Christianity for People Who Aren't Christians, Part 2预览

Deal Breakers

Let’s close this conversation with what I hope we have acknowledged. Judgmentalism, legalism, hypocrisy, intolerance, and sexism are, in truth, not part of the Christian world. At least, not the world (much less, Church) Jesus came to establish. They manifest themselves as part of the sin-stained, sin-soaked nature of all of humanity, Christ followers included, but they are not endemic to the Christian faith. They are precisely what the Christian faith seeks to eradicate from every human life and every human community.

I’ve tried to not only explain Christianity, but to make a case for it. Don’t let there be ‘deal breakers’ in your pursuit of truth. So in terms of continuing to explore or even consider the Christian faith, you might be thinking, I probably shouldn’t even bother. I know there is [this issue] that I can’t get past. Should you continue? I would say, “Absolutely. Yes!” And here’s why. You may find that what you think Christianity maintains in a particular area isn’t what it maintains at all. You may have some misconceptions floating around that are caricatures of the Christian faith. You may think you’re not in agreement with the Christian faith in areas where you actually are. In other words, hold yourself to the same litmus test you are holding Christians and Christianity to.

But there’s more. If you want the Christian faith to line up 100 percent with your current ideas and ideals and then—and only then—will you accept it, you don’t want God. You want a mirror, because you have established yourself as God. The heart of the Christian faith is realizing that you are not God, and neither am I.

This means that coming to God will involve—no matter who you are or what you currently believe—bending a knee. Two, to be exact. There is much you might chafe against but, in the end, the call is to submit your will to his. This means a strategic part of your journey will inevitably involve taking on an entirely new evaluative paradigm based, not on your own understanding, but on God’s.

Faith is required in order to have a relationship with God. What experiences, circumstances, or assumptions make it hard for you to believe in a loving God who created you to be in relationship with him?