Thursday, April 27, 2006

Why are we so caught up with trying to redefine our name instead of attempting to live up to the one we are called after?


www.relevantmagazine.com

"Today’s Christian mindset is based more on self-need and self-help than on selflessness and self-sacrifice. Our narcissistic mindset dictates our worldview, which is defined by James Emery White (Gordon-Conwell President) as “the lens through which we look at the world and therefore think about the world.” If our worldview asks, “What can I get for myself, to help myself, to better myself?” then we are idol worshippers, replacing God with ME. The postmodern mindset struggles to reconcile this point.

Writhing Worldview

As I read in Hebrews, I am confronted by the fact that these first Christians were cut into pieces, stoned, flogged, and lived in caves and holes in the ground for their faith. Yet the scriptures say the world was not worthy of them. Today’s American Christian faces, at most, a political bashing and harsh name-calling.

We are at a point now where mainstream culture views evangelical Christians in a most disgusting light. This is due in part to uncompromising leaders who polarize people and dominate the media with political rhetoric that taints the Christian name. This is what the modern leaders have brought to the Christian name and why postmoderns are so adamant about swinging to the extreme. There needs to be some kind of balance. It is not necessarily a postmodern or a modern mindset that will change the hearts of men, but Christians with the mind of Christ.

Don’t Call Me Christian

It is increasingly true that many young adults do not like to be referred to as “Christians.” I would agree that some evangelicals do more harm than good at times to the name. We polarize on non-essential arguments and look to government to rectify the moral depravity of our great nation. Truly Christians miss the mark in this regard.

The term “Christian” was a derogatory name given to followers of the Way. These followers were routinely fed to lions and mutilated in front of thousands of rabid onlookers. Early Christians paid attention to the poor and lepers, not how their “name” affected culture. Their involvement with those in need dumbfounded the Roman government.

In the film Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne discovers that it is not who he is on the inside, but what he does that defines him. Why are we so caught up with trying to redefine our name instead of attempting to live up to the one we are called after?

I wonder if we are on the wrong side of modern, more "ancient" than "post." Would that be so bad? Can you imagine the church on fire, leading the way in community, poverty and AIDS? I wonder if we will ever begin to see that it is not about the paint on our brushes, but the light pouring all around and within. “No, You’re forgetting,” said the Spirit. “That was not how you began. Light itself was your first love: You loved paint only as a means of telling about light.” (The Great Divorce) "

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