I posted this on one of my older blogs and it generated some new conversation lately, so I thought I would repost it here (with a little editing). The article isn't brand new, but the link is still active and so is the conversation.
The USA Today ran an article about how our nation's youth see Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical. Here is an excerpt:
"The vast majority of non-Christians — 91% — said Christianity had an anti-gay image, followed by 87% who said it was judgmental and 85% who said it was hypocritical.
Such views were held by smaller percentages of the active churchgoers, but the faith still did not fare well: 80% agreed with the anti-gay label, 52% said Christianity is judgmental, and 47% declared it hypocritical.
Kinnaman said one of the biggest surprises for researchers was the extent to which respondents — one in four non-Christians — said that modern-day Christianity was no longer like Jesus."
The full article can be viewed here:
USA Today Article
I can't say that I am surprised, because I think the same thing.
One of the biggest problems with the conservative church in America is that we have come to define ourselves by what we aren't. We aren't gay and we aren't for gay rights or gay marriage. We aren't pro-choice or for politicians who support abortion - which means that we aren't for democrats for the most part. And we sure aren't for people (artists, activists, and other general rabble-rousers) who challenge us to examine what we actually are standing and working for.
Why? Because, for many of us, we simply are what we aren't.
Now, this isn't a problem as long as we are simply trying to rally the troops - trying to talk with those who already agree with us. But, when we try to have conversations with people who don't agree with us already, this is a huge problem - especially if they are one of those things that we aren't.
Don't get me wrong - I am not espousing a passive theology where we take a poll of our constituency before we decide what we should stand for. I do not believe we should redefine the Bible to match our present cultural view of right and wrong. The Bible is a profoundly challenging book to everyone - conservative, liberal, progressive, regressive, red, or blue. It is an equal-opportunity offender and should be preached clearly so that everyone is made uncomfortable in their sin and is drawn to grace.
It is true that the church has not always been very good at representing the face and glory of God to a world that he loves - but the solution isn't to redefine God into the image of man so that he is less offensive.
The issue isn't whether we should be offensive - the issue is what will make us offensive. When we define ourselves by what we are not, we offend people who are not like us because we condemn them as being "other" - we see them as something we are not, and by extension, inferior to what we are. That is pride and it is offensive - even to God.
If we are going to be offensive, the offense should come because we are like Christ: radically devoted to demonstrating and communicating love in all of its truth and beauty. Our offense should come because we refuse to be bound to any specific group's set of stated and unstated extra-biblical moral boundaries (the rules that keep us in and them out) not because we pridefully condemn those who live on the other side of those boundaries. And, make no mistake, every group has them - whether it is "Don't drink, smoke, or chew and don't go with girls who do" or "Thou shalt not drive an SUV, live in the suburbs, or watch the Fox News Network".
The real challenge for us is to learn how to be known once again for love - not because we are all the same, but because love transcends sameness; not because everyone is right and no one is wrong, but because we are all wrong and Jesus had to die because we are all sinners equally in need of grace. What we need is to relearn what it means to love the outsider (the biblical word for hospitality - a requirement for church leaders - literally means "a love for the stranger") while at the same time not abandoning the truth of biblical revelation.
I firmly believe we need to redefine ourselves by what we are instead of by what we are not. We need to be known for love. Love for those like us, and even more importantly, love for those unlike us, because it is only in loving our neighbors as ourselves that we can truly love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. I love my neighbor (gay, straight, democrat, fundamentalist, pro-choice, or pro-life) because Jesus loves them, and while they are all messed up, they are no more so than I am or could be without the grace of God.
The USA Today ran an article about how our nation's youth see Christianity as anti-gay, judgmental, and hypocritical. Here is an excerpt:
"The vast majority of non-Christians — 91% — said Christianity had an anti-gay image, followed by 87% who said it was judgmental and 85% who said it was hypocritical.
Such views were held by smaller percentages of the active churchgoers, but the faith still did not fare well: 80% agreed with the anti-gay label, 52% said Christianity is judgmental, and 47% declared it hypocritical.
Kinnaman said one of the biggest surprises for researchers was the extent to which respondents — one in four non-Christians — said that modern-day Christianity was no longer like Jesus."
The full article can be viewed here:
USA Today Article
I can't say that I am surprised, because I think the same thing.
One of the biggest problems with the conservative church in America is that we have come to define ourselves by what we aren't. We aren't gay and we aren't for gay rights or gay marriage. We aren't pro-choice or for politicians who support abortion - which means that we aren't for democrats for the most part. And we sure aren't for people (artists, activists, and other general rabble-rousers) who challenge us to examine what we actually are standing and working for.
Why? Because, for many of us, we simply are what we aren't.
Now, this isn't a problem as long as we are simply trying to rally the troops - trying to talk with those who already agree with us. But, when we try to have conversations with people who don't agree with us already, this is a huge problem - especially if they are one of those things that we aren't.
Don't get me wrong - I am not espousing a passive theology where we take a poll of our constituency before we decide what we should stand for. I do not believe we should redefine the Bible to match our present cultural view of right and wrong. The Bible is a profoundly challenging book to everyone - conservative, liberal, progressive, regressive, red, or blue. It is an equal-opportunity offender and should be preached clearly so that everyone is made uncomfortable in their sin and is drawn to grace.
It is true that the church has not always been very good at representing the face and glory of God to a world that he loves - but the solution isn't to redefine God into the image of man so that he is less offensive.
The issue isn't whether we should be offensive - the issue is what will make us offensive. When we define ourselves by what we are not, we offend people who are not like us because we condemn them as being "other" - we see them as something we are not, and by extension, inferior to what we are. That is pride and it is offensive - even to God.
If we are going to be offensive, the offense should come because we are like Christ: radically devoted to demonstrating and communicating love in all of its truth and beauty. Our offense should come because we refuse to be bound to any specific group's set of stated and unstated extra-biblical moral boundaries (the rules that keep us in and them out) not because we pridefully condemn those who live on the other side of those boundaries. And, make no mistake, every group has them - whether it is "Don't drink, smoke, or chew and don't go with girls who do" or "Thou shalt not drive an SUV, live in the suburbs, or watch the Fox News Network".
The real challenge for us is to learn how to be known once again for love - not because we are all the same, but because love transcends sameness; not because everyone is right and no one is wrong, but because we are all wrong and Jesus had to die because we are all sinners equally in need of grace. What we need is to relearn what it means to love the outsider (the biblical word for hospitality - a requirement for church leaders - literally means "a love for the stranger") while at the same time not abandoning the truth of biblical revelation.
I firmly believe we need to redefine ourselves by what we are instead of by what we are not. We need to be known for love. Love for those like us, and even more importantly, love for those unlike us, because it is only in loving our neighbors as ourselves that we can truly love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. I love my neighbor (gay, straight, democrat, fundamentalist, pro-choice, or pro-life) because Jesus loves them, and while they are all messed up, they are no more so than I am or could be without the grace of God.
Comments