And there’s all these people out there who think that Christianity is something it’s not.
At best they think it’s about getting on the good side of a God to earn some abstract idea of heaven (neither of which they feel are popular enough to be true, anyway). They think this is about social validation of personal beliefs to increase self-esteem.
I don’t blame them for not wanting it.
However, if they knew what they were missing, would they want it? True, they wouldn’t miss the internalisation of values, language, and conversation topics. They wouldn’t miss learning the rules, and being reminded of the merits of keeping those rules. They wouldn’t really miss the self-esteem increase that comes from being good. They wouldn’t miss being reminded that they’re in the right gang that gets all the prizes at the end too much either. Humans have been wired to want more than that, and they don’t see that we’ve got it.
Do they realise that they can be free from having to get ‘what they want’ to be ‘happy’? Do they realise the wonder of that freedom? Do they realize that relationships with other people are most fulfilling when you’re conscious of God looking over your shoulder at them? Do they realise that knowing God—and further still, knowing that He is okay with you—is the most peaceful and secure state possible in the universe?
I suspect they wouldn’t mind hearing this. Suddenly Christianity is for everyone. Maybe we should tell them. Maybe we do. But what do our lives tell them?
We still chase education, career, family, and possessions. We can evangelise by evoking self-interest in one’s own eternity. Our love for other humans can go unseen underneath morality.
In the absence of adverse circumstances, our joy, security and peace could just as well be from our achievements and from our belief that we are righteous, for all they can see.
And I suppose the next thing is to point out that our joy is from hanging around God, not primarily from getting what we want. We do genuinely love others. We do rate knowing God now over having a nice afterlife, even if they are the same thing. We are conscious that we don’t have to be good enough for God. If they don’t see that, then apparently ‘it’s not the right time’ and we should ‘leave it up to God’. His timing is perfect, but more often than not, poor representation of who He is and the life He gives can be the sole hindering factor.
I don’t take issue with us letting them get the wrong idea; I take issue with us letting them keep the wrong idea. What is our advertisement? “Christianity: Helping Christians Feel Good about Themselves since 33A.D.”? We know Christianity is a spirituality, not a religion, but sometimes it’s hard to act that out when the world can’t seem to see us any other way.
How about challenging the equating of Christianity with mere morality? Can we make it more visible that we are living life with God? Why do we let them think sin is defined by a list, while really it is whatever action arises from self-centredness, which no list can contain? Why aren’t we ensuring they know the only reason we are moral is that we love a God that loves people? The only reason we rave about ‘making sure you’re going to heaven’ is because God is all we will care about in 3 million years. Seemingly we are all He cares about, too.
God and humans want each other. The only barrier between the two is human self-centeredness. The only solution is His help with that.
That’s the gospel.
I don’t think they’d mind us clarifying that a little more.
The famous late conservationist Steve Irwin, in his Reader’s Digest interview said, “I’m not going to tell you that you can’t wear crocodile skin boots, or eat [crocodile] at a restaurant. Instead, I’ll show you the beauty of crocs, and you won’t want to do it.”
- Question-ity by Kathryn McBeath
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- Fear and Loathing in the Cinema by Kathryn McBeath
- Putting God Back Into Prayer by Kathryn McBeath
- When Happiness Eludes by Kristy Drake
- Love by Kathryn McBeath
