A few years ago my friend Scott Evans was in town speaking
at Northwest Nazarene University. While he was visiting a group of us went to
the Flying M Coffee Garage to have some coffee and just hang out. I will never
forget the first question Scott asked as we sat down with our drinks, it was
this: “Becca, why do Christians suck?” caught off guard a bit my response was
something like “I don’t know. That is a good question.” Just to clear any
questions or concerns, I myself am a Christian. I was raised in the Church, I
have accepted Christ into my life, I have been baptized, I am a graduate with a
degree in ministry and I love the Lord with all my being and strive to live as
Christ and be made holy. Scott is also a Christian and if you have any
questions about him you can simply read his blogs and books (you’re welcome for
the plug friend).
Ever
since then I have continued to ask myself this question. I am sure Scott would
not say all Christians suck, and I would not either; however, there is a ginormous
group of people who call themselves Christians who do. In my personal
experience there seems to be three types of “Christians.” (For the purpose of this specific blog I am going to skip over the first group and focus on the second.)
The
second group would be those who are active in the Church. They do love the Lord
with all their being and are striving to be like Christ. However, they do so by
creating and being a part of the Christian sub-culture. In today’s western society
one can go their whole life without ever intentionally encountering someone who
does not claim Christianity. One can become completely sheltered. There is
Christian radio for when we want to listen to music, there is Christian
television, Christian movies, Christian book stores where we can buy all of our
books, clothing, music, cards, and (at some) our house decorations. It is also
not difficult to find out which grocery stores are owned and run by Christians,
which family doctors, and dentists are Christian, and private schools are everywhere.
While none of these are inherently evil and all can and sometimes do serve a
great purpose one can easily become caught up in this sub-culture. We begin to
teach, and believe, that anything “secular” is sinful and bad and we become so
disconnected from the rest of the world that we cannot reach out to anyone.
Also
when we do this we miss out on God. As a Nazarene and Wesleyan I believe in prevenient
grace. This is to say that I believe that God can be seen and experienced
through any means. God is the creator, and what God has created is good. A few
months ago I wrote a blog about how the band Good Charlotte saved my life. I
will not dive into the whole thing now, but the essence of the blog was to say
how God used, and spoke to me as a teen ager through the music of a “secular”
band. I use the word “secular” in quotes because to say that something is
secular is to say that it is completely separate from God. If one believes that
God created everything than nothing (person, media, creation etc.) can never
truly be secular.
The
Christian sub-culture that we have created has become my biggest pet peeve. Now
when I ask myself the question that Scott asked my first thought goes towards
the Christian sub-culture. Earlier today I found out that there is a web site
called “Godvine” it is a spinoff of the original web site “vine.” It looks to
be the exact same thing except everything on Godvine is “Christian.” This is
not the first website idea that well intentioned Christians have taken and
turned into something religious. There is “Godtube” and “Christian Mingle.” Because
apparently “vine” “youtube” and other online dating sites are too far gone to
be able to post things about God, or find Godly people on that any “Christian”
in their right mind would never use such things. How much better than those who
are not Christians do we think we are that we cannot co-mingle our videos? How
many people that are not Christian visit these sites? Probably close to zero.
Yet how many end up watching Christ related things on these other websites?
Yes, some watch and complain in the comments (p.s. God does not need you to
stand up for Jesus via online arguments) but the point is that they still see
it. I do not believe that Jesus would be visiting our Christian websites,
stores, or even be listening to our Christian radio, unless it was to correct
them (lovingly) just as he did the Jewish community and religious leaders of
his time.
I love Jesus;
I love God too much to limit my encounters with God to only “Christian”
outlets. I love those who are not Christians too much to cut myself off from
the world that they live in. I love my Christian brothers and sisters too much
to not speak up against this sub-culture that we have created. As Christians we
should give God our best, and we cannot give God our best when we are
segregating ourselves in every imaginable way from the rest of the world.
The
third group of Christians are a smaller group. They are the ones who love the
Lord, are active in the Church, and are active in the world in a way that
Christ is shown to those who are not Christians. They are the ones who follow
the radical teachings of Jesus, who are not afraid to speak out against
Christians who are misrepresenting God. They are bold in their faith, they are
close to God, and they are sensitive to the Spirit. There is a balance in their
lives where they can be in the world, yet still not be of the world.
