Elitist Christianity

I am quite tired of the elitist "Christians" who claim to have the corner on truth. We all know who I am talking about. These are the Christian's who accuse every one else of not having it right. Everyone but THEY are compromising.

What leads to this elitist Christianity you might ask? This attitude comes from having the need to have everything figured out. Somehow having everything figured out leads to a sense of security. I dare say that it is a feigned sense of security yet they offer it to others titled with the word "Gospel." While this isn't necessarily a false Gospel, what happens after salvation is what makes them elitist.

After salvation these elitist Christians come up with lists of do's and don'ts and then gauge other peoples relationship with God based on their own personal standards that have been elevated to an unGodly position. For some reason they think that their personal standards gain favor with God, and encourage others to participate with them by guilting people into a false sense of security.

Why would people join up with these elitists? Two things; Power and a need for security. These folks fall in two categories. I've talked about this in a previous post but it is well worth rehashing it here. Power drives people to do radical(bad radical) things in the name of Christianity. These people in their leadership positions, rule with an iron fist, claiming Scripture is backing their perspective. Scripture does support their perspectives, as long as you don't read the context of the passages they quote.

The second reason is a need for security. They get this list of do's and don'ts, and they gauge their spirituality based on their emotional response to this list. For example, if you do not like this list of rules, you are rebellious. If you do the rules but don't let on that you don't like them, you are a hypocrite. If you do them and have a good heart while you do them, your heart is right with God.

When I hear this diatribe, my head just want to explode! at there is no DO and DON'T do list in scripture. Paul actually addresses this faulty idea (don't worry; I did check the context) in Colossians. Verse 23 is SO important I have to share it here. It says, "²³ Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence."

Rules do NOT keep us from sinning. We always emphasize that when there is a will there is a way. Regardless of there being rules and appearing all perfect and "avoiding all appearance of evil"(totally just miscontexted that one) you can't set up rules that prevent others from sinning. Let alone that you can't raise these requirements up to the level of scripture as we talked about in another blog post.

The irony is that they believe they they are correct in all of their applications of these requirements. What really matters is the heart. Lets focus on allowing God to work on hearts rather than us trying to sculpt the outside. If all we do is mould people the way we envision God to want them, all we have done is created people who appear the way the god we have created in our mind wants them.

I read on another blog this week a phrase a church posted on their marquis. It said, "How many people have you led to Christ?" The obvious goal of the sign is to ultimately guilt people into witnessing. Good goal, bad method, but that's not the point. "How many people have you led to Christ?" None. I have led no one to Christ. The Holy Spirit through the work has wrought in my life has in turn shown people the light of Christ. I didn't do anything. When I bring people to Christ, I am bringing them to a god that I have developed in my own mind, and have explained to them not the true God only the Holy Spirit can bring them to.

When we allow our standards(hems down to the ankles, no "rock" beat) and our goals(bring 50 people to Christ this year) to cloud the true God, we are doing the world a disservice. We have ruined Christianity.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know it all. I know so little in the big scheme of things, but my desire is to allow the Spirit to move me into better service for the God of this universe. If that means the Holy Spirit will lead me to talk to 50 people about the Gospel this year sobeit. If that means that God will convince me of sin in my life that needs to be corrected, I humbly will bow and correct my ways.

I know right now as I sit here in front of this computer monitor, I am not a compromised Christian. Yes I have varied my ways and my standard systems since growing up and attending BJU, but I am completely and unequivocally sold out to Christ. That will never change. What will change are things that the Holy Spirit wants me to change to better serve the One and Only True God. I am uncompromised in my faith, and I am uncompromised in my belief that Elitist Christian's are more of a hindrance than a help.

 Jesus himself said in Matthew that his "yoke is easy" and his "burden is light." This can't happen if guilt and rules take the place of true grace. Scripture also says that there is no condemnation for those of us who have accepted Christ.

It is not up to us to judge other Christians based on their apparent spirituality. I for one never judge someone for an ambiguous rule in scripture. I've said it before in another post, that Peter determined that there were two rules that the gentile believers had to follow to show their salvation. Do not practice idolatry and do not participate in sexual immorality. If a particular "sin" does not fall in these categories, I will not judge. I cannot judge based on what Peter said.

We have to remember that after salvation all of us have been given the Holy Spirit after salvation to guide us and direct us. The irony is how many of us want to be the Holy Spirit for other people. If we truly want to make a difference for Christ, we must follow what scripture says rather than putting our own twists on it. We must share the gospel, without adding to it. We must remember grace. Only then is it possible to live the Radical Life!

This is How It Feels to be Free

On my mind the past few weeks has been the topic of Christian liberty. I am not just talking about the "true freedom we have found in Christ" but also the ability to analyze scripture and apply it to my own life as the Spirit directs.

My intent of this note, is not to give a list or a lengthy diatribe of what is ok and what is not.

Scripture tells us clearly that after we accept Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us encouraging us unto righteousness. How does this come into play in regards to Christian liberty?

The spirit works within us in order to refine us into more Christ like beings. As we progress through life, studying scripture and listening to the Spirits prompting, we realize that some things we are doing are wrong. Sometimes the Spirit prompts us that something is NOT wrong that we once considered wrong.

What should our response be to people who have differences from our "standards."

One word: Grace.

Not everyone will agree completely with us but we won't ever completely agree with everyone either, however, we must be gracious. Without getting into much detail in this note, (you can find details in A PersonalExodus and other posts), the way I was raised and brought up, was much more conservative religiously than I am now. The ultimate question though is how to respond to people who take that more conservative stance.

There are two types of people who take more conservative stances than I do. The first are those who believe that what they believe has a scriptural backing and there is no wiggle room.

The second are those who hold conservative standards that they believe have Biblical basis but realize that Scripture can be interpreted different ways.

Certain things are non-negotiable, like the doctrines of the creation of the universe by God, the virgin birth, and the perfection of a Holy God, but when it comes to things like Christian living, other than pursuing the Holiness of God, there is leeway.

With the first group of people, we can only pray that God would soften hardened hearts. This first group is the group who refuses to associate with anyone who is different than they are standard wise. Typically this group places standards on the same level as doctrine, and unfortunately often links standards with your status with God.

The second group is a wonderful group. I find much in common with these people because I was one of them.  These folks realize that is scripture does not clearly specify something, there is flexibility.

This group is a group that I believe have truly found freedom in Christ. They have realized that there is no set list of rules and regulations, but rather the leading of the Spirit influencing us unto righteousness. Is there anything wrong in holding a stricter standard than is biblically necessary? Not one bit. It all comes down to different standards. Perhaps being so different will actually encourage more people to come to Christ.

My only caution is to never elevate a personal conviction to the status of scripture. If we are truly free in Christ, we have also been freed from man's debauchery of scripture.  

As big as being free from the bondage of sin is, finding true freedom in Christ includes more than just that. It includes being free from any type of religious influence, denominational bias, and fanatical religious leaders. True freedom in Christ only achieved by being completely sold out to God and being totally dedicated to the study of Scripture.  Only those who have found true freedom in Christ can truly live the Radical Life.