I go on Renee's blog quite often. She is someone I highly respect and who I am honored to call a friend - and she posted a link to an article which she called "the most hate-filled, evil thing I’ve read in a long while." It is an article called "God's Shocking Message to the Emerging Church".
I rarely ever get angry, but as I read this article I could feel my blood pressure rise. I have no idea who this author is, but what he has written is sickening and repulsive. This is exactly why I am sometimes embarrassed to be called a Christian, because this person writes as a "Christian" and quotes Bible verses, generally out of context, in the article.
His email is at the bottom of his article, and I am emailing him letting him know I posted this.
I know that the Internet is a place of free speech and people will write all types of opinions on things. But as I read this article and then looked at the home page for the web site - exactly what the author is criticizing, is what they do. I could not find the name of Jesus once on their home page, yet the whole theme of their web site is being Christians out to protect America. Even the usage of the American flag on the home page cheapens the flag, and throwing in the usage of Christian rhetoric and agendas they are targeting is shameful. There are certain web sites that criticize the emerging church that are quite honestly rather crazy and most people reading them easily realize that - but overall they are harmless and somewhat humorous. But this guy is attacking someone he didn't know, who recently died, and is basically saying... i don't even want to get into it (you can read it).
This is why Christianity gets a bad name. This is why when I say I am a "Christian" I am embarrassed. Because of people like this. Not because of Jesus, nor even the hard words of judgment Jesus says etc. - but because of unloving, attack mode, finger pointing Christians who don't even use the Bible correctly. I guess you could say I am being unloving in my response, but sometimes enough is enough with this stuff. And I did take the time to read through several articles from the author to see if this a one time thing, or if is thematic and it was easy to see it is thematic.
At first I wasn't even going to link to the article, as not to bring further attention to it - but I want to because I hope it awakens Christians to motivate us to be out in the world, as Jesus said we should be, being salt and light and love to others. Articles like this motivate me all the more not be afraid to say I am a "Christian" or have to come up with some other way of saying it, like "Christ follower" (which sounds weird to me). I just want to say "I am a Christian". But we need to be out there with people, showing the world that Christians aren't like the person who wrote this article. We need to be breaking out of our Christian sub-culture and stop just walking around with our Ipod headsets on listening to Christian music while the world around us keeps getting more and more taught that Christians are all finger-pointing, judgmental, right-winged fanatics who are cold and callous and even hateful in their words. I recently did many interviews with people outside the church, and this guy's article is how most described their impressions of Christians. We have got to change this. People have got to see normal Christians, not just the nutty ones.
Please - quit listening to the latest Christian CD and go meet someone outside of the church. Befriend them and let them know you are not a lunatic as they think most Christians are. Please - instead of going to the yet another church activity with fellow Christians, go out with some of the people you work with and go see a movie and hang out so they see you are not insane. Please - instead of selfishly praying for sometime petty things (I know God cares about everything, but I think you see my point) pray for names of those outside of the church who have had bad experiences with Christians and aren't interested because of meeting someone like this guy or reading something like his article.
Please - don't be afraid to say you are a "Christian", but be a Jesus-like one. And be out in the world. He sent us there. Salt and light are meant to be experienced and seen. What is sad is that most people only see or read things like in the article and make conclusions that all Christians are like that. Please, we cannot let the abnormal, sad, insenstive, self-righteous Christians represent the rest of us to a world that needs Jesus. Please...
