Misunderstood

Christians get a lot of bad press.

Some of it is because we have enemies. I can think of a long running TV crime drama that typically portrays Christians as violent, mean spirited, rule obsessed, homophobic, angry bigots. One episode even featured a serial rapist whose name was Dr. Byron Marks. How they chose me…….I haven’t a clue. Many of our enemies dislike us because of what we believe. I can live with that……..In fact, I will wear it as a badge of honor.

But there is a problem.

The first part of the problem is this:

Many people dislike us………because of what we say and do.

We bring a lot of the antipathy on ourselves.

You don’t have to look too hard to find a Christian speaking out against…….criticizing…….someone else because of what they say or do. This criticism is typically directed at someone who is violating one of the rules in the Bible. Last week’s post deals with the unpardonable crime of telling someone that they are wrong. If you haven’t read it, you might chase it down.

Let’s face it, the Bible has a lot of rules…….and many of them interfere with the pursuit of our appetites…….the pursuit of short term pleasure. In a secular humanist culture, these rules are not popular……neither is the speed limit in my subdivision.

As Christians, we follow a God who restricts our appetites and our pursuit of short term pleasure……..but, we live in a culture that does not.

Let me repeat that…..

As Christians, we follow a God who restricts our appetites and our pursuit of short term pleasure……..but, we live in a culture that does not.

It is no wonder that the culture doesn’t like us. The harder we push restrictive rules, the harder the culture pushes back. Please don’t get me wrong…….these rules are good and true. Furthermore, they are God’s rules. The fact that the culture may not like some of them……the fact that even you or I may not like some of them……..is irrelevant.

If I am following God’s teaching in the Bible…….God’s rules…..and you don’t like what I am doing……..then you have a problem……..with God, not me. And that is a big problem……..even bigger than climate change.

This brings us to the second part of the problem:

We are charged with the responsibility of bringing others into the faith. And that is hard to do when we antagonize them.

What to do?

When in doubt………read the instructions.

The Bible is very clear on the solution to this dilemma……and the solution is right there……..in the rules.

Love God…..Love man.

Rules #1and #2.

When I find myself butting heads with the culture…….if I am to succeed as a Christian……the first and foremost thing that the culture must sense…….the most important thing that I must demonstrate……….is my love. All of the other rules stand……..but they must be secondary to love.

If you find yourself beating someone up over a rule…….and you are not clearly showing them your love………you are wrong. You need to go back and restudy the “owner’s manual”.

Love…….this is the tool for successfully confronting our secular humanist culture. Love is devastatingly effective at disarming an attack from the culture. It is “the nuclear option”. Only the most committed attacker will continue to come after you when you respond with love……and you probably weren’t going to win him over anyway.

So……stop wasting your time pounding the culture with the rules………just show them your love………God’s love.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Jesus, ESV

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
for you will heap burning coals on his head,
and the Lord will reward you.

Solomon, ESV

Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid

Bernard Meltzer

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”

Theodore Roosevelt.