…So what if they don’t think being a Christian requires the complete package, the total set of beliefs? Meet them where they’re at on their journey. At least they think Jesus was a cool guy and he taught about love. We can all agree on that!
Isn’t that a good enough place to start?
Imposing all of our theology and all of our rhetoric on them from the get go is not exactly working. For a great example of this, check out this blog post from a couple of years ago. It is a disheartening, uncomfortable, and all too familiar story from a non-believer. If you are honest, you may see a bit of yourself in it : http://thomrainer.com/2013/06/what-do-non-christians-really-think-of-us/
If you’ve just read it…ouch, right? I think in our exuberance and excitement, we forget where we were before becoming believers. We forget how annoying someone is who is so sure of their beliefs that no one else’s matter. So confident we are right, we just must convince everyone around us of it.
So, really, the answer is in the question posed at the top of this page.
What is a Christian to Do?
Well, a follower of Jesus is to ‘Do’ christianity. Christianity is not just some nice label, some nice title we trot out when someone asks us about our faith. And it’s not simply an adjective to plant in front of your job description either, Christian musician, Christian actor, Christian parent, teacher, coach etc.
Maybe instead of a noun or an adjective, the word ‘christian’ is better thought of as a verb. Like:
‘He was in financial trouble, but his neighbors ‘christianed’ him into solvency’ and ‘The little girl was being bullied on the playground, but a classmate ‘christianed’ her aggressors and now they are all friends.’ and ‘Her husband became distant and lost interest in their marriage, but she ‘christianed’ him and now their family is stronger than ever.’
You know, like that.
So, as a verb, christian can mean – help, assist, encourage, accept, forgive, strengthen, love – how radical would it be if we could get those who have had a bad experience with someone claiming to be Christian, to actually believe that this is what true Christianity is all about?
Next time, some practical thoughts on ‘doing’ Christianity.
Please join the conversation by answering below in Comments:
If you agree that ‘being’ Christian is not enough,
What have you done, what are you doing, or what might you do?
Just think – there are thousands of people in our last couple of churches and hundreds of churches in the Detroit are. Think – if all of us Christians were behave like Jesus and love (and serve) each other, what a dent we would make in the problems of our region. Like Andy Stanley asks “what does love require of me?” I think love requires me to give back. Financially and physically. Lets do soup kitchen, community garden, park building… the list goes on. Then they will know we are Christians by how we love. And serve.