for holiness out of 'em, or to say more than "Oh, I'm just fine." Nonchristians have nothing to hide; we think we have to keep up that waxed and perfect image, which is exactly the critique levelled at us by the unbeliever, so we're full circle.
I'm obviously ranting by now, but I enjoy the dialogue. this is where true iron-sharpening happens. Love ya, Brother!!
As to evangelism, I agree, I am definitely tired of the "5 steps to sharing your faith" methodologies. When everything is scripted it is obvious to people that you don't care about their souls, but simply spouting words out. I got a preview of Kevin's sermon for Sunday and it sounds like this might be one of his points.
It definitely is a tendency to want to escape the world, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I love the people of God and love to honor Christ together with them (which is why I evangelize, so more people will want to love God). My desire to be a pastor has much more to do with studying the Word of God and teaching others not to simply enjoy it for themselves, but to share it with the world (get out of the bubble!). I have shared the gospel much in the world and am starting to be known as the guy who reads the Bible a lot and wants to be a pastor. I really enjoy that. However, I also have a desire to teach other Christians to do the same.
I like the thought from Yancey that we would be more at ease among sinners. This is something I have been learning over the last couple years by experience. We must not let our anger at sin start condemning people who are slaves to sin. That is all they know to do. We must see that they are in bondage to sin and have pity on them. We should see the sin, judge it to be wrong, and, instead of condemning, move with compassion with the message of freedom from sin.
Which is the heart of the issue, the gospel. When we take surveys, they really do not reveal anything new that is not described in the Bible. Nonbelievers like their sin. They hate when it is pointed out. They hate when anyone stands above them with authority, whether it is false authority (shown in hypocrisy) or true authority (the Word of God). The solution to all of it is preach the gospel. People who make these excuses simply need to be saved. Those who are are hypocrites are just that, pretenders, and they need to hear the gospel and repent too. Those who call themselves Christian and think they're better than everyone else need to be humbled by their sin and repent.
Boy do I ramble a lot. One other thought. I really enjoy talking one on one with people and I admit that I am often given these very same stereotypes. I simply tell them that the Bible says there will be tares among the wheat, that people do sin after they are saved but they sin less as they grow, and that even though they may have identified some "Christians" who don't act like it, that doesn't make this individual any less guilty on judgment day. The solution is to simply have a conversation with people about the implications of the gospel instead of trying to change the church to make them like it better. Don't change the church, what we believe, or what we preach; just get out into the world and start talking with people about Christ.
Thanks for the continuing conversation. It really makes me think.
By the way, I love the book title, "No More Christian Nice Guy." Sometimes what the world sees as mean is the loving thing to do (ie telling people that their sin offends God and that they are heading for hell doesn't seem nice, but in the big picture is the most loving thing to do).
wow, you sound like you wrote the book. you make excellent points, many of those made in the book. i think the gain of these types of surveys is, it's a gut check. the church often seems to lag behind the times, so, in this scenario, we may continue to assume those around us know who Christ is, and understand a Christian worldview, by and large. it shakes us from our lethargy and ignorance, thereby showing the timeless relevance of the Word, and pointing us back to it, i pray.
the church doesn't need to change, but it's people do (which is the church, of course); it's otherwise referred to as sanctification. just as the unbeliever doesn't deal with his sin until confronted with it, neither does the Christian. we pray the Word of God will do that effectively, but sometimes it takes the extrapolation of the text into a marketable format, such as "unChristian." this is unfortunate, of course, but it could be equated to a weekly sermon, which only acts to remind us of the truths we should already know.
i think the surveys reinforce the Gospel, and further its relevance for the lackadaisical Christian, who would rather read a book about the Gospel than the Gospel itself.
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