Christian Ignorance

So, i was having a conversation on facebook this evening about God, theology, philosophy...you know, all the fun stuff. Towards the end of it I realized what I was really up against: Christian Ignorance. No, the people I was talking to weren't ignorant. But, I think they may have thought that I was. Not because of anything I said. Simply because I am a follower of Christ. Which made me think...what the heck is wrong with us?

I think that most Christians today are viewed as shallow, ignorant, stubborn. Honestly? I agree with the view. Two things should jump out of that list: ignorant and stubborn. We are very certain today about the very little that we know and will argue to the death thinking that we are somehow furthering the cause of Christ. I can't be certain, but sometimes I think that biblical illiteracy is higher now than it was in the dark ages before the reformation. When did blind faith become such a highly regarded token of Christendom? I think the church fathers and reformers would shudder at the vast amount of knowledge that is available to American Christians and the small amount of Bible and Theology that the average Christian knows. 

In a desperate attempt to 'win as many souls for Christ' as we could, we watered down the Gospel to a point where it consists of a simple prayer and trusting in Jesus. What about repentance? What about surrender? This goes from children's ministry to Sr. ministry to worship services. We are afraid to offend people and we are afraid to turn people away. The amazing thing about the gospel and the cross is that it is both beautiful and offensive. And it MUST be both. Have we forgotten Luke 18 and the rich young ruler? Jesus cared enough about the man to tell him the Truth and not alter the truth to 'win him to the kingdom'. Imagine the good that an energetic, rich, religious ruler could have done for Jesus' cause! We often think in similar terms. May we speak the Truth as Jesus has, not to turn people away but to show them true love. 

So, what do we do? I think we have to make Christianity hard again. And by hard I mean Biblical. Jesus has some very bold commands about being a Christian and being a disciple. We have regarded these as optional. What happened to, "Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow me."? I think that we must challenge people with these hard truths about surrender and repentance. I think that people are looking to be pushed for something deeper. I know that our youth culture is. Won't we lose and offend people? Yep. Jesus did.

-shane