There are two texts that are coming
together for this blog post today the first is a quote I found on another blog:
"Christians
in the west have largely neglected what it means to be a disciple of Christ.
The vast majority of Western Christians are church members, pew fillers, hymn
singers, sermon tasters, Bible readers, even born again believers or spirit
filled charismatics - but not true disciples of Jesus". Found in Discipleship
by David Watson, page 16
And
the other is Psalm 37 from the Psalm Now book (which you can find on the side
of this blog).
What my blog is
coming down to today is the idea that Christ has become to “known” in our
world. That people think they know what
it means to be “Christian” or a “follower of Christ” and in their assumptions
we have come to be a country far less Christian then we think. Basically what I’m saying is that in being
American we have created our own religion that I am not sure Christ would recognize
even his own cornerstones.
That might seem
harsh. But I am really struck by the
amount of unholy behavior that those in every aspects of the Christian faith do
in the name of God. But more so, as a liberal-ish, progressive-ish, female
pastor I really dislike the box that I get placed in and the awkward
conversations that I have.
Just recently, I met
a woman whom I had to share a common space with – so of course we began
talking. At first, she openly talked
about this other woman whom I assumed was a partner/spouse. As soon as she found out that I was a pastor,
she began to talk about other things.
When I tried to revert the conversation back to her partner, she denied
the relationship. In some awkward
moments of expressing my views on homosexuality, we sort-of moved beyond this
and began open dialogue again. I was
frustrated in that our conversation was impeded by her perception of “Christianity.”
It isn’t just that
there are more progressive people out there.
It isn’t just that there are people open to different types of worship –
and yet still follow Christ. The problem
isn’t that these people don’t exist. The
problem is that people believe they know what it means to be Christian.
I was reading some
study somewhere on the internet about the perceptions that people have about
people who follow different faiths – Buddhist are seen as more enlightened,
without them even opening their month.
But Christians are seen as bigamists, closed minded and ignorant.
And the problem isn’t
that these perceptions are OUT there – the problem is that time and time again
they get proven right. That in our
attempt to be the Holiest – we have failed to actually be Holy. In our attempt to fully and with our whole
beings worship and follow Christ, we have failed to actually hear God’s
voice.
As a Christian and as
part of the world of Christians, we need to start truly examining ourselves and
Christ. We need to request that people
forget what they think they know and come to the Bible anew, with open minds
and hearts to truly experience Christ. And
to become familiar not with what Christianity has done to Christ’s message but
to get to know Jesus, the man, who came to save humanity!
