Christianity Unfurled
When you say the word Christianity in a conversation, instantly you will get a response.
What that response is may differ from situation to situation, but you will almost always get one. Jesus said that we as the servant cannot expect to be treated better than the Master. If this is the case, then we need to re-examine the term Christian. The first church began to be called Christians as a curse; they, of course, embraced the curse and relished the idea that the world labeled them a follower of Christ and hated them for it. Paul throughout all his epistles tries to get his readers to understand that persecutions is the norm not the exception. Why would I bring this up in the beginning of the blog? I think that the essence of Christianity is found in our weakness, brokenness, and willingness to love.
“And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
A few years ago, I admitted that I was a sinner from the pulpit, (pause for collective gasp) and after the sermon an older member of the church came to me and pulled me aside. He said to me, “Pastor, you cannot say such things about yourself.” I had always thought that honesty was a foundational precept in Christianity. I learned that day that only the appearance of honesty is really accepted.
I long for the day when true Christianity reigns supreme again in our churches, families and personal lives. I look for the opportunity to be real with My Lord and my friends. I think one of the reasons that we are so hesitant to embrace true Christianity is that there is a cost that we are unwilling to pay. To love the unlovable is to take the chance that some of their taint might rub off on us. Many of us live the lives of half breeds. We embrace the parts of Christianity that we understand and are able to follow. The rest we leave in a back closet and only address it every once and a while, and only in the theoretical sense. If we do this, then we are not really embracing Christ, and we cannot fully call ourselves Christians. John Piper in his book “Don’t Waste Your Life”, lamented this idea of empty Christianity; he said that if you take Christ out of Christianity, you become either a Lecher or a Legalist. For me, either prospect is unacceptable.
I feel that what the church needs today is to move back to the mind and heart of Christ; to take His banner and carry it forth proudly and not worry about our own power, prestige, or personal achievement.
Many years ago I watched a movie with Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick. The name of the film was Glory, and it was about a company of Union soldiers recruited entirely from freed slaves. The movie is amazing on many fronts, but the part that still grips me when I watch it today is the end. Matthew Broderick’s character volunteers to lead his troop of ex-slaves in the first charge, a true suicide mission. There was a lot of discussion about the flag and who would be allowed to carry it up the hill. You would think that no one would want to carry it because it was an instant target, but that was not the case. As one would fall another would pick up the flag and boldly carry it forward. I feel that is how we should be with Christianity. We should leap at the opportunity to carry the banner of Christ forward and let it wave fully extended on the pole so all can see it. Our natural tendency to hide our flaws is seen by many as snobbish or elitism. What the world does not see is the invisible pressure they place on the Christian world to conform to an ideal of perfectionism. We are the representatives of Christ on earth; we can not be perfect as He was, but we can love as He loved. We can forgive as He forgave; we can show compassion as He did. We can take the Banner of the Cross out of our closets and unfurl it and carry it before us like it should be.
True Christianity is impossible to defeat, keep suppressed, or silence. True Christianity is spoken all the more loudly in our actions, words and even at times our silence. The war that we wage is not with this world but with the god of this world. By keeping the banner out in front of us, we are making targets of ourselves; but we are also rallying our forces and striking fear in the hearts of those that are against us. Battle on my friends!!!