Pastor’s Corner : Are you different?
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Before I begin this article (okay, maybe rant is more accurate ), let me say that I fully understand that polls are often a less than accurate source of information. We often place too much importance on information that is, at best a reasonable opinion, and at worst a seriously flawed data source.
Okay, on with the rant.
It is interesting to me that depending on which poll you consider, somewhere around 85 percent of us Americans call ourselves Christians. With that important statistic in mind, consider a few other interesting statistics. Those of us in that 85 percent • Are no more likely than average to help the poor or homeless • Are usually not noticeably different morally from others who claim no faith (the specific examples on this item are numerous );
• Are at least as likely to divorce; and • By most measurements are not noticeably different from those who make no Christian claims.
Sure, of those in the 85 percent, many attend church at least occasionally. Some even attend consistently and serve in their local church. But when we're not at church, how different are we from our neighbors ? What outward confirmation do people around us witness of the fact that we're supposed to love God and love our neighbor as our self ? Just how often do they see us feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger and visiting those imprisoned ? How much like the Good Samaritan are we ?
Is it often that we go out of our way, spending our hardearned money to help a stranger through a difficulty, expecting nothing in return ? Are we consistently going and doing likewise ? I mean, didn't Jesus talk about those things ? Didn't Jesus have quite a lot to say about the poor and our care of them ? It seems He also spoke of it being as difficult for a rich man to make it into heaven as for a camel to make it through the eye of a needle. Exactly what was it he told the rich young man that valued his stuff more than Jesus ? Was it, invest, spend and let the good trickle down to help the less fortunate ? Hmm, I'm pretty sure that wasn't it.
Why is it that we claim to be predominantly Christian in belief, but we don't appear to be all that Christian in how we live ? How is it that we can claim to be associated with, empowered by, even indwelled by the Spirit of the Jesus of the Scriptures, and yet in a practical sense we appear very little different from people who don't believe at all ? Is there something fundamentally wrong with claiming Christianity, but being essentially unchanged ?
Gandhi once said," I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. The materialism of affluent Christian countries appears to contradict the claims of Jesus Christ that says it's not possible to worship both mammon and God at the same time."
What would happen in our community, our nation and our world if Christians began to be progressively more like Christ ? What would change if we were radically Christian in what we say and what we do ? I wonder.
Oh, by the way, it's an election year (like you could have missed that ). Make sure you pray and vote. Just don't live under some illusion that as a Christian your vote is the greatest opportunity you have to change our world. I suggest that a greater percentage of genuinely Christian Christians will make quite a difference.
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