There are two types of Christians that make me cringe. And before you think I'm about to go all hypocritical on you, hear me out. The first type of Christian is typically a "star"...someone who is in a position of public prominence, like an actor, professional athlete, musician, televangelist, politician, etc. who uses their platform to say stupid things in the name of Christianity. I'm sure that sometimes they're really a Christian, and sometimes they're not.
The second type of Christian that makes me cringe can have, in many cases, a lot of overlap with the first type. This type is the type that completely misrepresents Biblical Christianity. Allow me to describe them.
WARNING! DISCLAIMER! (I.e. confession time) While I still have plenty of issues in my life, many of which I'm likely completely unaware, I have to admit that the Christian I'm about to describe was....me. Okay, maybe not specifically me, but it's the type of Christian I was. So I guess that makes me some kind of expert or something. On to the description.
Many Christians today portray themselves and, more detrimentally, the entire global church as:
Stuffy (aka boring, stiff, anti-fun)
Hateful
Unloving
Judging
Graceless
Legalistic/Anti-pleasure (Seeing sin in things that are not sin: sex, alcohol, card playing, dancing, etc)
Unhappy
The ironic thing is that these ALL are complete antonyms to Biblical Christianity. Jesus was a social radical who flew in the face of religious tradition and leadership by dining with hookers and scum, drinking alcohol, having parties all while loving those who needed loving. He gave grace to those who needed it and rejected those who abused their power. Yet, somehow, many modern American Christians have ignored Jesus' life and have chosen to go the path of the very people Jesus condemned.
So, because of many (probably the vast majority) Christians who have cloistered themselves away in "safe" little bubbles surrounded by Christian culture, all the while looking down upon their neighbors, the world around them has seen them for what they, unfortunately, really are: Stuffy, hateful, judging, graceless, legalistic, and unhappy.
But why?
Why are so many Christians this way? I think these attitudes are typically caused by one of three things:
1) Failure to truly believe the gospel - In order to live with happiness, grace, and love as a Christian, you really need to believe the gospel. This may, on the surface, sound obvious, but functionally I don't think it is. What I mean is that we, by our very nature, are driven to work. The offer of the gospel, of Jesus doing ALL the work with us merely trusting in Him, seems too good to be true. So, whether consciously or not, we find ourselves working. We compare ourselves to others. We try to put on the "mature Christian" mask. We try to hide our suffering and pain for fear that they are indicators that something is wrong with us. Well, in reality, something IS wrong with us. That's why we need Jesus. If there was nothing wrong with us we'd be fine on our own. But we're all broken and this world is broken! I've said it before, but this attitude turns out to be an attempt to disprove the gospel. Why? Well, if you can live a stainless life without Jesus, then you wouldn't need the gospel. And if you don't need the gospel, which itself says you DO need it, then it's a lie!
This whole attitude leads to an "Us vs. Them" mentality. We forget where we came from and we view ourselves as superior, rather than viewing ourselves as we really are: In daily need of Jesus. Recognizing your constant need for the gospel completely changes how you view the people around you. You can't help but love them. When we forget about the gospel, judging and lack of grace alleviates our fears about whether we're doing enough because we can always compare ourselves positively to someone else. It's just like a bully who desperately needs affirmation that they're good enough.
2) Fear of contamination - By this I mean that many Christians live believing that objects contaminate and cause them to sin rather than recognizing that their own heart is the root cause. Really, most things in the world are pretty harmless on their own. Humans are very skilled at taking good things and turning them into focal points. Into idols. Taking God's good gifts (sex, wine, food, relationships, etc.) and replacing God with them. Making them ultimate. Placing their hopes and dreams on those things and hoping that they don't fail. And yet, they do fail. Every time. As long as we believe that the world is full of dirty things which will cause us to sin, then we will likely live a legalistic life which seeks to avoid anything which may trip us up. With this mentality we fail to address the root cause: our own heart. Nobody said this better than Martin Luther:
"We must not…reject [or] condemn anything because it is abused. This would result in utter confusion. God has commanded us in Deut. 4 not to lift up our eyes to the sun (and the moon and the stars), etc., that we may not worship them, for they are created to serve all nations. But there are many people who worship the sun and the stars. Therefore we propose to rush in and pull the sun and stars from the skies. No, we had better let it be. Again, wine and women bring many a man to misery and make a fool of him (Ecclus. 19:2; 31:30); so we kill all the women and pour out all the wine. Again, gold and silver cause much evil, so we condemn them. Indeed, if we want to drive away our worst enemy, the one who does us the most harm, we shall have to kill ourselves, for we have no greater enemy than our own heart."
Jesus didn't hide from the hurting. Why should we? Jesus lived with them and loved them. So should we. Jesus didn't come to establish sets of rules, He came to abolish the law. Ever heard the phrase "freedom in Christ"? Ever heard the apostle Paul say "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." I could go on and on... but I think you get the point.
3) They're not a Christian - This is not a condemnation, but you've got to admit that it's hard to not treat your faith as mere religion if you don't really believe it. Not much to say here.
Listen... Christians should be able to recognize that they are no different than the world around them. That we all need Jesus help and that we're no better than anyone else. More than that, Christians have freedom. We've been forgiven of our debts and we have nobody to impress. We can live with complete freedom and peace knowing that the Creator of the universe loved us so much that He gave us His Son and there is NOTHING more for us to do. We are free from the slavery to our idols (and hoping they'll satisfy us...at some point!). We are free to love others openly and to enjoy God's blessings. This truth frees Christians to live peaceful, happy, loving, rule-free lives... I so wish this were the reality for most Christians; but I fear it isn't.
For more detail on how I think this should be played out in our interactions with others (essentially helping them to experience the same restoration and freedom that I've experienced) see my June 29, 2011 blog entry entitled "Why Do Good?"
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