Would Jesus be a Christian - Part 2

The idea for this series started when we watched this video. If you weren't in church yesterday and missed it, take a look. Some people hate this video, some people love it. But it has definitely made a big splash and created a dialogue.

Personally, I love it. I think it makes a very pertinent statement to the Church. The non-Christian culture truly sees Christians as hypocrites and people who judge others. This is partly because the post-modern culture in which we live states that if an action isn't hurting anyone, then it is ok - no matter what "it" might be. This belief leads to the conviction that no one can judge another's behavior.

The other part of the belief - that Christans are judgemental and hypocritical - comes from the fact that we are sinners and we would rather 'fix' another's brokenness before we acknowledge our own.

These beliefs, however, are in firm opposition to what the Bible teaches. Even if a behavior or action doesn't hurt another person, if it hurts the doer or if it separates that person from God, then it is what Christianity calls a 'sin'. The Bible is also very clear that we are to not judge others before we have examined ourselves and found our own sinfulness. This is very different from going around preaching 'at' others about what they are doing wrong. Acknowledging and repenting of our personal sinfulness everyday puts us in a place where we are much less likely to point out the sinfulness of someone else.

Maybe in order to change the way people think about Christians, instead of justifying the 'Church' or blaming others, we each need to take a good look at ourselves and acknowledge how broken and sinful we are.

CS