Keep The Christ In Christians – 1 of 12

Dear American Christians:

This is an open letter to all my brothers & sisters in Christ who are also Americans.  I feel compelled to write these words God has given me to share.  We find ourselves conflicted in the midst of a culture war, and battle lines are being drawn between us.  Nationalistic conservatives and liberals alike are staking claim to their perception of Christ’s concern for our country, and His plan for our future.  Polarity, like what we are experiencing, is bound to come in this world…but woe to us followers of Christ when we get caught up in it.  We vilify our brothers for the specks in their eyes while we have big sticks in our own!  I’m afraid that we have become quite misguided in our understanding of who Jesus is and what He really wants for all stripes of His followers.  He’s not focused on prospering our country; He’s calling the hearts of all His people back to following Him, regardless of the direction our country goes.  Worldly powers will come and go, but Christ’s testimony through His people will endure as we shine His character & values in the midst of a world that is watching!

The tragic reality is that many of us are so captivated by the offerings of the world around us, we have lost touch with the character of the real, historical, Biblical Christ.  When we look carefully into the scriptures, what we see of Him is so revolutionary to our own cherished ways of thinking & behaving that, in all honesty, we would rather not follow the Jesus of reality.  So we create an avatar of Him in our imagination that blends well with our values and dreams.  We want a Christ who will grant us prosperity in this world, yet the Christ who is actually there beckons us to lay down our lives in this world in order to follow Him.  Even though we attend “Churches” and call ourselves “Christians”, many of us are following a false Christ of our own making…while the real one whispers in our ears to come back to Him and His Ways so that He can be revealed through us.  THIS is the travesty of the American Church: We have forgotten our first love, turned our backs on our Master, and have become conflicted & wayward like the early church in Laodicea:

Revelation 3:14-19“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Christmas is one of my favorite times of year.  I love the traditions & trees & lights & music & gifts…and the general sense of goodwill it promotes in people.  Yet, as a follower of Christ, it’s a bit weird with how Santa Claus and the stressful shopping rush stomps the nativity story about Jesus deeper & deeper into the snow each year.  There’s also the indignant voices from within Christendom calling for our society to “Keep Christ In Christmas.”  The tide of public opinion has definitely shifted when it comes to keeping the “religious” aspects of Christian holy days out of the public sphere.  There are different sides to this, but regardless of how you see it, I’d like to put forth something totally different….a revolutionary thought that I consider to be the most important thing of all. What if followers of Jesus were less concerned with protecting their treasured man-made traditions, and instead focused attention & energy on keeping Christ In Themselves!  God isn’t concerned with outward appearances, He cares about our hearts.

It’s a well-documented fact that church attendance & influence has been dramatically dropping for a couple of decades, while people are leaving in disillusioned droves due to the hypocrisy & irrelevance they cannot reconcile with the ways of Jesus and the Early Church they read about in the Bible.  Church leaders & members blame our nation’s continuing drift away from the Judeo/Christian values of our past and wage war against culture…fighting the wrong battles while the world rolls their eyes at our duplicity.  In this, we discredit the character & Kingdom of our Namesake in vain attempts to protect our practices & reputations.  In my opinion, the culprit for the Kingdom’s decline in America is not “all those Non-Christians” who are diluting the waters…it’s us.  

“The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” (Brennan Manning)  

Look at the polls and look around you, Christians as a whole aren’t living appreciably different than anyone else in American culture.  When the people of Jesus no longer look like Jesus, then I say that we have a real problem. We, along with all Americans, are known throughout the world as the most privileged & pampered & pompous people in the world.  What does this look like?  It’s revealed in our values…values spring from our true beliefs….beliefs are born from what we put our faith & hope in.  In a very real sense, although we’re not physically bowing down to physical idols, we Americans absolutely worship false gods…and those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ are scarcely different:

Wealth (greed)
Freedom (independence/choice)
Popularity/acceptance/approval
Sex/romance (lust)
Pleasure (“God wants me to be happy, so…”)
Self/narcissism (pride)
Comfort/laziness (sloth)
Reputation/fame (power/influence)
Rebellion (that which is forbidden)
Fulfillment (gluttony)
More (envy)
Control/precision
Adventure/experiences (hobbies, sports)

False hopes come from believing lies, and we have swallowed the hook-line-sinker of the world’s corrupted values with one side of our mouths and prayed that Jesus will bless us and our country with the other.  It’s no wonder we are the most depressed & troubled developed nation in the world!  People of Jesus, why are you so downcast? Put your hope in God!

I was thinking about the “12 Days Of Christmas”, one of my favorite Christmas songs; and felt compelled by the Spirit to write “12 Ways Of Christ” between now and the holiday that bears His Name.  All of this may piss you off….or it may cause you to step back and take an honest look in the mirror…that’s what I’m doing too.  This is a 12-part blog intended to shine light on errors of thought & practice we get entangled with in our journeys with Christ..and call us back to Him.  Here are a few Biblical voices to consider:

James 4:4-10 (excerpts)
“You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

Amos 5:21-24“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies…I will not accept your offerings..Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”

1 Peter 2:11-16“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles [in this world], to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us…For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.”

Matthew 5:13-16“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

More tomorrow…