For anyone who is new to my blog, I AM A CHRISTIAN. I am not bitter. I have no axe to grind. I am not ashamed of Jesus. I love Jesus. I pledge allegiance to Him. But I AM ashamed of what I and some of my brothers and sisters are doing. I find myself agreeing more often with Gandhi, who said, "I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Yeah, ouch! So, here are my top 10 gripes. Please feel free to comment.
10. We rally amateurishly around the latest "Christian" fad -- from cheesy movies to public figures...
9. We boycott with the best of 'em when organizations' immoral behavior disagrees with our standards...
8. We have an escapist mentality...
7. We major in the minors and minor in the majors...
6. We care more about you coming to "our church" rather than coming to Jesus...
5. We are biblically illiterate...
4. We are prideful...
3. We have a difficult time making friends without an agenda to proselytize them...
2. We proselytize our "friends" because it makes us feel good about ourselves...
1. We are your worst critics...
I hate how you give so much more to charity. That stuff makes us atheists look bad.
ReplyDeleteMike....while I would like to be able to create a critical thinking conversation by challenging one of your top 10...I can't. Your list is pretty accurate. Well said!
ReplyDeleteI was looking forward to seeing some of your posts, and I think it's a pretty good exercise. I can't wait to see what else you've got in store.
ReplyDelete10. While I don't disagree, this pretty much a human thing. If you take a look at popular culture, people are always rallying around something, or someone. Christians are no different, they just tend to view their rallying as being more noble.
9. This always made me laugh when I was a believer because people never boycotted out far enough. Walmart hires gay people and atheists, sells products made by companies that employ gay people and atheists, etc. They won't go to Disney, but they've got to eat, so they conveniently forget about the other places.
8. I think this is a natural result of Biblical doctrine and theology. Existence on the cosmological timescale less then a rat fart compared to eternity. The life that really matters is the second one, so the escapist mentality is natural, and Jesus' teaching supports it.
7. True
6. I'd say yes and no. It's much easier to invite people to a building than it is to explain and get them to buy into Biblical creation, fall, substitutiary atonement, etc.
5. Agreed. Most Christians have a hard time defending why and what they believe, and have a very difficult time defending their postion, even from the Bible. I think this plays into #6 a lot.
4. Certainly can be the case at times.
3. Agreed, but also understandable when looked at in the light of Christian theology and doctrine. No one wants to see their friends or family suffer forever, so a concern for their eternal well being is natural. I think this is one of the most damaging aspects of Christianity - the fear it produces in the minds of the friends and loved ones of those who do not believe.
2. Yes and no. While some do that, sometimes its out of fear as I mentioned in 3 above.
1. I assume you're talking about being judgmental here, and yes I agree. One of the greatest freedoms of unbelief, is being free from the dogmatic judgmentalism of Christianity. That's not to say that unbelievers aren't judgmental in their own way, because they are. It's just the criteria tends to be a little different.
Good and sad list. It all starts with #5.
ReplyDeleteBret, yes we do give a ton to various charities. One of the great aspects of religion!
ReplyDeleteLisa, I am absolutely certain you have much to offer these conversations...regardless of which side of the coin.
E-dizzle, I like the advance ideas. Some of them we have already read each other's minds. Others you have given me more fodder.
Neil, I absolutely agree! The top 5 are very very very close to each other in importance!