I had a friend email me this:
I've been thinking about starting to go to church again :). And throughout the thought process, I've been thinking a lot about the reasons I stopped. One of the biggest reasons/things that turned me off to it was that I feel like a lot of Christians that I know are very, and openly, judgemental about things people do, even though they may do some things that would not be right in the eyes of God themselves.
And that provoked a though...I was raised to believe that no one has the right to pass judgement except for God. And if God is so quick to forgive those who are truly sorry for their sins, how can people (I guess Christians in this case) be so quick to pass judgement?
Here was my response...for what it's worth.
I think you are right. Many (even most) Christians do tend to see the faults in others instead of graciously finding the good in them. I'm sure I'm guilty of this more often than I'd like to admit. That's a big problem in the American Church. I saw a study that 9 out of 10 young people view Christians as judgmental.
I think it's important to separate out what Chrisitans do and who Christ is. Christianity is a religion full of sinful people in need of God's grace and mercy. Just becuase Chrisitans sin (and are judmental) does not make what they believe wrong. It just means they (we) are in need of forgiveness.
I think that a lot of American Christians base their faith off of what they were taught growing up instead of on their own experience hearing from God through reading His Word and prayer. I'd encourage you, as you think through this for yourself, to take a week or two and thoughtfully read through the book of Matthew. Pay specific attention to what Jesus says and does.
On the other side of the coin, I will say, though, that as much as Jesus talks about not judging others, He does say that we are to hold other Christians accountable for their sake (not for our own). If a "brother" sins against you, the bible says in Matthew 18, that you are to go to him and show him his fault. Also, James 5:20 specifically talks about turning a sinner from the error of his way.
I read in a book about how people view Christians that "If Christians won't point out God's standard; who will?" It may not be popular to talk about God's standards, but if someone doesn't know they're sinning, how are they to ask forgiveness? The key is to "speak the truth in love."
3 comments:
Agreed, brother.
i love this conversation. at awaken we've made an important distinction as it relates to missional outreach but more broadly, the tone of our interaction with people who don't "subscribe to our spiritual pedigree."
the thought is this: it's no longer appropriate to discuss Jesus with someone outside of the context of relationship. To put it another way, relationships are the vehicle in which people know it's safe to be vulnerable and even challenged. for someone who doesn't say they follow Jesus, why would they don't measure up in someone's eyes? it's only in the unique place of relationship that these nuances can be felt rather than articulated.
i'd love to hear or further thoughts on this mason.
P.S. I'm blogging at http://tof-lee.com now. no longer at chronicles of sarnia. much love.
one more quick thought. if it's no longer acceptable to share Jesus outside of relationship, it means one thing. we've got our work cut out for us. it means that we're committed to the person, beyond a notch on our "conversion balance sheet." we've GOT to get beyond the whole "who's in and who is out" conversation" and start helping people understand their story within THE story.
Creation. Redemption. Community. Commission.
Relationship also implies dialogue, 2-way communication. What a concept. We've actually got something to learn from people who don't think/believe/look the same as us.
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