I love alliterations.
So, I promised some thoughts on the articles I posted earlier this month on the collapse of Christianity in our modern society. Here we go.
I am not always proud to call myself a Christian. That's a bit odd, I know, considering that I claim that my faith is in the One who represents the true God and true salvation. I should make it clear, though, that I don't shirk away from the title because of who God is. Rather, I hesitate to identify myself with who I am and who we are as a collective race of traitorous and fallen cowards.
These articles comment on the fact that less Americans are choosing to identify as Christian. The point is also made that Americans aren't shifting their faith to another God or religious tradition, but are instead choosing to reject identifying with any religion at all. To that, I have no defense. Honestly, can you blame anyone for denying God or His teachings in today's world?
In America, the Christian God is the God of our politicians and our elite. In America, we have "respected" leaders preaching messages of intolerance and hate and doing so in the name of God. In America, we have Christian leaders who spend more time writing books and appearing on TV shows than they spend working to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. In America, we claim faith in a God who tells us to sell all of our possessions and give to the poor, but we fight tooth and nail against our taxes being raised. In America, we are appalled that a woman might abort her unborn fetus and we tout the righteousness of all life, but we change the channel when the news comments on the nearly 100,000 innocent lives that have been lost in Iraq since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In America, God is an idea but not an action. He is a fictional character. He is not meaningful in a positive way. He doesn't help.
So, can we really blame our brothers and sisters who can't find it in their hearts to love Him?
I do not mean to degrade the genuine faith in Christ that is practiced in this country by millions of His selfless, positive, loving servants. I don't mean to say that all Christians are evil or fake. I certainly don't believe that about myself, nor do I believe it about you if you're reading this as a Christian.
What I mean to say is that Christianity as a whole in this country has settled into a pattern of wanting to have its cake and eat it, too. We want the salvation of Christ and the indulgence of our human nature. We want two separate things. There's a line from a NOFX song: " The guilty don't feel guilty; they learn not to." We've taught ourselves that God didn't really mean everything that He said. He only meant the convenient parts.
I'm not entirely opposed to the collapse of the Christian faith in the country because I'm not entirely sure that we should really be working that hard to protect the type of Christianity we've come to settle for. I don't think that Christ would really be that proud of what we've accomplished in His name. I don't think that we should be working to protect the various contemporary Pharisees we've allowed to represent our God. I don't think that we should pay attention to what other, more educated and powerful "Christians" think. I don't think we should be devoting ourselves to churches that look less like houses of worship and more like factories of a merchandised faith .
What I am for is the continuing democratization of the Christian faith. I am for the resurgence of faith on a personal level. I am for the Holy Spirit being allowed to do His job in pointing us in the right direction instead of having the church continue to follow practices that were set in place and constructed hundreds of years ago. The Holy Spirit is God's way of talking to us on a daily basis, but I fear we've shut Him up in favor of settling for a packaged faith that comes with easy to follow rituals, holidays, and ceremonies. We've bought the package because of it's wrapping, but we're finally coming to realize that the box is empty.
I am not opposed to the collapse of Christianity because I believe that the collapse of Christianity is not exactly the same as the collapse of Christ. He persists through all things. The beauty of the Christian faith is that Christ came with the specific intent of getting to know every one of us as individuals. The beauty of Christ is that He came to built a church in the heart of every person.
I am not opposed to the collapse of Christianity is this society because I am confident that my faith in Christ will not fall in turn.
Stay Gold,
MMK
3 comments:
I liked this post a lot. Obviously we don't agree entirely, but that aside - this was some brilliant writing.
"I don't think we should be devoting ourselves to churches that look less like houses of worship and more like factories of a merchandised faith."
I especially agree with this. Although I don't identify as religious, I *do* think that organized religion is the completely wrong way to go about practicing if you are. You can't assemble a group of people like that without the inevitably of the group corrupting itself and political power struggle. Spirituality is personal; the church is not.
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
See, I'm not opposed to organized religion entirely. I have a fundamental faith in Jesus' ability to help His followers worship the Father in accordance with His character and I think that the "church" is a great and wonderful thing at its core. The problem as I see it, though, is that the core of the church is not its most prominent feature in American society. Accordingly, I'd like to see a collapse of the church to the point that its core becomes prevalent and meaningful once again.
Take, for example, the small group bible study in which Sarah and I take part. I consider that group to be at the core of what Christianity is all about. Seven or eight people meet weekly and talk about their weeks, their struggles, their joys, and their thoughts on how God is working amongst all of those things. We get together to celebrate the fact that there's a God at all, let alone one who actually cares what we think of Him. There are no rituals, there is no order, there are no book deals or agendas. Sometimes there's cake, though.
We are organized. We have a common understanding. We pray and worship as a group. We're a church. But I doubt we'll ever become corrupt as such.
You have very accurately captured in words a lot of what's been on my heart lately. Thank You.
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