I am blessed to have friends from many different belief systems. Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, Agnostics, Atheists, Christians (Catholic and Protestant), Daoists, Materialists, etc. all make up a part of my friendship circle. Many of my friends in China would be called "Traditionalists" in that they don't really follow a belief system at all, but have respect for the traditions of the land.
I'm going to write a bit about the public image of Christians. I'm not really sure about the role of politics and religion, so I'm going to stay out of that arena. However, I wanted to share from an email I recently received from a friend. She is not a Christian and she wrote this after a week-long visit from a Christian friend.
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The reason for this vent is the hypocrisy. I find him to be a Christian in theory, but not in practice. He is quick to judge and continually makes rude, racist and/or sexist comments about people. "Not being a good Christian," I would say to such remarks and he would reply that Jesus had a sense of humor. "But did Jesus belittle people? This is your field of expertise you tell me?" No clear answer.
I told him of another Christian friend of mine who is challenging for a number of reasons. And as one former fellow co-worker of ours once said of her, "I can take her in small doses." So, this house guest asked why I put up with her, implying that I should dump her. I tried to explain that in spite of her salient flaws, she has the biggest and purest heart of anyone I know. She is a good person and would help me or anyone out if we just ask. I feel somewhat sorry for her, and have an odd sense of responsibility to be her friend, for I feel she needs one like me. And let me tell you, she taxes my tolerance level. My house guest said he wouldn't be bothered with her.
I then challenged him. "Who am I to question your 'Christian' behavior, as I am not one, but I don't think you are a very good Christian, by the way you easily dismiss people." He joked that perhaps I am part of the Lord's mission to help him find a better way.
So there you have it. He has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and thus, is a Christian. Whatever.
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My friend's email made me sad. You see, whenever we identify ourselves as "something," then like it or not, we become an ambassador for that label. This is true for labels we have little to no control over (gender, race, nationality are to name a few) but is especially true for labels we choose (faith and career choices). I've learned quite a bit about perceptions and judgment merely by being an American citizen living abroad. In case you didn't know it, Americans don't have a very good reputation in many parts of the world!
My friend encountered an "ambassador" for Christianity and she was left wondering why in the world would anyone be attracted to such a faith. She and I have a strong friendship and I am extremely fortunate to have her in my life. I wrote her an answer (which she wasn't looking for anyway . . . she was writing more out of rhetoric than anything else). However, someone else wrote an even better answer!
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John Fischer is a singer, songwriter and author from my growing up years. He is an ordained minister and is dedicated to creating bridges between those within the church and those out beyond its walls, that Christians might rise up in the marketplace with a sense of inclusiveness, diversity, and acceptance.
A couple of years ago, thanks to the Internet, I "reconnected" with Fischer. I subscribe to his "the Catch," which is a part of his "Fischtank.com" ministry. Within 24 hours of my writing my response to my friend's email, the "Catch" came into my inbox with the following message:
SAVED EVERY DAY
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst. (1 Timothy 1:15)
It's not until we are stripped clean of pride, pretense, and presumption that anyone will see God in our lives. It's not until others see that we are sinners in need of salvation that they will ever have even the slightest inkling that they might need it too.
This is what consistently goes wrong with our Christian message and why the world continually sees Christians as hypocrites and bigots, and why they are so consistently turned off to our message: WE HAVE BECOME PURVEYORS OF A GOSPEL MESSAGE THAT WE OURSELVES DON'T NEED ANYMORE. (Sorry, but I had to write it as loud as I could.) It's as if our message is, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of which you are the worst."
"To be sure, I needed Christ once, back then when I was a really bad sinner," we say in so many words, though we may be unaware of saying it like this. "Now that I'm a Christian, I've pretty much got it together, but I can see that you don't. You are where I once was - you are a pretty rotten sinner - you obviously need Jesus." Now answer me: Who wants to be around someone proclaiming that kind of message?
Doesn't anybody see what's wrong with these messages? They are messages that contradict the gospel. We talk as if we all need the gospel, until we get into church. Once we're saved and in a church, well, we don't need the gospel anymore. How quickly we forget.
"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh" (Galatians 3:1-4)?
In other words, what are you saying? Thanks for dying for me Jesus, but I can take it from here?
This is the biggest of all evangelical veils: You need to be saved.
Come on you guys, let's fess up here: We've got to be saved every day from ourselves. We are the sinners who need Jesus. We are the ones who don't have it together. We are the ones for whom Christ died... and we need to know that right now, and we'll need it tomorrow. It's such a simple message.
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Vickie back here. I needed that! I needed to be reminded that I'm no better than anyone else and that *I* need the gift of salvation every day. And that's my hope and dream . . . that I daily (minute-by-minute) understand that I *need* Christ in every aspect of my life (not just in my cancer) and to have an intimate relationship with the One who saves me . . . every day.
(Special thanks to John Fischer and for his permission to reprint his post. You can find it and all the other "the Catch" writings at http://www.fischtank.com . The "Saved Every Day" post appeared on March 13, 2012.)