unChristian, Part Three: Antihomosexual

When I first read the title of this chapter, I was a bit confused. The page clearly stated that being "antihomosexual" was a wrong perception for Christians to give off, much like the "hypocritical" and "conversion-obsessed" labels I discussed last. I really thought I was supposed to be antihomosexual, but I was reading it incorrectly. Yes, the act of homosexuality is a sin, but that doesn't make the person committing the sin any worse than anyone else. Christians are supposed to be antihomosexuality, not antihomosexual. This is a subtle difference in wording that makes a huge difference in reality.

First, allow me to prove that homosexuality is a sin. This is a debated topic, and it really shouldn't be. In Genesis, we see that Sodom was annihilated, partially because most of the men in town were engaged in homosexual acts. Throughout Paul's letters in the New Testament, we see him mention that homosexuality is a sin. It is beyond clear that God intended sex to be between a man and woman.

This, however, does not give those of us that are heterosexual a right to feel "more righteous" or "more like God designed me." Oh, no. You are so wrong.

"Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people--none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10, New Living Translation

BOOM. 1 Corinthians 6 just leveled the playing field. Yes, homosexuality is listed. So is theft. Maybe you haven't ever stolen anything. Ever been greedy? Drunk? Abusive? Ever cheated someone? If you said yes to any one of those things, which I would wager that we all will say yes to at least one, then you are on the same level of sinfulness as a person committing homosexuality. You are no more righteous or God-like than a male prostitute. Is your mind blown? Do you feel less holy? Good. Get off the high horse. All who call themselves Christians, myself included, must get off of our self-constructed pedestal and accept people. It is only through God's grace that we breathe each breath, much less get offered an eternity praising Him.

Am I saying to ignore their sin? No. All sin must be addressed, but you should do so in a Godly, loving manner. Don't be Westboro Baptist Church, yelling and protesting. Jesus didn't host protests; He loved on people that the religious people were "too holy" to love. Samaritans, sexually active women, thieves, traitors, liars; Christ loved them all. He showed them love and respect, and in turn, told them how to correct their lives.

You know the old saying, "Hate the sin, love the sinner?" How often do you practice that? Are you on a pedestal of holiness, or are you loving on the people that need love, regardless of the sins they commit?

unChristian, Part Two: Conversion-Obsessed

My mom is the children and preschool minister at our church. Because of this, I have spent massive amounts of time volunteering, or being volunteered, to work with kids. One of the many lessons that I have learned is that when a kid gets something on their mind, they rarely let it go until a resolution is met. If the child wants, say, a piece of gum, they will ask for it. If they do not succeed, they will ask again and again and again and again, until they either get a piece of gum or are told (in an extremely blunt fashion) by the person they were pestering to "get lost!" This little child, irritating to try to achieve a goal until the goal is met or the child is hurt, is how the world views Christians.

Christians give off this vibe that they are on a "mission for God" to convert every human being. That is the perceived Christian goal in every friendship they have with a non-Christian, and that it's all just a game to get more followers for Jesus. As Shawn said in unChristian, "Christians are too concerned with converting people. They are insincere. All I ever hear is 'Get saved!' I tried that whole 'Jesus thing' already. It didn't work for me before, and I am not interested now." It's almost like we are seen as Veruca Salt-like: we want you saved, and we want it now!

Yes, Christians are called to spread the Word to all people, in hopes that some will accept the words of Scripture and receive Jesus as their Savior and Lord. While I am not here to dispute that, I am here to dispute how people tend to go about this. Some of the most common ideas churches have for evangelism are:

-Reaching the masses, all at once
-Having the best responses for spiritual debates
-We cannot worry about offending someone when spreading the Word

While these have some truth value, they are far from complete. In fact, they can sometimes run against the example Jesus set forth for us. Jesus didn't shoot for a mass media method of teaching; he invested in twelve guys, and then taught them how to invest and nurture their own disciples. Jesus didn't get into debates about the truth He was spreading; Jesus merely ended debates with one truth, story or teaching that showed the message He was trying to convey. And while Jesus did step on a few toes, it wasn't because He was unkind or lacking compassion; He was kind and loving to all, even those He was correcting their wrongs.

People don't want to be the pieces of our game, being tools of conversion to score us points. That isn't our goal, and that isn't attractive to people. Jesus told us to love our neighbor. He didn't say, "love your neighbor as yourself, at least until they are saved." No, Jesus instead told us just to love them. Friendships with non-Christians do not need to exist solely for their conversion; that isn't a genuine friendship. A real friend just accepts their friend, encourages them, and, in time, is able to show the truth of Jesus Christ. After sharing, it is our job as "real friends" to stay friends with the person, whether they become Christians or not. We must never become so impersonal as to see people as targets, but instead as people needing the love of a God and of a friend.

I challenge you to invest in people's lives. Really caring for someone, being involved in their life, and simply loving them unconditionally is our job; let's leave the "saving" to God. We weren't even capable of saving ourselves, much less someone else. Sharing the Gospel is one thing; harping on it is quite another.

unChristian, Part One: Hypocritical

I will never forget the time I learned this perspective on Christians, because it broke my heart. I don't remember how it got brought up, I just remember the response. Something was said about Christians, and my co-worker responded with "they are hypocrites." When I asked him to expand, he did. If it hadn't been a good thing to know his feelings truly, I may have wished I didn't ask. And of course, he had a valid point.

Christians are hypocrites, as no one can perfectly "practice what they preach." Some people use this as an excuse to dismiss a non-Christian's or outsider to the faith's opinion about our hypocrisy. However, unChristian reveals something: their opinions matter, largely because they aren't all wrong.

Victoria, a 24-year-old single mom, was one of the literally thousands of people that were interviewed or surveyed to write unChristian. She told them of her story, about how she went to the people at her former church for help. She says,

"Everyone in my church gave me advice about how to raise my son, but a lot of the time they seemed to be reminding me that I have no husband- and besides, most of them were not following their on advice. I made it hard to care what they said." Ouch.

This kind of thing happens all the time. Maybe not on the level of Victoria's, but think about it: how often has someone that is "living in sin" been a visitor at your church or appeared in some other part of your life, and you or someone you know gave them advice? I've done it before. When we are asked to advise people, it's human nature to jump at the opportunity. We enjoy the feeling that we are helping, and we love to share our opinion at any opportunity. I know I do. Unfortunately, we don't always live up the high moral pedestal that we put ourselves on by being Christian advice-givers (I prefer advice-giver to advisor, FYI).

Think about the people Christ had the most issue with when He was here: the religious leaders of the day. His biggest beef with them? They were hypocritical. They liked to make themselves look like big hot-shots, all religious and what not. Yet when it came to their attitudes and actions, they were no different from the rest of the world's population. Christ has called all of His followers to a higher standard. We are to be different from the world (not "better"; We will cover that in Part Six: Judgmental).

"1b Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees [religious leaders], which is hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing covered that won't be uncovered, nothing hidden that won't be made known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in an ear in private rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops." -Luke 12:1b-3, HCSB

As unChristian's research showed, though, that the root of our hypocrisy isn't how we go about life, however. It's coming from how we portray what being a Christian is all about. The general perception is that Christianity is a religion of rules and regulations, and that we do not live up to our "holy" rule set. Looking at Christianity like that, it's no surprise that we give off a hypocritical vibe! Anyone who ends up seeming as a "holy" person, be it intentional or not, will inevitably fail at some point.

The challenge is for Christians to shed this "holy" and "rule-bound" perception we give off, and there is only one way to really do that: be real with people. We, of course, must try to live our lives with integrity and purity. Those things are of much importance, and I do not mean to belittle them. The fact is, though, that we will screw up at them sometimes. But when we do, a new opportunity will arise. We may be given the opportunity to show one of the biggest beauties of the Christian faith: forgiveness of sin.

When we mess up, we can use that as a time to show that while we still mess up, w can be forgiven of our mistakes. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins, not to make us sinless. We are still going to sin, and when are transparent and honest about that fact, people will look at us in a much better light. Think about it: don't you prefer when someone is open and honest with you instead of when someone is fake and two-sided? It's logical, and its easy. No longer do we worry about a facade that we must maintain; instead, just admit to your mistakes. I guarantee that you will receive more respect.

Of course, there's times to use caution. If your transparency causes someone to stumble or be tempted, that's not good. Too much transparency can also lead to glorifying sin, too, which is completely opposite to what our goal should be. Glorifying in Jesus's conquer of sin is far better. Finally, one must remember to try to live their life as closely to Christ's as we can; our mission is to be like Christ, and he was perfectly pure and sinless. We must aspire to be the same, but be willing to admit when we fall short.

This week, I challenge you to give this a try. Take your "holy mask" off. Just be straight and honest with people, and see if they take you in a separate light. When they are discussing a problem in their life, don't be afraid to admit that you mess up, too. It's a tragic human flaw, and it is one that we all have. Don't be fake and try to hide it.

As always, I am dying to read your comments and emails- so hit me up. Comment below or email me at thefreedbug@aol.com. Thanks for reading, and remember: love God, love people. Not a whole lot else matters.