"Christians just always seem to get hung up on the cross."
This statement was made to me a few weeks ago, and it has kept me thinking. Though it seems like a heretical statement, the more I think about it, the more I think it is semi-true. When something, like this statement, seems so obscure, it keeps my mind ever-churning to understand the implications of it. Why would that person have said that? What have Christians done to make that person say and think that? I'm not really a self-conscience person until it comes to Christianity. As soon as Christianity comes up, I'm all ears to hear what that person thinks about it and why. Some of the time the person thinks what they think because we live in a fallen world, and they have not been renewed. Sadly, however, most of the time what they believe to be Christianity is the result of Christians getting in the way of the true Gospel.
Okay, I'll back up. A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with my Favorite Victim about sin. He told me that he just couldn't understand why Christians make such a huge deal out of sin. To him, it seemed that the only thing Christians did was to go around and tell the world that they're sinners because they did _____ and _____. After that, they go on to tell them that they need to go and repent and start doing _____ and _____. To him, it seemed odd that all Christianity was about was replacing one set of deeds with another, thus the statement about how Christians get hung up on the cross. It's the Christian's own fault that the world thinks that the only thing the cross means is Jesus dying for your sins and you having to replace your own behaviour with another set of behavioural laws. Though some of this may be true, there is so much more to the Gospel. When conforming yourself to a new set of standards is all there is to Christianity, no wonder people can't understand why people are so dogmatic to insist that they have the only true way. After all, Hindus, Buddhist monks, Muslims, and all other religious groups have to conform themselves to a list of rules too.
So what does the cross really mean to Christianity? Why is it even important to Christianity? The answer is not all about Jesus dying on the cross to save you from your sins, though this is true. It means so much more, and if the world knew what it meant, they wouldn't make statements about Christians getting hung up on the cross. The cross means the renewal of all things. The perfect, shalomic world in a perfect relationship with God had been shattered. We were estranged from God. This is the worst thing ever to happen, and all sin was, was a result of this estrangement. Sin is an act, but it speaks only to estrangement. All throughout the Old Testament, promise after promise had been made to renew this perfect relationship. Finally, Christ came and did what had been promised for so many years. He died on the cross, but he didn't just die to save us from our sins. In fact, it seems rather shallow and seems almost light-hearted to say that is the only reason he died. He died to end estrangement. He died to restore that perfect relationship between God and his image-bearer. Remember when the veil in the temple split when Jesus died? The temple had been the place where God would meet his people. The veil separated God from man, but when it split, it signified that God was no longer separated from his people. Estrangement was at an end, and it still is! Sin is still in this world, because the final consummation of all things has not come, but sin is no longer an issue. Sin is defeated because estrangement is defeated. That is what the cross is truly all about. Our relationship we so longed to have and kept trying to reach up to God for had finally been restored -- not because of something we did but in spite of everything we had ever done. The cross is not just about Jesus dying to save us from our sins. It's about so much more!
Because so many Christians don't understand what sin really is, the true meaning of the cross, and what it has accomplished, they live with 5,000 laws to show the world they are Christians.
When people try to replace one set of living standards with another in the name of "Christianity," they are actually being a hindrance to the Gospel. People see them and think Wow, look at them. They must be Christians. Thank goodness I'm not a Christian. I wouldn't want to have to act like that. They might even see a Christian's standards of living and think Oh, that wouldn't be too hard to do. I'll just do _______ and _______ and "earn" my way to heaven. Is that any kind of good witness to the world? No, I don't think so. Now please, pleeease, not for one moment think that I'm being antinomian. I am not saying that we should go out and start showing the world that Christians are immoral. Christians should live the law of love. We hear this all the time, but what does it really mean? It means that because of what Christ has done and because of his renewing work in our life, we should live into who we are as his image-bearer. This doesn't mean conforming yourself to a set of standards. Anyone can do that - yes, even the world. Living the law of love means living in a way that shows our love for God and for others. Living the law of love does not mean forcing the Gospel down someones throat - even in the name of trying to save them from hell fire. It does not mean forcing your set of standards on other people. It means showing them the love of Christ in your actions, words, and deed but not doing it in a way that makes people see your self-righteousness. I think that self-righteousness is one of the biggest stumbling blocks there are. We are to live as the fragrance of Christ. I can not stress enough how this does not mean to conform yourself to something. The fragrance of Christ means loving others (yes, even non-Christians), and allowing Christ's light to shine through us. Christ's light is not to shine through us because of something we are doing, but it is to shine through in spite of us. We and our self-righteous "hey everyone! Look how good I am" attitude is the biggest hindrance the Gospel will ever face.
Perhaps if Christians would live out the fragrance of Christ instead of saying Do this, Don't do that, people in this world would see the true light of Christ shining in us, and they would not wonder why Christianity is a list of rules.
So Father, help us!
10 comments:
PREACH IT SISTA!!
(How's that?)
Excellent post, Abinater!
We must have had a mind-meld recently that I was unaware of, you're thinking just like me! Don't worry, it's not worth killing yourself over...really (unless you start listening to--and enjoying--Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, etc.) :-)
I'm in the middle of a series that goes right along with your post. Great minds think alike, right?
Great post!
"Living the law of love does not mean forcing the Gospel down someones throat - even in the name of trying to save them from hell fire. It does not mean forcing your set of standards on other people."
Is supporting laws that ban gay marriage, eliminate gambling, put the 10 commandments back into school rooms, and put prayer back into schools wrong?
Man! What happened to my comment... I commented yesterday... Oh, well.
LOL, Jack Bauer... Funny how people get different impressions when they come from different background :-)
I'd say something along the lines of we have different definitions on what it means to live by the law of love, but I'm really bad at communicating, so I'll let Abb do the talking :-) (Ok, so I simply just don't want to look like an idiot when I say something wrong.)
Thanks for the comment, "Jack".
YAHOO! Someone thinks! :D
Supporting all those laws is not wrong. But that's not as far as it goes. The problem is that a lot of Christians seem to think that because they are supporting them, people will be saved. Abandoning gay marriage, eliminating gambling, etc, etc, does not mean someone is going to be saved. It is an outward appearance, and anyone could conform themselves to such laws. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's not a good thing to support those things, but I think the problem comes when people think that by supporting such laws people will be saved. What I see is people not being saved because they think that the only reason Christians are doing it is to keep a list of rules. Anyone can try to keep a list of rules, and they will see no need to have Christ. It is good to support such laws because society tends to work together better. However, praying in schools isn't necessarily going to get people saved, though I'm not saying it could.
What I was trying to get across in my post was that we should live the law of love. People can often be better witnesses of the Gospel if they'll just shut their mouths from preaching at people and show them the true love of Christ by having a genuine love and care for others (the salt and light of the world). We are trying to be a witness to the world, and the world is not going to see a bunch of jamming-the-Gospel-down-someone's-throat as being love. I've seen it in my own life that people will respond to you much better if you live out the law of love and get over your self-righteous I'm-a-Christian-keeping-all-the-laws attitude. Please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying there shouldn't be laws. Could the law of love mean that we ban gay marriage? Yes. Could it mean that we don't force the 10 commandments back into schools? Yes. All those things that you listed are perfectly good and honorable things to support, but when it becomes the ethic of what Christianity is about, Christianity will start becoming a list of rules.
Thanks again for the comment. :)
Thanks for the response! My question came from something I've been thinking about extensively. If being a social conservative is actually a good Christian stance vs. being a small l libertarian. The question whether or not to legislate Biblical principles, if that is really what God would want us to do. Should we be forcing our laws down people's throats or if we instead should be just loving them and praying for them.
On the issue of abortion I believe that it is the governments job to protect it's citizens and a baby in the womb should be considered a citizen with all the rights of a citizen. But then again what makes any one of God's laws more worthy to be held up by the government. I'm probably sounding like I'm rambling sorry for that...
Again thanks for the response it is much appreciated:)
Man, what is this!? You’ve turned into some kind of posting machine!
Great topic and well executed delivery.
Alright, I’m going to put some of my brain cells to work.. Let’s hope that I pick the smart ones.
I find this a very interesting subject because of the fact that most Christians believe that they are not living the “Christian” life unless they are following the “checklist.” Don’t do this, do this, and so on. It’s hard to get the idea across (at least in my head) that I have done nothing and will never do anything worthy of the gift that Christ has given me. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the idea because if I hold to a specific set of standards and rules: I am a better person, perhaps even a better Christian; all because of my “holy” living.
“When people try to replace one set of living standards with another in the name of "Christianity," they are actually being a hindrance to the Gospel.” I think it’s interesting to note how this seems to be common to man’s view of being a Christian. Whenever we try (in our own power) to do something in the spiritual realm, we fail. We are powerless on our own, for it is only by Christ living in us that we are able to “do” anything. By changing our living standards we’ve done something. WE are in charge. Whenever we put ourselves in the “driver’s seat” we are trying to justify why we deserve our salvation.
I totally agree with you that we shouldn’t go out and prove how great God’s grace is, but at the same time there is nothing that we can, could, or ever will be able to do to deserve the gift we are given.
“The fragrance of Christ means loving others (yes, even non-Christians), and allowing Christ's light to shine through us.” Amen. It’s interesting to note that loving others doesn’t mean that we have to agree with their sin, or accept their sin. Though, I would have to say that it is very hard to be a friend without being a judge sometimes. As you said, “…attitude is the biggest hindrance the Gospel will ever face.”
(Sorry, my 2 sentences turned in to a few more; it’s a little ranty too)
2 am? huh.. I wondered why I was so tired.
Jack (Ryan Weaver, right?),
I think the distinction has to come in what reasons a Christian has in trying to make certain laws pass. Unfortunately, I think that many Christians think that if these laws based on our Christian standards pass, people will be saved. In reality, it has to be a change of heart that causes someone to be changed. This can only be done by the work of the Holy Spirit, and no matter what laws we try to force on non-Christians, they're not going to be saved by something we did. Sadly a lot of Christians seem to think that somehow they're saving someone from hell just because they convince them not to abort their child. They'll finally convince the parent not to abort, and they'll go around shouting "Praise God! Another soul saved!" when in reality just because they chose not to abort doesn't mean the parents and the child will be saved. Just because a non-Christian DOES something doesn't mean he IS something (a child of God). I am 100% against abortion, but this is because I am a Christian and I hold those standards; however, a non-Christian is not going to hold these standards because they don't have that change of heart. When we try to force non-Christians not to abort, we're just showing them a list of rules (instead of the fragrance of Christ) and all they see is our self-righteousness. Please don't get me wrong. I support laws against abortion. Society tends to work together better if people aren't aloud to legally kill people. lol What I'm trying to get across, though, is that rather than trying to convert America into a country with all these outside looks of being a Christian, we should be focusing our efforts on building the Kingdom of God. Focusing on what a country's outward appearance is isn't going to do a whole lot of good. Instead, we should focus our energy on building the Kingdom of God by living the law of love and letting the true light of Christ shine forth.
Thanks for the comments! Ramble all you want. :)
Steve,
Thanks for the comment!
I think your brain cells are going along the right track. :)
The "checklist" idea is true - even when we're trying to live the law of love. It's kind of scary how far it will go. I was feeling guilty the other night because I hadn't done any Bible reading that day. Uhh, yeah. Another checklist. So many Christians seem to have it ingrained that to even be the lesser of good Christians, you should read your 3 chapters/day and pray at least 3 times/day. I have this ingrained into me as well, and it's been kind of hard throwing it off. It's actually (in a way) kind of a sin to be feeling guilty if we didn't do our Bible reading that day because we're establishing in ourselves our self righteous ways of doing something to make God happy with us. Bible reading is a perfectly good and very honorable thing, but if we're doing it so that God will be happy with us, that's when we get into trouble.
"I find this a very interesting subject because of the fact that most Christians believe that they are not living the “Christian” life unless they are following the “checklist.”"
Spot on. I would go on to say that the "items" on this checklist could be good things that we should be doing, but why we should be doing it is where comes the difference. It's the difference between doing and being. Do we do it because of the law of love(being) or do we do it out of the law of self righteousness(doing)? Living the law of love could mean that around certain people you are very sensitive and try to be understanding (perhaps they're going through hard times). Living the law of love could also mean that around other people you are more jovial. Living the law of love can take on so many different faces.
1 Corinth. 9 goes right along with this:
19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.
20And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.
22To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.
Thanks again for the comment. :D
Yep...Ryan Weaver aka(on blogs) Jack...
Thanks for the response!
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