Friday, January 04, 2008
Being The Gospel
One of the most intriguing bumper stickers I’ve seen is, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ,” attributed to Gandhi. We can certainly understand that sentiment. A friend of mine has recently helped write a book entitled, UnChristian, which, in conducting research with those outside Christian faith, has discovered that many today have dismissed Christian faith based upon a negative image of it. One person interviewed said, “Most people I meet assume that Christian means very conservative, entrenched in their thinking, antigay, antichoice, angry, violent, illogical, empire builders; they want to convert everyone, and they generally cannot live peacefully with anyone who doesn’t believe what they believe.“There are three really important thoughts that spring from this:
- Perception and reality can be two different things
- Too close an alignment with politics can define us, and Christianity is much broader than politics
- WE ARE THE GOSPEL
Taking each point in turn:
Perception/Reality. People who make the kind of statement quoted here clearly have a limited perception of what it means to be Christian. Bad Christians notwithstanding, there are enough good Christians in the world that that perception should be different. We tend to think that seeking attention is anti-thetical to Christianity. It's not, it's HOW we seek attention that defines whether we are Christian or not. The problem is that right now very few people are seeking attention in the right/Christ-like way. That means perception is dominated by those that don't.
Faith/Politics. Political action is indeed an expression of political faith, but it is only one expression. We must be more well rounded and more thorough people than just political action. The way to overcome statement like that is not to alter our politics, but to couple our politics with outreach. If the same homosexual that was hearing a political message they perceive as hurtful was simultaneously being hugged by a Christian that was whispering in their ear about Christ's love...
WE ARE THE GOSPEL. Armstrong's basic thesis is that our actions, our persona is what gives truth or falsehood, significance or ignorance, to our words. It is less about what we say and more about who says them and how they say them.
To minister effectively in Christ's name, we must first be good, effective, transformed Christians. I think that if we focus on the latter, the former will take care of itself.
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