An Open Letter To The Easily Offended

I would not create Christianity. If given the task of formulating a religion or belief system for the world, the primary characteristics of Christendom wouldn't show up on my radar. It is so contrary to all of my base instincts and desires.

If I were to create religion, it probably wouldn't be too far off from something like Islam. Let me be clear. I am not at all saying that I prefer Islam to Christianity. I am saying that the Islamic style of religion makes sense to our minds. Islam is a religion of action. It's a religion where the followers simply counteract evil with good deeds. Now that's a good idea. Every time I do something bad, I should just do something good. Even better, maybe I'll do three good things, just for insurance. Apparently, that makes so much sense to us Christians, that we usually try to remake our religion into a more Islamic logic every single day.

There are plenty of churches and people that would call themselves "Christian" that unabashedly preach this sort of religion. They may throw in a bit of lip service about grace and mercy, but what they're really preaching is "don't drink, don't smoke, don't have sex," as the path to paradise. That makes sense to our minds. If we do not consciously fight against it every day, we will become cold, dead legalists. Our Christianity will be no good for the world, because it will be no different than Islam or any other religion.

The gospel offends me. The good news that Jesus Christ is God's provision for my sin is not very difficult to comprehend, but it is difficult to accept. Why? Because I'm just not that bad. That's what we want to believe. And if we are skilled enough at lying to ourselves, we can believe it for a long time. By some incredible act of grace, God wacks us over the head and allows us to see our own hearts sometimes. Maybe your moment of sobriety happens at work, when you lash out at a subordinate or coworker for no good reason. Maybe you catch yourself subconsciously transitioning in conversation from a friend's clothing style to her value. Maybe you see your own lust, ambition, or vanity for just a moment and it makes you want to throw up. Thank God that you have. If not, pray to God that you will.

If you don't see it yet, spend a little time reading the Bible as you pray to understand what I am saying. Read about God's creation, read about his law, read about his majesty. Read that you are spiritually dead and unable to see these realities unless God shows you, and ask. Ask him until he shows you. You will not understand Christianity until you understand that God is holy and completely set apart from us. That is the only way you can then see that our sin is just too great to be outweighed by a couple trips to the local soup kitchen. It encompasses our being.

And know that you are not alone. You are not alone in being offended by this truth. Everything in me wants to declare that I am good enough, I am sufficient to meet my own needs. My nature is to cast aside the religion of God and work for it. I believe it to be nobler, stronger, smarter. Don't worry, you don't have to create that religion if you want it. It's available in churches, mosques and synagogues and even in the corners of our own hearts. They'll tell you to be good, be moral. And that will appear to do the trick. You'll feel better about yourself and your life. You'll look good to everyone else. But the incredible debt of sin in your life will not be swept away. And your dead spiritual heart will not be revived. You can decorate a tomb like a living room if you want to, but that doesn't make the contents of that tomb any less dead.

People of God, do good because he loves you, not in order for him to love you. You can not earn what has already been given. The garbage heap of sin that looks bigger everyday has been incinerated by Christ alone. Look again and again to your savior and to His word as your sufficiency. Offend each other on a regular basis. Remind each other (and me) that we do not earn salvation, nor God's favor. Don't let each other (or me) off the hook with our moralistic, legalistic talk. Point each other to the greatest offense we have ever known, the love of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Only in confrontation with this Cross will we ever hope to see what real religion should be. . .

a little bit of suburbia never hurt anyone, it just may kill them

The antithesis between the Christian life and the life of the bourgeois respectability is at an end. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I am making my way through one of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's books - The Cost of Discipleship. The above quote captures the essence of the book - and while the book overall meets some criticism, it has redeeming elements thus far. This quote being one of them.

Basically he is saying that the Christian settles for status quo. It was assumed that the bourgeois lifestyle and the Christian lifestyle were mutually exclusive at one time - however as the perceived populous, we have grown comfortable and contrite in things other than God. I am apart of this populous granted, often settling for the same sum because i continue to do my math with the same formula.

In my d|group we had a discussion about being radical - it boiled down to being a completely intrinsic notion. Not being able to be captured by film, rather by one's conversation into the night while they lay on their bed. This does not make the equation easy, for it now demands the individual to seek out the things of God not based on "passer bye's" perceptions. When holiness conforms to those around, it is completely predictable and could lead you to do "great things" - it's easy, however the burden is heavy and you carry it on your own.

Radical could thus mean; staying home on a Friday, not cussing at the person who cut you off on 285, telling your father about Jesus, or simply watching what you eat. Chances are radical things start in your closet, by living a quite radical life. It's not as fancy and loud as we think, rather it's done first at the dinner table before it's found on a stage somewhere in Uganda or even at your local church.

This is not an excuse to not do grand things (yes it's true, a double negative), but a reason to take personal holiness seriously - when no one is watching and no one is applauding.

Is the Gospel of Jesus really for YOU?

Just a reminder to all of us.. it keeps the tune of "Amazing Grace" on the tip of my tongue.
Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ for you?
Read and See.

Who is the good news of the gospel for?

The good news of the gospel is not for the super-spiritual.
It is not for academicians who would imprison Jesus in the ivory tower of hyper-exegesis.
It is not for noisy, feel-good folks who manipulate Christianity into a naked appeal to emotion.
It is not for hooded mystics who want magic in their religion.
It is not for Alleluia Christians who live only on the mountaintop and have never visited the valley of desloation.
It is not for the fearless or tearless.
It is not for red-hot zealots who boast with the righ young home-owner of the gospels: "All these commandments I have kept from my youth."
It is not for the complacent, hoisting over their shoulder a tote-bag of honors, diplomas, and good works actually believing they have it made.
It is not for legalists who would rather surrender control of their souls to rules than run the risk of living in union with Jesus.

Who is the good news of the gospel for?
It is for the sorely who are still shifting the heavy suitcase from one hand to the other.
It is for those in survival mode.
It is for the wobbly and weak-kneed to know they don't have it all together.
It is for inconsistent, unsteady disciples whose cheese is falling off their cracker.
It is for poor, weak, sinful men and women with hereditary faults and limited talents.
It is for earthen vessels who shuffle along on feet of clay.
It is for the bent and the bruised who feel that their lives are a great disappointment to God.
It is for smart people who know they are stupid and honest disciples who admit they are scoundrels.
It is for spiritual whores.
It is for people like us if we realize that the our weakness and brokenness that we can feel are only a faint scent of the nauseating offense of our sin to God.
(adapted from Brennan Manning's "The Ragamuffin Gospel")
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled."Jesus Christ c.31 A.D.