Problems with God...
Have you ever heard people make the statement, "Well, I just have problems with God..."? That statement is typically followed by a critique of the church or of Christianity in general. Some of the critiques are very real, others are lame, some illogical and some plain mean. But, I'll endeavor to show how some of those critiques play out and explain the how's and why's so you'll be equipped to deal with them in this and the next few posts.
First is the biggest complaint against the church and Christianity: hypocrisy. How often have you heard someone say, "I don't go to church because of all the hypocrites."? I hear it regularly and am SO tempted to answer in a very mean-spirited way by saying, "Well come anyways, we could always use one more." But, that's just not nice and is plain mean. However, there are reasons and there are answers. The reason is simple: people look in the doors of the church and see people they know acting one way then walking out the doors and acting completely the opposite. That is hypocrisy. It is a total lack of faith and isn't, in my opinion, Christianity but simply religion. Religion is always hypocrisy because it thrives on people acting one way (or in old person terminology: putting on airs) for people to see them.
Yet, Christianity isn't supposed to be a religion. Christianity is the art of following Christ, which means it should be all about relationship. That fact is HARD to grasp sometimes, especially as we cannot see Him which many people see as necessary for a relationship. But, at the heart of it all is a relationship with Christ. That is what Christianity comes down to, either you know and follow Christ or you don't. Seems overly simplistic, doesn't it? And that is why most of the hypocrisy charges stick, because many people wear the label Christian because they go to church (which is stupid, because going to church make you a Christian just as much as going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger) or because someone in their family was a Christian (I hear that one all the time when people find out I work as a youth pastor: "Oh, well my cousin's nephew's brother-in-law's sister's daddy was a pastor in North Dakota." As if just by being related to someone makes it rub off on them, hence they can't be living badly.). I also know people who think that because they were baptized as an infant or were confirmed later in life they are set and don't have to worry about how they live, they're already in!
Paul dealt with hypocrisy even in the first century church. It's not new, it's human nature. His issue was people looking at Christ through a first century Greek mystic ideal (aka, gnosticism or hedonism): either the body was bad and needed to be mortified to achieve freedom and clarity for the soul or the body was a passing fad and nothing we did with our body mattered as it wasn't permanent. Those two ideals wreaked havoc with the early church and are still at play today (unless you've buried your head under a rock, you should be able to see this tension in many churches today). The issue comes back to the book of Genesis: "In the beginning God created [everything]...and it was VERY good." If God made everything good, it follows that our bodies are good but we distort them through our screw ups and insane desires. Not only that, but the New Testament goes further saying that our bodies are the "temple" of God. To a Jew that was a HUGE thing, because the temple was such a place of splendor and reverence. Even the Greek/Roman types understood the reverence and splendor associated with a temple, particularly that of the Most-High God!
So, what we need to know to answer someone is the pull of sin (our desire to do things in a way other than God's) plus a person who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus = the big hypocrite theory. Beyond that, the pull of sin plus a person who does have a relationship with Christ = the big hypocrite theory too. A relationship with Jesus doesn't bulletproof one against being stupid because (fortunately or unfortunately) God leaves us with the ability to choose. He doesn't suck the brains out of our heads the moment we become followers of Christ. Which means we still make complete and utter fools of ourselves in front of the people who don't know Jesus. So, the answer to hypocrites in the church comes down to the acceptance of what we really believe: it's not about being perfect, because we will (and do) screw up, but about being forgiven by God in his unmerited favor.
Grace is the answer to hypocrisy. If we live in grace and give grace freely, hypocrisy shouldn't be a problem! Grace means forgiveness. Grace means loving and supporting people who aren't perfect! Grace means REALLY loving people who still screw up and forgiving them every time they do. If we lived that idea instead of being a place where the "perfect" gather to offer superficial praise and never reveal our true hearts, the world outside the church would have a totally different idea of what it means to be a Christian...
First is the biggest complaint against the church and Christianity: hypocrisy. How often have you heard someone say, "I don't go to church because of all the hypocrites."? I hear it regularly and am SO tempted to answer in a very mean-spirited way by saying, "Well come anyways, we could always use one more." But, that's just not nice and is plain mean. However, there are reasons and there are answers. The reason is simple: people look in the doors of the church and see people they know acting one way then walking out the doors and acting completely the opposite. That is hypocrisy. It is a total lack of faith and isn't, in my opinion, Christianity but simply religion. Religion is always hypocrisy because it thrives on people acting one way (or in old person terminology: putting on airs) for people to see them.
Yet, Christianity isn't supposed to be a religion. Christianity is the art of following Christ, which means it should be all about relationship. That fact is HARD to grasp sometimes, especially as we cannot see Him which many people see as necessary for a relationship. But, at the heart of it all is a relationship with Christ. That is what Christianity comes down to, either you know and follow Christ or you don't. Seems overly simplistic, doesn't it? And that is why most of the hypocrisy charges stick, because many people wear the label Christian because they go to church (which is stupid, because going to church make you a Christian just as much as going to McDonalds makes you a hamburger) or because someone in their family was a Christian (I hear that one all the time when people find out I work as a youth pastor: "Oh, well my cousin's nephew's brother-in-law's sister's daddy was a pastor in North Dakota." As if just by being related to someone makes it rub off on them, hence they can't be living badly.). I also know people who think that because they were baptized as an infant or were confirmed later in life they are set and don't have to worry about how they live, they're already in!
Paul dealt with hypocrisy even in the first century church. It's not new, it's human nature. His issue was people looking at Christ through a first century Greek mystic ideal (aka, gnosticism or hedonism): either the body was bad and needed to be mortified to achieve freedom and clarity for the soul or the body was a passing fad and nothing we did with our body mattered as it wasn't permanent. Those two ideals wreaked havoc with the early church and are still at play today (unless you've buried your head under a rock, you should be able to see this tension in many churches today). The issue comes back to the book of Genesis: "In the beginning God created [everything]...and it was VERY good." If God made everything good, it follows that our bodies are good but we distort them through our screw ups and insane desires. Not only that, but the New Testament goes further saying that our bodies are the "temple" of God. To a Jew that was a HUGE thing, because the temple was such a place of splendor and reverence. Even the Greek/Roman types understood the reverence and splendor associated with a temple, particularly that of the Most-High God!
So, what we need to know to answer someone is the pull of sin (our desire to do things in a way other than God's) plus a person who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus = the big hypocrite theory. Beyond that, the pull of sin plus a person who does have a relationship with Christ = the big hypocrite theory too. A relationship with Jesus doesn't bulletproof one against being stupid because (fortunately or unfortunately) God leaves us with the ability to choose. He doesn't suck the brains out of our heads the moment we become followers of Christ. Which means we still make complete and utter fools of ourselves in front of the people who don't know Jesus. So, the answer to hypocrites in the church comes down to the acceptance of what we really believe: it's not about being perfect, because we will (and do) screw up, but about being forgiven by God in his unmerited favor.
Grace is the answer to hypocrisy. If we live in grace and give grace freely, hypocrisy shouldn't be a problem! Grace means forgiveness. Grace means loving and supporting people who aren't perfect! Grace means REALLY loving people who still screw up and forgiving them every time they do. If we lived that idea instead of being a place where the "perfect" gather to offer superficial praise and never reveal our true hearts, the world outside the church would have a totally different idea of what it means to be a Christian...
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