OK, I know what we’re supposed to be doing here.
As a pastor, I know that the intention of “The Church”, (the community of Christ-followers through the world), its purpose and design, is to make disciples; to invite people of every disparate corner of our lives, into a life-transforming, eternity-altering relationship with Jesus.
We’re supposed to be doing what Christians did in the days and months immediately following Jesus’ departure from the earth.
We supposed to be living in such a beautifully odd, decidedly countercultural way; expressing such selflessness toward one another, such generosity toward the needy, and such open-hearted kindness to the marginalized, that people are compelled to come closer.
Sadly though, we’re not quite as compelling as we would like to think we are.
In fact, more than ever, when it comes to those outside of our doors, The Church seems to be more a caustic repellent to belief, rather than the sweet, alluring perfume of something beautiful, we’re charged by Jesus with being.
In our culture, Christianity has become largely about a few loud, angry voices, waging a war on, well everything.
We’re now largely defined by myopic, hateful radio show hosts, by politically-wedded doom-and-gloom preachers, and by distant, over-sanitized, uber-opulent megachurches, run by Twitter-tweaking, fame-seeking celebrity pastors.
The Church’s likeness, has been commandeered for soldier funeral protests, for Facebook fast food boycotts, for online petitions and extremist lobbyists. She’s been pushed to the front lines of the frantic fight against everything from Science and Harry Potter, to homosexuals and Halloween.
From a public relations standpoint, The Church, has become like a headline-chasing, B-level celebrity; getting notoriety by doing the most sensational, reckless, and antagonistic of things, regardless of the image impact. (Think Miley Cyrus, if she were a national religious entity, and not a former child star, turned attention-hound).
And as a result, rather than doing what The Church is supposed to do, (being a catalyst for faith in the faithless), we’ve actually been giving Atheists all over, a million reasons to reject faith altogether.
I’m afraid that all too often, when people walk away from Christianity, they aren’t really rejecting Jesus, but simply rejecting the counterfeit Savior that they’ve been sold, and frankly I don’t blame them.
This is my family. These are my people. I am a member of The Church, not as one is a member of a club, but as an organ is a member of a body; attached, invested, and dependent.
My heart, is to see it more fully reflect the character of Christ.
My passion, is that it be the physical reminder of God’s love for the world.
My work, is to reclaim it and re-present it to those who have given up on it.
My dream, is that for the hurting and the hopeless, The Church would be a bridge to belief, not a barrier to it.
And yet here, on the inside, more times than I can count, I’ve read the headlines, listened to the talk shows, and seen the stuff flying through the social media stratosphere in the name of Jesus, and I’ve wondered how in the world I can keep going.
But I don’t care about me. Jesus has already effectively ruined my life, and much like being in the Mafia; I couldn’t get out, even if I wanted to.
Now, I just find my heart breaking for those who have yet to be wrecked by that love enough to stay.
I consider those who sit on the fence between belief and doubt, afraid to commit to a side, and I completely understand their stuckness and stillness.
I think of the frightened teenage girl, who clings to the precipice just short of faith, unable to jump off, and I totally get the fear that freezes her.
I see the frustrated father, navigating midlife, knowing there has to be more out there, yet who remains unwilling to run headlong after it, knowing well what calls him back to the daily devil of the safety that he knows.
They all get up every single day, weighing all the evidence, considering all the possibilities, looking for one reason to finally accept the decision to believe… and then they look at us and our dysfunction, and decide that they can find none.
I look at the faces as I sit in traffic, the names scrolling by in my newsfeed, the people I pass in the street, and I feel like we’re missing the one moment we have to give them all something priceless.
We’re trashing precious seconds.
We’re wasting daylight.
This may all sound like another pointless, answerless rant against religion, more friendly fire from someone who is biting the hand that feeds him.
But it’s more a loving, direct, personal challenge to those reading this, those who are The Church; to be brutally honest about everything; your daily example at work, your spending habits, your politics, your marriages, your social media presence, your Twitter wars, and ask in every moment, and in every act, and with each word, “Is this really helping anybody get closer to this Jesus?”
And as you do this, be deeply brave in your response.
As for me, I’m tired of The Church giving any more ammo to Atheists.
I’m through supporting the fight against faith.
May we who claim Christ, confound those who want to leave and walk away from Jesus, because they see in us, just enough to make belief worth another try.
