All text on this website is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
(or, Why Obsess Over the Small Stuff?)
We give a strange impression to the world sometimes. If you monitor the times when Christ or Christianity are mentioned in the secular press one thing stands out. We mostly comment on issues like gay marriage, reproductive issues, books and media. Sometimes on international politics - on other religions and theocratic states, and on interfaith issues such as religious holidays. Both lengths of the Christian continuum, from liberal to conservative comment upon news items, and their views do get heard.
It is perhaps expecting a bit much to ask the secular media to present the salvation message - they are secular, after all - but we do have the opportunity for it to come out in relation to other, important issues. For this we should be most thankful, here in the West, for there are and have been many countries where we do not have such opportunities. Yet we so often squander our chances, and contribute to the most unfortunate impression of Christianity that the world has.
We do not live in a world of spiritual apathy, often though that is claimed. As I discovered as a divinity student, almost everyone is interested in religion and in Christianity. The trouble is that few people now understand what it is about. We tend to assume that people know the basic gospel story - whereas all that most people know are that Jesus was born in a manger in Bethlehem, died on a cross, and rose again, that that is pretty much all they know. Not that they don't want to know, they just have never been taught. Hence the interest in the Alpha course.
Most people get their ideas about Christianity from the media, from what we are presented there as being all about. Of course this applies to other religions as well. So we end up with a series of stereotypes: Muslims are fanatics; Jews are atheists who love to party; Pagans are nerdy types; Hindus have lots of gods and are entirely Indians; Buddhists are quiet types and Christians are legalistic, boring, old-fashioned people who want everyone to obey them or else are vicars with guitars - obsessed with being "trendy" yet always out of sync with the youth they imitate.
This negative stereotype of our faith is quite a barrier. While people are interested, they will not seek out what Christianity is, because they cannot conceive of becoming so very dull. They will ask, and be surprised at the answers, should they happen to meet a wandering divinity student or vicar socially, but few will go out of their way. In order for people to come to Christ now, we must first dismantle a stereotype about us - not an easy thing.
How does this stereotype exist? It comes mostly from the issues we choose to comment on, and how we choose to comment upon them. The problem is that we give answers as though we were speaking to Christians when we are in fact speaking to the world at large. Sometimes we confuse the two. We tell the world it should not, for instance, legalise civil marriages for homosexual couples, or should not use contraception, or read Harry Potter books, when these are internal Christian issues. We present a legalistic - and despotic - front, implying that Christianity is a works-based religion. How often will salvation by grace be mentioned? It is after we are saved that issues like our reading material become important, not before! Even then there is disagreement, but after salvation we have the Spirit of Truth to guide us, not to mention personal freedom and conscience. In Christ there is liberty, but we present it as bondage - no wonder people are discouraged from seeking!
"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1 RSV)
I disagree very strongly with our response to purely civil issues, too. Whether gay marriages are or are not legalised by our countries is simply irrelevant to us. We do not live in theocratic states, and the state naturally caters to those outside the faith (would you have the state practise injustice and take special notice of us?). Perhaps we may be opposed to gay marriages, but if the state allows them this has no impact on the Church - we are not bound to then allow religious marriages. We merely present ourselves as homophobic bullies who want to make non-Christians obey us when we protest these issues.
If we look to the early church, we do not see Paul or the other disciples protesting against Roman law, or trying to change it. They could have done so, but did not. Jesus did not try to change Israel's laws or the Roman government then in place. Why? Because they had more important things to do. Their mission was to present the Gospel of Grace to the world, not take part in political manoeuvers or present moral codes to the world. They had a mission to change the world, yes, but not by protesting loudly, making those who did not believe behave as though they did. The way we change the world is soul by soul, not by force, by our actions as we live our lives, not by trying to live other people's. I think we sometimes forget that the New Testament was written for Christians - and not for non-Christians.
Pilate entered the praetorium again and called Jesus, and said to him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" ... Jesus answered, "My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world." (John 18:33, 36 RSV)
What I would have us do is, instead of commenting on irrelevant issues in the secular press, comment on important ones. War, injustice, the future, faith, comfort, stress, these are things we can comment on. Always in our words should be an awareness of who will hear what we say, always, we should tell of grace and He who died that grace might be available for all. Naturally we will look legalistic if we constantly say to the world, "you shouldn't read this," "you should not watch this". If we instead say "we are saved by grace. Here, listen to what we really believe," we might be able to dispel the stereotype which turns people away. We may be able to stop the death of the church.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." (Luke 4:18-19 RSV)
© Dubhóc MacEògainn, 2005.