"Never judge a philosophy by its abuse." ~ Augustine (N. African theologian and philosopher)
Suppose someone were to steal your jacket, put it on, break into a bank and rob it. Just imagine a situation where your coat -- your most recognized; the one you are known throughout the community to wear -- was stolen and then worn by someone who then proceeded to rob a bank. Now, suppose further that the police sighted this person from a distance running away but could not catch up with them to apprehend them. One clue, however, put the cops working the case on your track: THEY RECOGNIZED YOUR JACKET. Now, going on further with this scenario, imagine the police coming to you and accusing you of robbing the bank. What would you say to them if they came to you with those bank robbing accusations? You would probably deny it, right? As you should!
“Ah, but we saw YOUR jacket, sir or madam” they would say. Your response might then be, “I get that you saw someone wearing my coat but IT WASN’T ME!”
Ok, how bout this. Suppose you were to say to me, “Warner, look at the president of such and such a country” -- the president of The Democratic (fill-in-the-blank) -- and then you were to say, "Look at how he's a tyrant! Look at how he oppresses the people! See, this proves that democracy is a bad thing. I think it's evil and I reject it!" I would probably say to you, "Okay, but...that's NOT TRUE REPRESENTATION OF A DEMOCRACY."
Similarly, someone could say, "Well, what about all the rotten; tyrannous things done in the name of Christianity? The oppression? The wars? The racism and imperialism? Etc?" A simple response would similarly be, "Well, they're NOT TRUE REPRESENTATION OF A CHRISTIAN." It's the common-est of common sense to posit that just because you do something in the name of something doesn't mean that it is. I mean, that’s a simple, sensible, reasonable logic. IF Jesus' truth claims about Himself are true...then they are true even when falsely represented.
I wasn't - as they say - “raised in the church”. Whilst it’s true that I definitely knew “church people”....within my family and at school AND was brought to church, primarily by my grandmother when I stayed with her, I didn't “grow up in the church". However, I DID know Jesus BEFORE I knew “the church”. What I mean is that I had a working, albeit elementary, understanding of who Jesus Christ was BEFORE I was a member of any local church fellowship. One of the best things my mother said she ever did for me was to allow me to be in my grandmother's care when I was a kid and periodically throughout my childhood. It was my grandmother who introduced me to the Person of Jesus - teaching me about and pointing me toward Him by simply yet actively living out her faith. She introduced me to Christ and gave me an understanding - as much as a child could comprehend - of who Jesus was and is and how what He did on the cross directly affected me. She never TOLD me WHAT to believe but she SHOWED me WHY she believed it. She did this by her open yet concentrated and cultivated study of the Bible AND her daily application or living out of what she learned. I didn't know it then nor could I've appreciated it at the time, but she proved the integrity and validity of her belief by how she lived and how she loved. It wasn’t perfect application in that she was no perfect person. She was as flawed a person as any human being is. However, her application was consistent, deliberate, purposed and filled with reverent love toward her God and towards me. She gave me JESUS...not church or "church culture" or church etiquette. Not moralism or religion. Not "my ‘passa’ says...", etc. She gave me JESUS. She gave me the Messiah. And although I may not have acknowledged Christ as Lord right away and may have intently rejected the message of the gospel for a time...inevitably going and doing my own thing for many years - well into adulthood - when I finally did come to experience and enjoy a relationship with God through Christ, I not only had a sketch as to what an active, true faith in Jesus Christ might look like...but I also knew to come to and trust in JESUS and Jesus, alone. My FAITH was never in church (with its failures). My FAITH was never in Christians (and their failures). My FAITH was never in pastor (and their failures). My FAITH was not in religion, dogma or in morality (and their limits & failures). My FAITH was ALWAYS and exclusively in JESUS.
There are many who would say that they’ve "grown up in the church" only to ultimately disassociate themselves from “the church”. Inevitably that disassociation would often lead to a rejection of the truth and saving faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. They would suggest that because they were “raised in the church” -- meaning attending a single church or many churches for much of their lives -- that they’ve seen enough and therefore know enough to have sufficient evidence to reasonably reject the Christian faith; a faith that they’d formally professed to have had. I know of many who share this feeling and my heart genuinely aches for them. They include those with whom I love, deeply and respect, profoundly. Reasons are as diverse as they themselves are as to what brought them to the view that they presently have toward Christianity. For a majority, however, at the core, the consistent wrong; the fault, the betrayal, the violation, the offense (or several offenses, for that matter and many times legitimate) were committed in some way by a member or members or even leader of a local church fellowship. (I purposely emphasize and make the distinction between “the local church” - little ‘c’” and the Church universal - big 'C'. The former - little 'c’ - is lead by men [humans] consisting mainly of local membership whilst the other is initiated by God through Christ Jesus with universal/global membership [Matt. 16:18]).
While I’d never diminish the often very legitimate offenses and wrongs committed by imperfect men or women in the name of Christianity who should have absolutely known and done better, I also don't find it a coincidence that a number of those who were offended and ultimately left were introduced to Christianity through the prism of a local church....AND NOT THROUGH THE PERSON OF JESUS. There IS a difference. A huge chasm of difference, in fact. Let me attempt to explain. You see...there are many good and valid reasons why children (and adults) may doubt their parents, their church fellowship, Christian culture, and their own understanding. However, it is harder to doubt the consistency, integrity, profound goodness, moral perfection and spotless life of the Palestinian Jew; the Messiah and Savior of the world - Y’shua (Jesus) of Nazareth. His life and earthly ministry were as incredibly unique as it was/is dependable. Eighteenth century historian and essayist W.E.H. Lecky once was quoted as saying regarding Jesus’ ministry,
“The simple record of three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and to soften mankind, than all the disquisitions of philosophers and than all the exhortations of moralists.”
You see, Christianity was never intended to be a collection of religious dogma as so much as it was a redemptive relationship back to God via His Mediator: Christ Jesus. Unfortunately however, many who have formerly professed to be Christian weren't primarily taught that and instead were instructed predominantly in morality, church etiquette, “performance” and traditions. They were taught and therefore understood Christianity -- along with every other religion -- to be, essentially, a chasing after good morality and good habits and right-thinking and being “good people” as opposed to what Jesus taught which was a changed and yielded heart to/for God and a reconciled, intimate relationship back with the Creator of the Universe. They learned how to “do church” as opposed to gaining a true knowledge and understanding of the redemptive message of the Gospel (or, good news) of Jesus Christ and its relationship to them and to God. Sadly, they knew “the church” more than they knew Jesus. They errantly, perhaps unknowingly, mistook church membership, activity, attendance, participation and even positions of leadership as a knowledge of and relationship with the Person of Jesus Christ. They grossly mistook religion for relationship whereas practicing their Christianity was for them the equivalent to having a relationship with the Living God. Again, there is a large chasm of difference.
So as a result of equating “the church” with Christianity, when "the church" or someone within and thereby representing the church would INEVITABLY hurt, wrong or betray them, it was as though Christianity itself hurt, wronged or betrayed them.
A quote that's often attributed to Mahatma Gandhi says,
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
The story behind that quote goes that while Gandhi was in the beginning stages of practicing Hinduism, Christianity very much intrigued him. In his reading of the Gospels, Gandhi was impressed by Jesus whom Christians worshipped and followed. He wanted to know more about this Jesus that Christians referred to as “the Christ, the Messiah.”
One Sunday morning Gandhi decided that he would visit one of the Christian churches in Calcutta. Upon seeking entrance to the church sanctuary, he was stopped at the door by the ushers. He was told he was not welcome, nor would he be permitted to attend this particular church as it was for high-caste Indians and whites only. He was neither high caste, nor was he white. Because of the rejection, Gandhi turned his back on Christianity. He rejected the Christian faith, never again to consider the claims of Christ. He was turned off by the sin of segregation that was practiced by members of the church. It was due to this experience that Gandhi later declared, “I’d be a Christian if it were not for the Christians.”
Oh, if only someone might have kindly responded in love to Gandhi by saying,
"If you like our Christ but not our Christians, then FOLLOW OUR CHRIST AND NOT OUR CHRISTIANS."
Regrettably, much like with Gandhi, it is those brothers and sisters who have been hurt, rejected, betrayed, etc by “church members” who are amongst the most challenging to dissuade because many times their minds have already been made up. They believe that they already know what they need to know about Christianity, Jesus, etc. based off their (negative) experience with church members, churches, or church workers (leaders). And sadly, any attempt by a “church person” to potentially convince them otherwise falls on deaf ears. It is regarded as nothing more than regurgitated nonsense coming from the mouth of someone who really doesn’t know. As the writer of Proverbs accurately states:
“An offended brother is harder to reach (win back) than a fortified city and their contentions (arguments, enmities, beefs) are like the bars of a castle.” ~ Proverbs 18:19
I engage this topic with a certain passion and familiarity because I once shared a similar view. Whilst I - as I mentioned - didn’t necessarily “grow up in the church”, I DID grow up around “church people” and professing Christians that may not have always most accurately reflected the historical and biblical Christ. I mean...who REALLY does, anyway? While for me, there were certainly those exceptions -- the biggest being my grandmother -- those exceptions were comparatively few. By God’s gracious hand, however, He eventually -- despite all of my hurt, offense, betrayal AND pre/misconceptions -- allowed for me see Jesus the Messiah for who He truly was and is. Through my bitterness and bias, He made it so that I could eventually distinguish Christ from His church; separate Jesus from who flawed men and women misrepresented Him to be. You see...church didn't save me. The pastor and other church leaders didn't save me. Christians didn't save me. The Bible didn't even save me. Jesus and JESUS, ALONE SAVED ME.
We need look no further for an accurate portrayal of what God’s Church (His “ekklesia” or “called out ones” -- “kuriakos” or “belonging to the Lord”) is supposed to reflect than to look at the life (and death) of Jesus Christ. He is THE model and guidepost as to what this thing is supposed to look like; what He desires of His people; His followers...His Christ followers. Jesus shows us what Christianity is and what it always was intended to be: Christlikeness.
"Don't judge the legitimacy of Jesus by Christians. Rather judge the legitimacy of Christians by Jesus." ~ Sam Allberry
"Let's be clear, Jesus ain't the hypocrite...I am. Don't let my imperfections keep you from having a relationship with the One Who is perfect. "I claim we have a perfect God, NOT a perfect family." ~ Sho Baraka
