The Face of Christianity

I had breakfast the other day with a guy that I'm becoming good friends with. We attend the same mega-church and hadn't known each other before. But we kept hearing about each other. He reached out to me first. I'm pretty glad that he did too. A breakfast with Brad (that's his name) is complete with a lot of food for the mind and soul. I guess you could say it's thought leadership.

My new friend has founded a non-profit organization aimed squarely at Changing the Face of Christianity. You can check it out at http://www.changingthefacechristianity.com/. At first glance, you have to think about the mission of Brad's organization. I mean really think.

What is the face of Christianity? Why does it need to be changed? How would you change it? What would it look like after the change has occurred? How will we measure success in this mission? Even if I answer all of these questions - how can I know if my answers are accurate? What if my own perceptions need to be changed?

Most everyone has heard the analogy of people not being able to "see the trees for the forest." What it means is that we often can't see things from the inside looking out - as someone looking from the outside in can see. For example, I may live in a brick house. But from the inside looking out, I can't see any of the bricks. However, someone standing outside may only see the bricks.

At any rate, the forest-for-the-trees analogy proves true in most of life's circumstances. I suspect it proves true in Christianity. The people who call themselves Christians absolutely cannot see Christianity the same way as people who don't. Those observing Christianity from the outside looking in are getting an entirely different perspective. So one might ask my friend Brad if he's going to change the face of Christianity for the Christians ... or for the non-Christians? Or is he going to do it for both groups? And if so, is the approach the same for both groups?

The face of Christianity is admittedly a little disturbing sometimes. I've often thought I could write a book about Christians behaving badly. In fact, I've assumed that would be the title of my book, "Christians Behaving Badly." Unfortunately I have plenty of anecdotal evidence that I could use to write the book.

When it comes to Christians behaving badly, there are the extreme stories - like the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas that marches on soldiers funerals declaring that God is killing U.S. soldiers because He hates our tolerance of homosexuality. And there are the more innocuous stories - like the ladies who installed a metal cross in the lawn of the church ... and hung a donuts & coffee sign on it to direct newcomers to the coffee bar.

So how did it get to this? Have we always had this problem ... of Christians not acting very Christ-like? There was Peter, a disciple of Christ, who denied that he even knew Christ three times before Jesus was crucified. Wasn't that a case of a Christ-follower behaving badly? (I think it was!) Did the early New Testament church(es) have this problem of people who attended regularly and were committed --- but who didn't look very much like Jesus?

Often we take aim at the people who call themselves Christians and don't come to church. "ChrEasters" is a moniker given to them. They are the ones who generally only attend church on Christmas and Easter. Those of us who attend regularly, volunteer and tithe tend to look down upon on the "ChrEasters." We subtly judge them for their lack of commitment. We may even question whether they are really Christians or not. And of course, we'd like to encourage them to act more like us --- and be at church every week.

But what's the truth here? Are the people who attend church regularly really more Christ-like? Does church attendance make a difference? It was Mahatma Gandhi I believe, who said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Similarly Mark Twain was quoted saying, "If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be - a Christian." Essentially they were saying that the face of Christianity is pretty unattractive.

Honestly, I get their point point. I know a lot of so-called Christians. Many of them are difficult to love. They don't look anything like Christ. And while I am called to love them, I don't necessarily like them. They are broken people and they drag their brokenness with them everywhere they go. Oddly enough, some of them act more broken than they really are! In other words it isn't that they're weak or lack faith. Rather it's that they are lazy and selfish.

So changing the face of Christianity is becoming a more interesting topic for me these days. As I contemplate the dilemma and visit with my new friend who's been called to this important mission, I find myself thinking in business terms. Perhaps Jesus needs to re-brand Himself. Can we re-position Christianity in the marketplace? Does this organization (the broader body of Christians) need a massive paradigm shift? If so, what are we shifting it from? What will we shift it to?

One of the dilemmas that those of us inside Christianity seem to find ourselves in is that it cannot be measured in the ways we typically measure things. God said His ways would be different than ours. Somehow I suspect that God really does want to change the face of Christianity. Ironically, we are the face of Christianity --- those of us who consider ourselves Christ-followers. And it occurs to me that if we were more focused on looking like Christ, thinking like Christ and living like Christ, we would be changed people. And our face would change.

So I'm committed to changing the face of Christianity. I plan to stand right beside my brother Brad, locking arms in his mission. And I plan to start by changing that face that I see in the mirror!

Obama A Muslim?

According to a Washington Post survey, about 20% of all Americans think that President Obama is a Muslim. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081806913.html) It's interesting to note that the Washington Post makes it clear up front that these Americans wrongly believe Obama is a Muslim. I guess that makes it clear that the writers at the Washington Post are clearly not in that 20 percent!

I have to admit that I'm not in that category of Americans that believe Obama is a Muslim. But then I never really thought he was a Christian either. Oh I know, he identified himself as a Christian, and had attended a supposedly Christian church for years before even running for President. But when I saw the kind of pastor he'd listened to for years, it became clear that at best he'd had a misguided teacher of what Christianity is. He'd been misled about what it means to follow Christ. So I never thought Obama was a Christian.

Now here's the thing. Those Americans that think Obama is a Muslim? What do they think they are? My guess is they'd be wrongly believing that too. Hypocrites aren't new to the modern generation. They existed in Biblical times. Through the ages there have always been lots of people who believed they were something they were not. Usually they thought of themselves as more righteous, more holy, more right ... than they actually were. And they still exist today. Scores of them.

Years ago I heard a preacher ask his audience if they were put on trial for being a Christian --- would there be enough evidence to convict them. Honestly I thought of all the people I knew who claimed to be Christians, and measured myself against them. I concluded that maybe there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict me. I was guilty as charged. Though I claimed to be a Christian. Probably at least 20% of Americans would look at me and conclude that I was a Christian. Nevertheless, would there be enough evidence to convict me? I doubted it. (Hopefully my record today is better!)

So what if 20% of Americans think Obama is a Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jew or whatever? Would there be enough evidence to convict him of any of those things? Frankly I doubt it. Most Americans might be surprised to find themselves in the same spot too. Let's face it, people, most of us just don't live devout lives devoted to serving the one true God or any other god. I doubt seriously that Obama's record is really any better than yours or mine.

Perhaps if just 20% of Americans believed they were close enough to God for their prayers to be answered - and devoted themselves to praying for our President - then Obama would look very different to most of us. Mmmmm?

American Spirituality

On a recent trip to Africa, a leading pastor there - who has never been to the U.S., opined that "America must be such a blessed nation because of its faith in God." I nearly choked. I couldn't believe he would seriously entertain such a notion. That is definitely not my perception of America!

Perhaps America's faith has warranted some of God's rich blessings in the past. But more and more, the America I see represents something more like the disobedient, unfaithful and rebellious Israelites whom God punished time and time again (Old Testament). In fact, as I read the Old Testament and read of the Israelites bad behavior, I see so many parallels to modern American culture that it seems almost prophetic.

I could point to quite a number of American behaviors and the statistics that chronicle them --- which clearly are the types of things that anger God and stir His wrath. For example, the U.S. has slaughtered millions of innocent babies in abortions - mostly for convenience sake.

We have taken many false gods and placed them on high pedestals. Entertainment stars and celebrities, rich people, sports stars, shopping, material goods, sexuality. It seems that God is last behind an endless assortment of false gods that we worship.

Americans have placed our sexuality into a context that could hardly be more ungodly. Expressions of our sexuality have become so perverse and destructive that the American family has been all but slaughtered. The numbers of sex partners that men and women have had is astounding. The numbers of babies born out of wedlock is even more astounding. Simply put, the notion of sexual purity and marital fidelity seems to have been tossed aside in a selfish attempt to satisfy our sexual cravings.

But you know, we don't need to point to the sin of Americans to see how far apart from God we are. The results of a recent survey, which were published in Parade magazine this week (http://www.parade.com/news/2009/10/04-how-spiritual-are-we.html), really tell the story better than our sinful ways ever could.

There are several sobering conclusions that one could reasonably reach from the results of this survey. If the survey results are truly representative of the realities in the U.S. then:

• Most Americans don't really know who God really is.
• Most self-identified Christians are not living a Christian life.
• Few Americans are truly committed to any local church.
• Less than 30% of Americans say they attend church regularly. (And researchers believe other studies point to the fact that half of those are lying!)
• 88% of Americans don't believe there is one true religion.
• Most Americans pray for selfish reasons (to get what they want).
• 82% of Americans don't believe it's necessary to be "equally yoked."
• Most Americans have more faith in family members than they do their clergy.

So what's the bottom line here? American Christianity has become so watered down as to be false and ineffective. I am not here to be critical or judgmental. And certainly I acknowledge that there are good Christians in America. (I'd like to think I could turn out to be one of them.)

But I think it becoming more and more clear that Christians are abandoning their faith in favor of whatever makes them feel good, whatever makes sense, whatever is popular or convenient. And I suspect that many of us are going to be surprised to find out one day just how wrong we are.

God's Viewpoint

The Old Testament provides wonderful, comprehensive views of God's character and nature. For those of us who wonder what God is really like, I don't think there's any better window to look through than that found in the Old Testament.

The New Testament tells us that Jesus now stands between us and God, acting to intercede with God on our behalf. I wonder how many people actually grasp the enormity of that role that Jesus plays.

Jeremiah 8 is an example of what I'm talking about. Here God speaks to Jeremiah about his chosen people, who were then called the Jews, Jerusalem, Israel, etc. Today they are called Christians. At any rate, let's look at what God says to Jeremiah about these people whom He loved and called to be His own.

“Why then have these people turned away? Why does Jerusalem always turn away? They cling to deceit; they refuse to return. I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. No one repents of his wickedness … Each pursues his own course … my people do not know the requirements of the LORD. …

God is looking at a group of sinful people. They are undoubtedly His people. But they are living deceived lives as God's people. He watches them. He listens to them. But God does not like or approve of what He sees and hears of them. He believes that they are trying to live life on their own terms --- instead of on His terms. And He concludes that they are ignorant people.

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have? … From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit.

God predicts the outcome here. He says the people will suffer. They will be humiliated. It is their own fault. They seem to embrace their ignorance - perhaps out of pride. They are greedy. And the spiritual, religious leaders are no better in God's view. They seem to be living deceived lives as well. They believe lies and they don't believe (Biblical) truths. It is how religious people get to the point where they "practice deceit." Mind you, God isn't saying that these are sinister people, trying to spin lies. They are living the lies.

They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush.

God is taking aim at the pastors, the priests and the church leaders. He says they are treating the condition of the people too mildly. They don't seem to realize what kind of spiritual crisis the church is in. Are they in denial? It would seem so! And are they (the church and its leaders) ashamed of their fallen spiritual state? No. God sees no remorse, no shame and no contrition in any of them. He is ashamed of them. But again, these are an ignorant people.

So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished,” says the LORD. “I will take away their harvest,” declares the LORD. … “What I have given them will be taken from them.” - Jeremiah 8:5-13

So God concludes His little talk with Jeremiah by again predicting that this spiritual brokenness being unaddressed in the church will end in calamity. In fact, God says He must punish the people for their unconfessed sins. Mind you, they are His people. He called them. He chose them to be His own. But they are proud and ignorant. They are unrepentant. And God is not pleased. He must strike them with loss to get their attention. And God is indeed sad about that. It's as if, as a parent, He is saying, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you."

So here is the thing. We today serve the same God. We are His people, called and chosen to be His own. And yet we exhibit the exact same behaviors. We are in precisely the same condition as what God observed with Jeremiah in the Jews back then. And we know that God doesn't change. So it isn't much of a stretch to see how God feels about this.

If there is any good news about this situation it is found in Jesus Christ, who intercedes with God on our behalf. We are also a forgiven people. But I find it sobering to see that without Jesus, it would be just us and God. We in our sin, and He in his anger. It is indeed a sobering proposition. And I wonder if perhaps we are not putting too much on Jesus Christ. Shall we go on sinning, not repenting --- and expecting Jesus to make it all right with God?

I don't think today's Christians would ever entertain such a preposterous notion. Who in their right mind, for example, would ever dare to test God? Yet that is precisely what we do when we continue to live in our pride and ignorance.

It is time for Christ-followers to grow up and act like godly people. It is time that we acted like God's chosen people. Let us strive for that and see what God has to say when He observes an obedient people, led by obedient pastors and priests!

SMU

In October 2006, Playboy magazine came to town to do a photo shoot entitled The Girls of Conference USA. Twelve schools were in the conference, including Texas notables, Baylor and SMU. But the two reacted very differently to the Playboy initiative. The Dallas Morning News said the issue caused the two schools to "bare their souls." (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/102106dnmetplayboy.284af08.html.)

Indeed, Baylor raised a hot protest and absolutely forbid its students' participation in any way. Christians were proud of Baylor. We Baptists were proud of Baylor. I'm pretty sure God was pleased with Baylor that day too. On the other hand, SMU took a Switzerland approach, and feigned indifference. It's position was that the nude and nearly-nude photo shoots of its students were "not condoned" by the school --- and therefore the school was off the hook morally.

Do you supposed God really buys that? Should we Christians buy that?

Recently, SMU has suffered the painful deaths of three (3) students from alcohol or drugs. It seems that some of the SMU students have a penchant for alchohol and drugs, and it has become known as a party school. A task force was named to study what could be done to curb the culture of alcohol and drug abuse at SMU. Their recommendations? Among other things, establish an on-campus pub! (http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/education/stories/020208dnmetSMU.7c4597dc.html.)

The task force talks about changing the culture and creating an environment where students can be safe and healthy --- by serving them beer and wine in a school-operated pub. Are we believing this? What moral standards does SMU live by? Well, let's look at the name, Southern Methodist University. Who are the Methodists? Does their school bear testament to their religion?

Traditionally, Methodism has believed in the Armenian view of free will, via God's grace. Methodism affirms the traditional Christian belief in the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as well as the orthodox understanding of humanity and divinity of Jesus. Sacramental Theology within Methodism tends to follow the historical interpretations and liturgies of Anglicanism. (This stems from the origin of much Methodist theology and practice within the teachings of John and Charles Wesley, both of whom were priests of the Church of England.)

It is a traditional position of the Methodist church that any disciplined theological work calls for the careful use of reason. By reason, it is said, one reads and interprets Scripture. By reason one determines whether one's Christian witness is clear. By reason one asks questions of faith and seeks to understand God's action and will.

This church insists that personal salvation always involves Christian mission and service to the world. Scriptural holiness entails more than personal piety; love of God is always linked with love of neighbor, a passion for justice and renewal in the life of the world.Most Methodist churches annually follow the call of John Wesley for a renewal of their covenant with God.

It is not unusual in Methodism for each congregation to normally hold an annual Covenant Service on the first convenient Sunday of the year, and Wesley's Covenant Prayer is still used, with minor modification, in the order of service. In it, Wesley states man's total reliance upon God, as the following excerpt demonstrates:

...Christ has many services to be done. Some are easy, others are difficult. Some bring honor, others bring reproach. Some are suitable to our natural inclinations and temporal interests. Others are contrary to both... Yet the power to do all these things is given to us in Christ, who strengthens us....

I am no longer my own but yours. Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will; put me to doing, put me to suffering; let me be employed for you or laid aside for you, exalted for you or brought low for you; let me be full, let me be empty, let me have all things, let me have nothing; I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to your pleasure and disposal...

So it would seem that these Methodists are Biblical Christians. They recognize Jesus Christ and live by the same Bible that the rest of us live by. What then can be said for SMU? Are they using logic and reason to interpret Scripture? And what of Wesley's prayer? Is SMU teaching its students that they are not their own? Do SMU students learn to be brought low for the causes of Christ? Do they learn to yield all things to God's pleasure and disposal?

I'm not being cynical here. I'm just being realistic. Christians are supposed to be materially different than the sinful, fallen world around them. So it is time to stop playing this Christian charade. The travesty of Christianity is the Christians who behave badly --- and mislead the world about what Christianity is and who God is.

SMU, you are a beginning to look like a blight on the face of Christianity. Step up to the plate and return to walking the talk of Christ. Instill some moral fiber in your students and enforce a moral standard that they can live by.

Take a stand against photo shoots for Playboy magazine. No pubs for your students. Period.