Jesus was a man of great character.
He was a wise teacher, a carpenter, and all-loving man. Ask anyone on the
street what they perceive Jesus to be and the majority of answers will be
positive. Not many people have anything bad to say when it comes to Jesus. He was
a man who was all about love. One of his final instructions that he gave to the
people he spent the most time with was this: “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” (New International Version, John 13:34). This
idea is harder than it sounds.
Why does it seem that Christians
have drifted so far from this important commandment of Jesus Christ? Andy
Stanley, a pastor at North Point Community Church, spoke on John 13:34 in his
sermon series “Christian.” In part two of this series, Stanley talks about how the
disciples, by leveraging love, were able to transform themselves, the people
around them, and even their own country into people who truly followed Jesus
and saw the world as he did. Despite how the early church of Acts began, the
Christian Church has detoured in its mission to carry out the Great Commission
of preaching the gospel and inviting people to become pupils of Jesus Christ.
Stanley later mentions that Christians no longer leveraged love but they
leverage things like religion, politics, rules, and their power. Consequently,
non-believers and those outside the church believe that Christians act as
everyone else in society rather than being set apart as something different.
Now, in the 21st century, many
outside the church see the Christian Church as anti-homosexual, judgmental, and
hypocritical. Christians need to shift their focus dramatically to reflect
Christ more accurately. If they do not, the church will continue to isolate and
alienate the people they are called to love and blaspheme the God they are
called to serve. The essence of this research paper is to show Christians that
it is time for change. Some
of the critical questions to be asked are: What are the criticisms people
perceive about Christians? What did Jesus do to address these criticisms? How
is this played out in American culture, either in a positive or a negative way?
What does it really mean to follow Jesus and be a Christian?
Many Christians may believe that
there is nothing that the Christian Church needs to change. In fact, in John
15:8 Jesus says that the world hated him and so Christians too should expect
the world to hate them. However, according to a study done by The Barna Group
2007 the top three “unfavorable
images” of Christians are anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical (Kinnaman
28). It is essential, that Christians understand the causes of the criticisms
rather than dismiss them. Many times, without trying, Christians are led in one
of these directions. Some may not want to believe this about Christians or even
themselves, if they are a Christian. However,
this thinking is familiar to many. It is critically important for Christians to
have a better understanding of these false images. If they do, Christians can
look within themselves to change to be a better representation of Christ and
what He had in mind for his people.
According to The Barna Group in the
book Unchristian, 91% of “…outsiders
say that Christians are anti-homosexual. This does not only mean disapproval of
homosexual behavior or politics but hatred and scorn on gays as individuals” (Kinnaman
96). Westboro Baptist Church is a prime example of what many outsiders sadly
believe is how the church shows its disdain towards the homosexual community.
Westboro Baptist Church is located in Topeka, Kansas. They host demonstrations across the country picketing
against what they believe to be the wicked sins, homosexuality. As stated on Westboro Baptist Church’s and
their opposition of:
The
homosexual lifestyle of soul-damning, nation-destroying filth. The church holds
signs containing some of the following phrases: ‘GOD HATES FAGS, FAGS HATE GOD,
AIDS CURES FAGS, THANK GOD FOR AIDS, FAGS BURN IN HELL, GOD IS NOT MOCKED, FAGS
ARE NATURE FREAKS, GOD GAVE FAGS UP.’
(Godhatesfags.com)
The Bible has various references
towards homosexual behavior. Leviticus 18:22, Romans 1:26-27, and 1 Corinthians
6:9-10 are the most commonly used verses that support this belief that
homosexual acts are a sin. However, Shayne Wheeler states, “…it is one thing to be against homosexuality...but it’s another
to be against homosexuals” (96). For someone to be homosexual, it is tied to
his or her identity and who he or she is as a person. If a Christian were to
confront an individual who considers him or herself gay and told them that “God
loves [a sinner] but he hates sin [homosexual acts],” then that individual
would most likely consider that phrase a contradiction. They may then think,
“If God hates my lifestyle of being gay, then he has to hate me because who I
am is linked to me being gay.”
Homosexuality is a hot topic in
American culture, and it is important that Christians learn how to address it
correctly. On the other hand, as mentioned by Kinnaman in Unchristian, the Christian church has made homosexuality a “bigger
sin”. The truth is: all have sinned. There is no one who is more or less holy,
righteous, or pure. Someone who struggles in gender preferences or identity is
no more or less condemnable than someone who is a porn addiction, a glutton, or
a thief.
The second and third criticisms
speak of how Christians are judgmental and hypocritical. Many people see Christians
as people who blame others, those outside the Church, for sins that they themselves
commit. Nine out of ten people
outside the church described today’s Christians as being judgmental (Kinnaman
182). In addition, 84% of people outside the church say that they personally
know a Christian but only 15% see their Christian associate as living a life
significantly different than their own (Kinnaman 48). These statistics show that many people
outside the church are perceived with the images of being judgmental and
hypocritical.
Being judgmental and being
hypocritical are two different things, yet they have correlations. To be
judgmental is to indicate and create an opinion based off someone else’s
conduct. To be hypocritical is to say that you have certain morals or
principles but you do not actually live them out. If someone tells another that
they should not behave in one manner and they are doing so in a forceful and
unloving way, they are judging. If that same person, who is judging others,
does not live to the standard that they are telling others to live, then they
are being hypocritical as well. It is important that Christians understand the
definitions of these actions so that they can prevent themselves from acting in
these ways.
In the sermon “Christian” by Andy
Stanley, he tells his congregation “The Bible does not tell us whom to judge,
it tells us who not to judge.” Paul
writes to the early church in 1 Corinthians 5:12 to further elaborate this
idea. He says, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?
Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside”. Those who are outside the church never agreed
to follow the laws of the Bible. Why then do Christians hold non-Christians to
follow and uphold Biblical standards? Non-Christians never wanted to be apart
of those rules in the first place.
Despite what Paul says, Christians
are still seen by outsiders as judgmental. They believe that Christians are
quick to judge others, not be honest about their attitudes and perspectives,
and they do not love people as they say they do (Kinnaman 181). This is an
issue because many people are instantly turned away from the gospel when they
are put down and criticized. If Jesus said that he came to die for everyone’s
sins, Christians should be open to understand that there are no limits to whom
that could be.
Being judgmental seems to be human
nature. In Matthew 7, Jesus asks why people tend to always point out the
problems with the people around them but yet fail to see the problems inside of
themselves. When judging, many people notice flaws in others that they too have
in themselves. Likewise, many Christians want to see others lives transformed
but they refuse to do the dirty work themselves. Shane Claiborne writes in his
book, The Irresistible Revolution, that
it is easy for Christians to admire and worship what Jesus did but not to apply
it in their own lives (113). It is easy for Christians to support Jesus’
teachings but not to apply these lessons personally. Jesus saw this same mentality
with the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Jesus told his followers that what the
Pharisees taught was true and that they should listen to it. However, He warned
them not to do the same thing that they did because “…they didn’t practice what
they preached” (New International Version). Instead the Pharisees were known to
put down other people because of their sins “…but they themselves were not
willing to lift a finger.” In the same way, many Christians are becoming like
the Pharisees and are not making the effort to change and therefore are putting
the blame on non-Christians.
It is difficult to draw correlation
between the criticism of Christian attitudes and the broader societal impact,
but there are some subtle changes that can be observed. The first is that the
number of Americans who affiliate themselves to be part of the protestant
church has fallen. The percent of Americans whom now consider themselves
non-religious is 52%. One of the reasons for this is because of the rise of
non-denominational churches (Zoll, “Report: U.S. Protestants Lose Majority
Status”). However, this does not account for all the people in this survey, but
it does show that many Christians are leaving the more traditional churches. It
is as if Christians know that something is wrong with the Church that needs to
be addresses and therefore they are switching to non-denominational
church. To add on, it seems to be that
it is the church that people reject and not Jesus.
For example, over half of the
earth’s population sees Jesus as a noteworthy character. Brian D. McLaren says
in his book, Everything must Change,
that 14% of Hindus, 6% of Buddhist, 22% of Jews, and 16% of non-religious
people hold Jesus in high regard even though they are apathetic towards the
religion that proclaims him as their Lord. Even in Islam, the prophet Isa, or
Jesus, is esteemed as a highly valued teacher.
In all, Christians have some faults as a whole that they need to change
but if non-Christians can be receptive to and can appreciate Jesus then why is
the Christian church is driving so many people away?
Many scholars point to the
conversion of Constantine as the turning point between Christians and society.
Before this time, Christians were a minority, often persecuted, but had a great
impact on society by loving others in their obedience to Christ. For example,
in Jesus’ culture, children who were disabled or deformed were thrown out to
the river and uncared for. Jesus’ followers were the ones that took these
Children in even though it was scorned by society. After Constantine, the focus
of church was maintaining earthly empire and bringing changes through force
(Stanley).
Another example of why people have
turned away from the church is the way that the Church has presented the
gospel. Andrew Young talks about the change of the Church in “A Fresh Look at
Christian Spirituality”. During medieval times, the Christian church headed
into two directions: rationalism and romanticism. On the rational side, the
church intellectualized people’s faith by saying that the more people knew
about God the more spiritual people were. Having faith in Jesus meant believing
in the right things. On the other side, there was a group of people who
experienced God based off of feelings. These people based their faith off of their
encounters with God. Instead of being spiritually grounded in God they became
absorbed with personal experience of God. In today’s society, it is often seen
that the Christian faith is narcissistic, romanticism, and consumerist. The
problem with viewing Christianity in these ways is that it simplifies the faith
in Jesus into rules and formulas instead of relating to God in their mind,
heart and soul and desiring to know Him in an intimate way.
To better understand how Christians should
act, you should note that there is no clear definition of what it means to be a
Christian in the Bible. The term “Christian” is only used three times in the
Bible; it was seen as a derogatory term (Stanley). It was used to describe a
group of people who acted and behaved in a similar fashion. David Platt talks
about the definition of a Christian in his book Radical by saying, “We are
starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving into the dangerous temptation
to take Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version we are more comfortable
with”. It is because of this that you see Christians on both sides of political
issues, you see Christians talking about one thing but acting in the opposite
manner, and why many people are confused by Christianity is because they look
at it and see that they do not even know what they are about. If Jesus had such
an impact on the world during his short 30 some years, then why are not
Christians, the hands and feet of Jesus containing the gift of the Holy Spirit,
have as significant of an impact?
As mentioned at the beginning of
this paper, Jesus was a man all about love. One of the last instructions that
he gave to his followers was one he called “new, different, or strange” (New
International Version John 13:34). Jesus told them that if they really wanted
to follow him they must love the people around them Additionally, they must not
only just love them but also to love them as he, Jesus, loved them: Jesus loved
his disciples before they began to follow him, he loved them even if they were
tax collectors and people that everyone else in society loathed, he loved them
they denied his family and questioned if “anything good could from Nazareth”.
He even loved them when he was denied as a friend and savior. He was an
extremist for love.
What would it look like if Christians would
stop judging and instead loved, stopped pointing out flaws in others and
instead looked into their own hearts and looked at how they can be more Christ-like?
What if Christians took Jesus’ teachings and used them in regard to some of the
world’s biggest problems. How much could society as a whole change?
Christians are called to be the light in the
midst of darkness. They are called to preserve the rotting earth (New
International Version, Matt. 5:13-16). Jesus, His disciples, and saints later
on lived significantly different lives than the people around them. Most of
them were accused of being crazy: crazy
because they cared so much for people, crazy because they cared so much for the
world, crazy because they loved just as Jesus loved. The Christian faith is
defined as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”
(New International Version, Heb. 11:1). So even if Christians don’t know what
God has in store for them, they are a light called live to a higher standard.
They are called out of the darkness and not to be apart of it.
Christians do not have to seem like they have
it all together. In a recent YouTube sensation, Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus, Jeff Bethke makes the point that
Christians do not need to behave as if they have everything all together. He
says, “I don’t need to hide my failures, I don’t have to hide my sin. Because
it doesn’t depend on me, it depends on him”. Christianity was not made from the
idea that people are to depend on themselves and have their lives put together,
instead it is created by God’s love that can be shone through lives that are
broken and not put together.
In Luke 9:24, Jesus tells his
disciples: “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses
their life for my sake will find it.” To give up security and the comfort that
Christians have it all together may make it seem that things are out of
control, yet, Jesus says that to lose earthly status and to find it in His name
will give His followers life. If Christians choose not to pick up their cross
and live radically in love for Christ they will miss the point of being a
disciple of Jesus. They will continue to live with the title of a Christian
while not representing Christ. They will push aside people that Jesus would
have cared for, and in doing so; Christians distort people’s representation of
God, for God is love.
The call is clear. In this 21st
century, Christians must squarely confront the core criticisms from many
outside the church. While many believe
the church is anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical, Christians can
begin to reverse this negativity if followers of Christianity dramatically
shift their focus to more accurately reflect Christ. They could continue to
isolate and alienate the people they are called to love and blaspheme the God
they are called to serve or they can serve the God of love by being people who
follow the new commandment - the command to love.
Work cited: Claiborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution. Grand
Rapids: Zondervan. 2006. Print.
Godhatesfags. Westboro Baptist
Church. Web. 1955-2012. 21 October 2012.
New
International Version. [Colorado
Springs]: Biblica 2012. BibleGateway.com.
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Kinnaman, David. Unchristian. Grand Rapids: Baker Books,
2007. Print.
McLaren, Brian D. Everything Must Change. Nashville:
Thomas Nelson, 2007. Print.
Christian.
Andy Stanley. North Point Community
Church, Alpharetta, GA. 11 March 2012.Sermon.
Platt, David. Radical. Colorado Springs, Colorado. Multnomah Books. 2010. Print.
“Why I Hate Religion but Love
Jesus.” Online video-clip. YouTube. YouTube,
10 Jan. 2012.
Young, Andrew. “A Fresh Look at
Christian Spirituality”. Grace Theological College. Web.
Zoll, Rachel. “Report: U.S.
Protestants Lose Majority Status.” New York AP. 9 Oct. 2012. MPR .News. Web.
