Christians Behaving Badly

What's been on my mind the past few days? Well, to be honest, I'm a little tired of what I find in Christians. On the one hand, I'm confronted with a lost world --- people who need more Christ. On the other hand, I'm confronted with people who would seemingly have Christ, but appear to take Him for granted. (If you can imagine!)

It seems like everywhere I turn, I am confronted with so-called Christ-followers behaving in ways that I'm pretty sure are not reflective of the Christ that's supposed to be in them. Honestly, some days, I feel as if I could write a book called, "Christians Behaving Badly." I've got enough fodder. Oh sure, they seem like nice enough people when you get them in their Christian setting. But then you start to get close and find they are not what they would have you believe. Let's look at some examples.

Foul language: I've recently heard Christians referring to other Christians as "prick." I've heard Christians using the "F---" word too. I am reminded of Titus 1:15, which says, "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled."

But when a conscience has become seared, when a man has played with the fire and burned his conscience and calloused it until he can handle the hot iron of sin without shrinking, there is no longer any safety for him. Paul wrote in his epistle about those to whom nothing is pure any longer, "but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Here Paul speaks of an inward corruption, revealed in impure thoughts and soiled language. In other words, a foul tongue is evidence of a deeper spiritual disease and Paul goes on to tell us that those with defiled consciences become reprobates, something just washed up on the shore, a moral shipwreck.

Dispositional Sins: Ephesians 4:31 tells us, "Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice." Basically these sins are perhaps some of the most trojan sins that mankind commits. And yet we see so-called Christians blasting these sins out a mile a minute. What is a "dispositional sin?" Being overly sensitive --- without grace toward the perceived offender; irritability --- lack of patience with others, faultfinding, temper, resentful, uncharitable attitudes and more. Basically these are the quiet sins that most of us commit on a daily basis --- and think nothing of it! But God's Word says they are sins nonetheless.

Many persons who had been secretly longing to find Christ have been turned away and embittered by manifestations of ugly dispositional flaws in the lives of the very persons who were trying to win them. Unsaintly saints are the tragedy of Christianity. People of the world usually pass through the circle of disciples to reach Christ, and if they find those disciples severe and sharp-tongued they can hardly be blamed if they sigh and turn away from Him.

I believe it was Ghandi who said something like, "You know, I'd probably be a Christian ... if I didn't know so many of them!" Truly, the un-Christ-like behavior that Christians exhibit is ugly.

Self Sins: I see the "self sins as sins of self-righteousness, self piety, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. These self sins dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them. Most of us can't even be aware of them unless God uses someone else to speak the truth in love to us about them.

The grosser manifestations of these sins--egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion--are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I knew a church pastor who believed that only the modern day "Levites" could minister effectively. He of course saw himself as a Levite (even though he didn't meet the Biblical definition of one) and was exclusive toward empowering others in ministry only when he perceived them to be a part of his club (e.g. the "Levites."). This is sin. Why does the modern day church tolerate such crap?

I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to cause little notice. We take it for granted that effective Christian leaders will be arrogant, self-centered, egotistical and condescending. We don't blink when they live like rock stars. We don't think twice when the very ministry that God Himself has called them to becomes all about them. But this is not Biblical. It is sin.

There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. Galatians 2:20 says this, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

It would seem that somehow we Christians are going to have to learn to do a better job of dying to self. Plain and simple. So here is my prayer for today. "Lord, help us Christians. We are certainly not living lives that reflect Christ. In fact, that is such an overwhelming fact and truth in today's world that I ask You to intervene. Call us to a higher level of accountability. Put experiences in our lives that will point out our selfish sins and direct to Your true ways. These things I ask in Jesus' name. Amen."