Another Religion

"If we were to set out to establish a religion in polar opposition to the Beatitudes Jesus taught, it would look strikingly similar to the pop Christianity that has taken over the airwaves of North America."
-Tony Campolo,from The Irresistible Revolution, p. 269

I wrote this on May 12, 2010 during a UWCRT Bomber shift while reading through The Irresistible Revolution. Here it is:

Is Christianity about gorging ourselves on Christian books, going to church on Sunday, listening to worship music, knowing all the books of the bible, or asking God to help you with your school marks or help you get a job? (I hope you realize the answer is no.) All too often we find ourselves following an idol of Jesus, not Jesus Himself. We pick the qualities that our human nature wants and we put it on a pedestal, on a totem. The other things, the "harder" things to do, we ignore and say it's not important or we don't have a passion for it. We want God on our side when we have exams, or job hunts, or things that annoy us, but we just say "I'm not made that way" when you are called to hang out with the homeless or care for our enemies.

Christianity is NOT about having all the 'Christian' books you can get your hands on, or having the latest Starfield album, or going to fellowship, or going to church, or constantly "building each other up". It's not praying for marks or getting jobs or for getting interviews. It's not sponsoring children, leading worship, opening your house, feeding people, or being on committee. Christianity is not a set of rules to follow, and it's not the freedom to do whatever you want because "God has already forgiven me." Christianity is not having good stuff happen to you and praising God, and not questioning "Where is God" when life takes an unexpected turn. Christianity is not about going to retreats, it's not about having good friends, or not doing drugs. It's not protesting against the government or voting conservative. REAL Christianity is not what it seems like today.

So then, WHAT. IS. CHRISTIANITY?
Christianity, then, is genuinely devoting your life to God. It is a desire and passion to leave all worldly things behind. It is a desire to flee from money, comfort, health, safety, sex, being popular, being successful, being powerful. It is a desire for the ONE and ONLY true God. It is to seek a life that is not your own. It is spending time with the homeless. It is spending time with the rich. It is forsaking everything physical that you can find on this planet. And Christianity is about enjoying it. To be a Christ follower means that you demonstrate love, to love thouse who are unloved, to touch the lepers, to eat with the hungry. It is to share the message of Christ and His redeeming grace, and to live it out here on earth. It is giving your coat, your other cheek, the extra mile, and seeing the image of God behind the person. It is loving those that Christ called his brothers (and sisters I suppose); the prostitutes, the lawyers, the fools, the church-goers, the drug dealers, the diseased, the homeless, the Christians, the gangsters, the frauuds, thieves, murderers, rapists, people-who-piss-you-off, politicians, sinners, drunks, everybody.

So then, what is this "Christianity" that I see today? It is not the way Jesus taught it, that's for sure. Humongous church buildings and BMW's at "church"? Strong hatred towards the gays and lesbians? Exclusive Chinese Christian circles? Why has Christianity turned from a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, to another industry, another commerce, another trade, another business? It makes me sick.

If being a Christian is about fitting in, or filling myself up with books to regurgitate with others, or being a good kid, I'm done. If Christianity merely offers life after death, or if it means living a comfortably safe life, or following a set of rules, it's over.

I want to live a Christian life that brings the Kingdom of Heaven to earth NOW. I want to live a Christian life that loves all people, regardless of where they'll end up (ie. heaven or hell. that's about all the options there are). i want to live a Christian life that is not my life, but a life that God can fully use for His glory. I want to live a Christian life that is not confined by what the "church" tells me, but one that listens to every whisper from God. A life of love, of grace, of mercy, and of Christ.