I am blessed to have a number of friends who do not profess to be Christians. That may seem like an odd thing to observe for a Presbyterian Minister but I recall a while back hearing a sermon where the preacher commented that for most people within two years of becoming Christian all of their friends are Christians. This might be good for spiritual growth and community and fellowship, but I think it may make evangelism difficult. Because of the generalized disdain (and sometimes outright hostility) our culture has for “Christians,” most Christians would rather keep their affiliation quiet. It’s a normal reaction, but it really makes it hard to make disciples. Let’s not forget that the last thing Jesus commanded his followers was to make disciples. (Mt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).
Now I think our society has good cause to be suspicious of Christians. Inside our fortress church we talk to each other about the depths of the Father’s love manifest in Jesus Christ. But outside the fortress what do Christians profess? Most try to fade chameleon-like into their surroundings and unless you happen to have seen one at church you wouldn’t guess they were followers of Jesus. You can’t tell the difference between them and anyone else. And if we do happen to see each other on the street, it is with great trepidation and embarrassment. I heard a funny joke once: Catholics don’t recognize the Mormons, Protestants don’t recognize the Pope, and two Baptists don’t recognize each other in a liquor store. We, maybe it wasn’t that funny after all.
Then there is a kind of hybrid Christian who tries to identify both with Jesus and the culture simultaneously. These are the ones who drive around in Humvees with Jesus bumper stickers, and indulge in every excess of society, but have convinced themselves that they are living “godly” lives. They attend church regularly, raise their kids in the church, probably tithe, maybe are even involved in service activities and small group ministry. I think it is also mainly this group who seeks to identify Jesus and his kingdom with man-made institutions such as political parties, or even nations. But they mistake prosperity and right standing before their peers for intimacy with Jesus. I once saw an SUV with a license plate that said “HIS GIFT.” I wondered what it would be like to have a God who gave away cars. For these, I am afraid Jesus is only the means to the end of middle class respectability.
Finally there are those who I believe are the worst kinds of Christians because they are the most righteous. They are the ones who make nuisances out of themselves by going around quoting scripture to condemn their neighbors to hell. They are certain that they are saved and everyone who does not believe as they do are not. There cannot be any better example of this kind of Christian than the Pharisee who self-righteously condemns the sinner standing near, saying, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector,” (Luke 18:11 ESV).and then cataloguing his supposed righteous acts. Jesus condemns this Pharisee in no uncertain terms, not because of his righteousness, but because of his hypocrisy. He puts his trust in his own behavior, rather than in God’s mercy, and because of that he walks away unchanged, untouched, and unjustified.
At the farthest end of the spectrum of this kind of “Christian” are the Koran-burning Terry Joneses and the hate-filled Westboro Baptists. Few who truly know the true gospel of Jesus condone their chicanery. But they are vocal enough to catch the attention of the media, who are only too happy to associate them with all Christians in the public eye. And don’t get me wrong, they are the most extreme, but every time I even silently condemn any of my brothers or sisters to hell I am the same as they are, no matter how convinced I may be of the depths of their sin.
Well in the last few paragraphs I’ve condemned most of my brothers and sisters who profess the name of Jesus, so doesn’t that make me just like the Pharisee? And I have to answer yes; I too, am a sinner and a hypocrite. It’s unavoidable, really. That is the nature of the world. I am not proud of it, nor do I excuse it. The best that my own understanding and effort can come up with is far short of the perfection required to be justified before God (Ro. 3:23). And this is the point of Christmas.
So there is a real distance between the Biblical vision of the Christian Church and how our society experiences Christianity. The negative image many have of Christians is well-deserved, even if it is incomplete and misleading. It doesn’t help to indignantly deny that the picture is true. What is needed is a more compelling message.
I started out this little reflection by observing that I feel fortunate to have so many friends who do not profess to be Christians. I didn’t mean that because I don’t like Christians because I do, by and large, like most people, even Christians! But I’m happy to have so many non-Christian friends because it gives me the opportunity to proclaim Jesus to them, not by preaching at them and condemning them to hell, but by living with them and allowing them to see Jesus in real life. Jesus himself calls those who are his, and he is irresistible. (John 10:14-16).
Now that may seem a bold statement and it is and yet it is the promise of the gospel. If I am a follower of Jesus, I have been given a new life in Jesus. As time passes, often in spite of my own will and wishes, the Spirit works in me to form a new person in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20 ESV). I am not required to be righteous to be justified, I am justified and so I am commanded to be Jesus. This does not mean that I cease to be human nor that I suddenly cease to sin (or start walking on water and producing wine out of tapwater). Paul declared himself to be the chief of sinners (1 Tim. 1:15), and this is not just false humility. And we are advised that he continued to struggle with sin (2 Cor. 12:7-10), and yet who has been a greater evangelist than Paul?
How am I, a disciple of Jesus, called to make disciples? In the same way that Jesus did: through self-sacrificing love. As Jesus did, I must be willing to give up myself for the benefit of others. Jesus tells us, "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35 ESV). The birth of Christ binds his followers to love as Jesus loves. Christians are called to live in the world, as Jesus did, and to love, as Jesus did, and we are promised that Jesus himself will build his church (Mt. 16:18).
Mother Teresa, highly revered by many both Christian and non-Christian, committed her life to working among the poorest of the poor in India. Many of the people she ministered to were not Christians; they were Hindus or Muslims. But she gave everything she had to their care, regardless, because she said she recognized Jesus in them all – in his most distressing disguise. She once remarked,
How you live your life is proof that you are or not fully His. We cannot condemn or judge or pass words that will hurt people. We don't know in what way God is appearing to that soul and what God is drawing that soul to; therefore, who are we to condemn anybody?
To me this says that I am to love everyone, not just those close to me but those who annoy me and those whose lives I disapprove of and even those who hate me (Mt. 5:44) as Jesus loves. The life of Mother Teresa provides a wonderful example. It is not my task to determine your relationship with God; it is my task to be Jesus to you, no matter what.
So Christmas presents to us the dawning of the glorious good news, but it ought also to bring us to sober reflection on the burden receiving that good news places upon us. It is a burden impossible to bear in humanity. Jesus is born the lowest of the low, the weakest of the weak. Jesus is born in a barn. His gospel is pronounced first to outcasts: to the shepherds, and to me (Luke 2:8-10). “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” (Is. 9:2 ESV). May I, waiting in darkness like the shepherds, greet the light with joy, and proclaim it by self-sacrificing love to all of my brothers and sisters in this broken world. Amen.
Merry Christmas to all. Peace on earth.
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Grace and Peace.
Rock Presbyterian Church 6910B Miramar Rd. Second Floor, San Diego 92121. Email: rockpresbyterian@gmail.com. Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/SDRockPresbyterianChurch. Telephone: 760-271-7285
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