Colored Christianity

I recently covered the concept that there is more than one absolute "correct righteousness." In viewing morality we often fall into a mode of judgment that views everything as black, white, or somewhere in between.

However, seeing that God has each of His children at different places in their spiritual walk, we often find it difficult to see the 'color' of someone else's faith, if you will. We would like to point to a place on the picture above and say, "this is how pure your faith is." We would like to easily judge spiritual life of another and give an exact judgement, then move on in our faith to see what else we can find to classify and judge.

However, there are two key flaws in this approach. First, we find that morality is not really a greyscale pattern that goes from black to white with some grey in between. Instead, we find that it is more like a color wheel, where it is not always easy to see if your yellow is as close to the white center as my blue.

We find that it can be much more difficult than a simple black and white judgement, but we find that God, and by extension morality, is far more complex then what we first assume or perhaps desire it to be. And in desiring the simplicity of judgement on our peers and their lives, we run into the second major flaw in greyscale morality: Love, or more accurately, the profound lack thereof once we find ourselves so enamored with judging other people's spiritual state.

"Wait a minute," you may be saying, "Are we not told to judge the fruit of others in the Sermon on the Mount?" Indeed, we are told to judge. But we are told to judge the works of these people on the basis of being good or bad, not the level of goodness or level of badness. Our flesh so often creeps in and want to be the best at whatever we are doing. This can apply to our spiritual walk far to easily as well; we want to be the most holy, or most wise, or ironically, the most humble. We go to great lengths to judge others walk with God in order to lift our own up. This is a struggle that happens daily, and we are called to daily deny ourselves, and put that part of us to death.

So wether you are on the blue side working up and to the right, or on the red side working toward the left, we need to remember that our position, and even the position of others is not the focus. The focus is to be Christ, the perfect center. If we keep our focus there, we are bound to improve. If we focus instead on others and their errors, we will only try to correct their mistakes in our lives. It may be that someone in the green area needs to go further down on the 'color scale of holiness' but if the person in the purple sees this and tries to correct themselves by what they feel the green needs, they will end up further away rather than closer to the center. We cannot easily correct others, nor is it often our job; this belongs to the Holy Spirit.

The point I am heading toward is simply this - If we try to judge other's spiritual walk by where we are, we will fail. We cannot easily see other's place. Often we cannot comprehend why others do what they do, but we judge them anyways. We are to judge the fruit of a person by its good or bad state; we are not supposed to rank the taste of each fruit to our own liking for then our personal bias has far more of an effect than actual morality does. If we each strive to become purer and more like Christ each day and see that others are doing the same, that is be best fruit we can ever wish for.

Faith: Attacking and Defending

In Christianity, we find there are a lot of different opinions and factions. I'm not going to list my personal convictions on any of them in this post, nor look at the 'why' or 'what' of what we defend in our faith, but rather take a look at the 'how'.

We see there are basically three types of defenses for our beliefs. The frightened pacifist, who doesn't defend what he believes because he doesn't know or doesn't think he knows enough to defend what he believes. These are usually weak Christians, either for lack of discipline/conviction or personal conflict in their own lives. These people can also be they type who believe everything is right or no one can know or condemn.

Next, we have the all out assault. This is typically what we would call a Fundamentalist approach. They believe everything is vital, nothing can be disagreed upon, and if we disagree, one of us is a heretic. Now, it is very true that some things are essentials to the Christian faith; however, not all of our personal convictions are things that others are forced to follow. We find that these people are dissenters and quarrelers. They are usually very willing to argue a point, but will refuse to listen to anyone else's ideas or beliefs. These are, sadly enough, often the loudest voices in Christianity. They condemn all who disagree with them and are a poor example of Christ. They are the very ones Paul was talking about when he said that we are to have nothing to do with these types of people. (2 Timothy 3:2-5) These people often sway other weak or fearful Christians with their powerful arguments and reasoning. Often it is done through fear, as those who follow said 'leader' are afraid of condemnation from that person. So they jump through the proverbial hoops to win the accolades of their ideological leader. This type of person is quick to condemn, often being very verbal with their convictions and will have lots of verses (often out of context) to support their stance. This is by far the most damaging example of Christianity.

Lastly, we also have the true examples of Christ. This is a hard path to stay on. It requires us to be in fellowship with God, in prayer about not only our convictions, but how to share these convictions. These are to be solid pillars of the Church, not condemning for the sake of condemning; but leading with love. These people will often have an answer for the Assault-type Christian, but need to be in prayer about wether or not this will actually help. They are to bear the burden of the weak (Romans 15), they are to do so in love (I Peter 4, I Cor. 13), and they are to correct false teaching (Gal. 5).

That's a lot of work. What can we do with this? How can we ever balance love, bearing burdens, and also exposing those who are wrong? The first thing we need to do is turn our attention away from them, and toward Christ. Then, after our priorities are in line with Christ, (more complex and time consuming than it sounds, in fact it takes all of our very existance) we turn our focus on ourselves. This focus on ourselves is not to please ourselves, but to purify ourselves through Christ. After that,  we are to help others. Remember, we are not to correct or argue for our own selves, but to further Christ and to help those who are in error. Its not about destroying other peoples arguments, being the smartest person in the room, or even making sure people know we are right or not ignorant. We are not to defend ourselves, but strive to help others become more like Christ.

In conclusion, we often see ourselves falling into one of the first two groups, either lax or attacking. When this happens, we need to turn our focus back on Christ, in fellowship and prayer, then work on the log in our own eye before worrying about the splinter in our neighbors.

The End of Thanksgiving

This last weekend an new animated holiday movie came out titled "Free Birds." Its a whimsical movie about turkeys and the first Thanksgiving. Although the movie was supposed to be about Thanksgiving, there was no actual giving of thanks other than a five second bit about Governor Bradford thanking the time traveling turkeys for pizza. (I'll wait while you reread that to make sure you got it right)

So what can we draw from this? Well, it is blatant re-writing of Thanksgiving in pop culture. It has been the recent habit of the media to ignore Thanksgiving in favor of Black Friday, but this is the first time that we are told the Thanksgiving story with the intent to leave God and the God-fearing men and women out of the story. In fact, the settlers may look like Puritans and Separatists, but they act like anything but Godly people in the movie. Yes, historically there were many settlers who were not Pilgrims - many of the settlers were greedy businessmen - but they didn't have the traditional clothing of those we like to call "Pilgrims".

So what we see is the acceptance, or more the preaching, of an originally godless Thanksgiving. There is no mention of being thankful, instead the entire movie consists of the "Pilgrims" complaining. Now, it being a movie about time-traveling turkeys, one has to take things with a rather massive grain of salt, but the fact is that they go out of their way to portray Thanksgiving as just time with family. Not time to count our blessings or thank God for them, but just to be with our family. Of course, family time is wonderful, but there is more to Thanksgiving than that.

Personally, I would rather have Thanksgiving dropped as a National Holiday than have it re-written in this way. I think we as Christians should still celebrate Thanksgiving, but in actual giving of thanks, not just a turkey and some stuffing.

But back to "Free Birds". I'm not saying we need to condemn the movie itself. This is of little use and makes no sense to those who don't see why this bothers us. Instead, we need to focus on what we are to do as Christians, which is to shine as a light for God. If we take our time to be truly thankful, and to give God thanks, we are fulfilling part of our requirement as Christians. We cannot change people by condemning things when they don't agree with our convictions; instead we need to show them God by love and obedience to God's command. Let us be a light of Thanksgiving this year. Let us show the world that we have been with Jesus.

Defenders of the Faith

I have heard one Theologian say that he is a watchdog of God, and as such he cannot help but bark when his Master is attacked. As wonderful as this sounds, I think this is a terrible Theological statement. We are not called to be 'attackers of the faith', but defenders. We are told by Paul to keep our convictions between ourselves and God; not to go attacking others with our beliefs. Jesus tells us to make sure we do not cast pearls before swine, or they will tear us to pieces. We get a clear picture here of the fact that we are to be a light, an example, and a witness. We are not to shove our conviction in other's faces; for one, even if they did what we asked this does not make them Christians, and two, conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit, not ours to do. One that note, God does not desire dogs, he desires sons and daughters. God can defend Himself quite well if He would need to, and we as His children need to realize we are not to go fighting flesh and blood, but the spirit of darkness.

You may ask,"So are we not supposed to witness to people?" Of course we are! This is the function of a Christian. The very reason for our continued existence here on Earth. However, it is not as simple as just shouting in people's faces. Nor is it trying to guilt trip people into joining a church. Although these things may work from time to time, that does not make them the best alternative. You may be able to kill a fly with a shotgun, but that does not mean you should. In the same way, blasting people with the Gospel may hit one or two, but will most likely cause far more damage than good in the area.

In the end, there is no easy black and white line of evangelism. Instead, it is a day to day existence. If our relationship with the people around us does not show them Christ, we should not think that approaching a stranger will help. Oh, it may ease our conscience, we can say we tried, but that is not really what God requires of us. He requires us to be faithful. This is not a 10:00-12:00 every Sunday in Church type of faithful, but a faithfulness in every corner of our lives. It is a painful faithful, one that requires sacrifice and self-denial. It is one that we work with our entire lives here on Earth. That, my friend, is how we are to evangelize. And if we do, then people will come to us to ask of the hope that is in us. Until that time, we are to be faithful in word and deed. If we cannot be faithful in our own lives, how can God expect us to be so in someone else's?

Absolute Goodness?

Often we as Christians assume that when we are faced with a decision there is one absolute perfect choice. We believe that our choices can be ranked as good, better and best.

But is this true? Can all choices be ranked like this? As easy as this would make life, I do not believe this to be the case. I do not think that there is only one perfect answer in every situation. I believe there to be multiple best answers that are all equally good. Now I am not trying to say that we can assume that whatever we do is right, but we would be wise to realize that there can indeed be more than one perfect answer.

How can I be so bold? Well, lets take a look at God's choices. The first thing to consider is that He indeed mades choices. We see references do God's decision-making throughout the Bible. We know that Jesus often chose things in a manner that may seem arbitrary and random. But chose God does. If God is also perfect and absolutely holy then any decision made must also be both of those things. The fact that He has more than one thing to choose from shows that they meet His criteria, namely, perfection and holiness.

But what if there is only one perfect choice? Well, then God is confined to only making those choices, this means that He would have no Freewill. If that is true, then it follows that God has less choice than you or I, less choice than my cat, and less choice than anything He created. That would also mean the things He created had more power than He. This does not make sense, in fact, it flies in the face of what we understand about God.

So what can we apply from this information? Well, we know that there are multiple best answers. As such, we should be very hesitant in judging people we do not understand. We should be unwilling to assume that people who make different spiritual choices are automatically 'less holy' or 'less spiritual' than we are. It is very important that we do not assume that our understanding of perfection is the only accurate one. Many Christians condemn others assuming that their best must also be another person's best as well. This is not our place. Our preference and ignorance should not be our guide in evaluating other people's Godliness. If we doubt someone else's faith, we should do what we should always do; bring it to God in prayer, and act in love.

Age and Conviction

The older we get the more often we find ourselves looking at those that are younger than ourselves and wonder, "Do they really understand what it means to be a Christian? Do they know what all this entails?" We wonder if they really 'get it' or if they are just following along with the crowd.

Is this fair? I don't know anyone else's heart, nor am I really supposed to. But I can look back on my own life and experiences. When I was a child, I did what many children do and 'asked Jesus into my heart.' Now, I know there is a lot of backlash against that phrase, but as a child, I took this seriously. It was perhaps a more simple experience, and I was far more ignorant of Theology and God than I am know, but it was just as much a true spiritual experience before Him. As I continued to grow older, I had more experiences of this nature. I would grow in understanding and maturity and have a deeper understanding of what Christianity and God entail.

This progression continues to this day. I grow and understand more. But the experience with God that I had as a child was no less real, important, or valid because of my lack of understanding then. In fact, I believe that the inverse is more likely true. As a child, I flung myself completely upon God without a doubt of philosophy, theology, or rhetoric. Although I strive in understanding God and being a better Christian, and I find these things very important; the lack of them as a child did not make for a fake Christianity. Indeed, we find that Jesus told us something of this in Scripture. To whom more is given, more is required. We find that this is still true of us. As children, we are given little complex understanding, therefore little is required of us. The inverse is true in adulthood and as we grow in Christ.

So am I saying we need to stay spiritual infants and never have to worry about our faith being a fraud? Not at all, we are to be obedient servants and stewards, and that requires growing up in Christ.

In the end, what I am saying is that children and new converts may not have much understanding or revelation as a mature Christian. This does not make their Christian faith or walk less valid, nor does it discount them as followers. However, it does discount them as leaders of the faith.

Christian Coffee

All the credit for this comic goes to Adam4d Find his comics here. There's some good stuff. :)