6. The “Culture is
Evil and Scary” Christian: When a person rants against culture, they are
usually talking about the life outside of the Christian church and activities.
However, culture is itself is not evil. Culture is simply the behaviors,
beliefs, values, and symbols that are accepted and passed on from one
generation to the next. There is culture all around us: our region of the
country, our cities/towns, our families, schools, age groups, and even our
churches. I find the Christians who fear culture often will try to protect
themselves by living in a corruption free bubble. I agree with Mr. Powell that
this belief can be toxic because it can lead to isolation and is how most cults
are formed when the outside world is shut out. Christians are called to go out
into the world and spread the gospel. How can we do that if we shut ourselves away?
7. The “I love Jesus
but not the church” Christians: In the defense of the Christians who say
“but not the church,” they are usually referring to a particular congregation that
they feel wronged by even disenchanted with. I have left churches in which I
felt did not have a place for me or I had outgrown or simply did not feel
comfortable being a part of. And it’s not that this Christian wants isolation, they
want to a part of a church but feels he or she does not fit in or welcome
either through their own faulty perspective or the actions of others. When my
husband first become a Christian, he was fired up and wanted to get involved.
However, he was told he was not ready to serve. How can you tell a person who
wants to help he can’t? It’s not that he wanted to lead a sermon. This is the
kind of attitude I’m talking about. While I do believe that having a church to
worship and fellowship is important, I feel it is only a fraction of a
Christian’s life, not the entirety.
8. The “God doesn’t
work that way” Christian: I used to be a very black-n-white Christian,
influenced by the church I was attending at the time. When I begin to study the
Bible on my own, I realized that there are a lot of shades of grey simply
because life is not so clean cut as we want it to be. People cannot fathom the
greatness, the bigness, and the powerfulness of God. We try to understand Him
in ways that our brain can handle. One of the hardest questions to answer is
why. For example, I believe that everything happens for a reason. I believe
that God allowed me to suffer two pregnancy losses because He saw a role that I
needed to fill. I know many people who don’t like to think that God allows the
death of a child. While the losses were painful and traumatic for me, I
wouldn’t be able to fill that role had I not suffered the loss of two of my
children. I now have another purpose in life to help others.
9. The “Love to Pick a Fight” Christian: These
Christians usually argue or discuss doctrine. Doctrine which is often man’s interpretation
of the Bible. Sometimes it’s right and sometimes it’s wrong. I’ve learned that
some people who argue loudly about doctrine don’t really understand it and want
to try and prove that they do. For example, many years ago, I was on my way to
a College Bible weekend and during the drive up, the discussion turned to
Calvinism. At the time, I had never heard of Calvinism and I asked for more
detail. The blank look I got from the person who was debating the loudest was
very telling. He stumbled with his words before telling me that I wouldn’t
understand. At the time, I was very insulted that he couldn’t take the time to
give me the basics. However it was only much later when I encountered another
person discussing Calvinism, did I realize that that young man didn’t truly
understand what he was talking about but he wanted to sound like he did.
10. The “You can’t
talk about that in church” Christian: I caught myself doing this at church
a few weeks ago. The worship band was playing a song that isn’t a typical
worship song. I leaned over to my husband and said, “I can’t believe they’re
playing this song in church.” What I was really concerned about wasn’t the
content of the song (which fit the theme of the day’s sermon) but who the song
is associated with. The person who usually uses this protest to the topics
discussed in sermons is more because the topics which makes them uncomfortable.
Also, sometimes when a topic makes you feel uncomfortable because it speaks to
you more deeply then you want. When Jesus taught, he wasn’t concerned with
making people comfortable. He wanted to shake them awake from their old ways.
To open their eyes to the sin in their lives. He made many enemies this way but
He also gained many followers who were set free from the chains that society
had put them in.
In conclusion, bottom line Christians are still humans. They
still suffer the shortcomings and failure that all humans do. Just because
someone is Christian does not mean they are perfect. It means they are a
follower of Christ. That they strive to live their lives as He did. Sometimes
they will succeed, sometimes they will fail. Remember just because someone is a
Christian, as a Christian, you or I are not obligated to like them or hang out
with them or have any deeper relationship. We are commanded by our Lord and
Savior to love them as a child of God. To pray for them that the Lord will help
them change their toxic ways. We are not to exclude them from fellowship. We
must be better examples of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment