Recently, I’ve been engaged in two seperate conversations that ended with a similar statement. In the first conversation, a coworker was speaking about a nearby town which is known to be full of churching going christians. “It’s very christian,” he said. “The kind of christians where they’re right and you’re wrong, and if you disagree with them you are not welcome.”
The second conversation arose between to of my co-workers, one of whom is the daughter of missionaries. She commented on how she grew up bored in church. “So, I take it your not much of a church person,” said the other. “I’m not either. I’ve been to a few churches up here and they all have the same book and they all say the same thing, ‘I’m right and you’re wrong‘.”
Now I acknowledge that the people making these statements are bringing their backgrounds and experiences into their experiences with these christians. I also acknowledge that they may have misinterpreted the christians they came in contact with. But for that to dismiss their comments is to easy of a justification for me.
This is too common a reason why people don’t engage in our church communities. Even individuals still sincerely attempting to follow God have left our communities for this very reason. How did we get to the point where Christians are perceived as self-righteous?
Often in response to this views of christians you will hear the following – “people just don’t love the truth” or “Jesus said, as the world hated me, so they will hate you.” Even if these statements are true, Is that the goal!?
Are we satisfied with people’s perceptions of christians? How does that affect peoples decisions to follow Christ? How does it affect their view of him?
How can we articulate to a culture that is becoming ever sick of our jargon that he is nothing like what we have made him out to be?
May God give us the grace to not misuse his name. May we be clothed in humility and may all people be reconciled to God.
Exodus. 20.7 You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
