I’m going to be frank. I’m so weary and tired of unnecessary offenses being laid in my faith that have nothing to do with the grace that Jesus offers. I’ve been guilty of this countless times over the years, and I know there are more to come, but, hopefully and prayerfully, unintentionally. If there is one thing that Christians have been good at over the last few decades (and I’m sure much longer) is creating barriers to Jesus. What would it look like to live in such a way that the only obstacle to Jesus is Jesus?
A few years ago, Unchristian, a book written by Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman, found that young non-Christians have deeply held negative views of Christians. For instance, among 16- to 29-year-old non-Christians, Christians were viewed as “anti-gay” (91 percent), judgmental (87 percent), hypocritical (85 percent), sheltered (78 percent) and too political (75 percent).
After seeing how many Christians talk and react in an “us versus them” mentality to culture war stories of the last couple years, such as Chick-Fil-A and Duck Dynasty, it’s not a stretch to see how these statistics got to this place. Ironic to note that Jesus was mostly known for his patience, kindness, love, grace and mercy. The only people that Jesus was “anti” anything to were the people who thought they had it all together and who knew the Scriptures the best.
Recently, I attended the National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) in Washington, D.C., which every President has attended since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is co-hosted by the House of Representatives and the Senate, and a Democrat and Republican both co-chair the event. The NPB is an opportunity to lay aside the partisan politics and social issues that divide our country and unite together under the banner of Jesus and pray for our country. And it’s a fun deal; the President’s cabinet, members of the House and Senate, heads of state, and leaders from over 140 countries attend.
With so many people coming from different backgrounds, cultures and religions, the heartbeat of NPB is to strip everything down and simply introduce people to Jesus Christ versus introducing them to Christianity, and there is a difference.
In the USA, we have constructed an intense, Christian, evangelical subculture that comes complete with common language, practices, legalisms and rules that, sadly, can often detract, confuse and hide the person of Jesus, and which are often not found in Scriptures. Over time, these cultural preferences have become mainstays in what it means to be a “Christian” in America.
This cultural Christianity many times pollutes our relationships with Jesus and our neighbors with a law-based morality approach instead of the approach of grace, love and compassion that Jesus took, and subsequently becomes a stumbling block to those wanting to know the person of Jesus.
Let me say for the record that I appreciate the NPB’s approach. I know that they take a ton of flak for whom they invite and for who speaks. But I resonate with them taking a snow plow to remove all the religious barriers and “Christian” stumbling blocks that those of us in the West have created.
The reality is that Jesus wasn’t attempting to convert people to Christianity and His religion. He simply said, “Follow me,” so that I can make all things new. He never used the word “Christian,” and this word didn’t even show up until Acts 11 at Antioch. Now my point is not to stop using the word “Christian,” which simply means “little Christ,” but to recognize that most people think of the term “Christian” in cultural terms and not in the core meaning of it, which is to follow Jesus.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: During the closing dinner of NPB, I sat at a table next to a man from Lebanon who grew up culturally Muslim. For him, growing up in a Muslim country was just the way of life and the water you swim in. It’s who you are. He had attended the NPB for the last couple of years, and as we began eating our dinner, he shared with me how apprehensive he was coming to a “Christian” event. Growing up in Lebanon, his thoughts of Christians had way more to do with political and social policies than being a follower of Christ. However, throughout the week, he saw people who loved Jesus, be about Jesus and His grace. He witnessed reconciliation between a Serbian and a Kosovan!
He said that he was blown away to hear, witness and truly learn who Jesus really is and to be around others who love like Jesus loved, and had nothing to do with the cultural “Christianity” that he thought it would be about. As I finished up my cheesecake, he said, “I just want to follow Jesus with my life and live for him.”
This nearly made me tear up, and evidence of this sentiment was all over the NPB as people from all over the country and world were introduced to the grace of Jesus.
The ethos of NPB is similar to that of the new church community that I’m helping to form in Seattle. Seattle is a city where many of its residents have a particular view about Christianity. It’s most often associated either by politics, social issues, a particular person (not Jesus) or an experience that they have had, which is generally not positive. None of which has to do with the person of Jesus and the grace that he offers. My wife, Brittany, and I have been praying about what it would look like to see barriers to Jesus snowplowed out of the way so that the only hurdle is Jesus himself, and not cultural aspects of an evangelical subculture that can wrongly dictate what it looks like to be a follower.
So then, how shall we live? How shall we talk? How do we truly become grace-givers? Is there anything in how you lead your life that just needs to get buried because it’s not helpful in showcasing the marvelous nature of Jesus?
