A Christian Influence

Last night was our next to last study on Philip Yancey’s book “What’s So Amazing About Grace.” He was discussing the kind of influence Christians have in the world – how it’s often more negative than positive. I have to admit, I struggle with this some, because I don’t usually think I am a very good “Christian” influence. For instance, Jane and I have recently become friends with some people (Yes, Mike, that would be you and Kim, if you’re reading – Howdy!), and I was really hesitant to tell them what I did for a living, because we enjoy their company, and I didn’t want them to feel weird around us, or to be afraid that I was going to try to “save” them. So I don’t talk much about God or faith, and I don’t really even know where they stand on such things, so sometimes I feel like I’m not a very good Christian, let alone pastor (and maybe I’m not).

But the reason I feel like this is probably largely due to being indoctrinated under the belief that Christians are to always be trying to “save people from hell.” You know, the first thing we need to do upon meeting someone new is find out if they’re a Christian or not so we can establish our agenda with them (Ugh).

My friend, Mike Clawson, shared in a comment about Leslie Newbigin’s book “The Gospel in a Pluralist Society” that Newbigin says “if it is our responsibility to save people from an eternity in hell, then that is more important than anything else in the whole world, and it justifies using whatever means possible to achieve that goal, no matter how manipulative or destructive or apathetic towards other needs in the world.” However, Newbigin (Mike C. writes) suggests that “this is not the case, that the gospel is not about us rescuing people from hell. That is God’s job, and ours, rather, is simply to advance the kingdom of justice, love, compassion, joy, etc. That realization then gives us the freedom to deal with people as people, without manipulation or coercion, and without the anxiety that if we fail that that person is necessarily lost for all eternity.” The idea is that salvation is not so much “getting people into heaven” as it is bringing the things like “justice, love, compassion, joy, etc.” into the world (‘Thy kingdom come… on earth as it is in heaven’). And the truth is, I know a lot of people who are better at doing this than many of the church people I have encountered.

Yancey even took it a step further. He said, “For people who feel obligated to clean up all the evil in the world, I have a word of encouragement: Relax. That’s not our job. Not even Jesus attempted that.” I remember cringing after the 9/11 attacks every time I heard George W. say we were going to “rid the world of evil.” Man, in order to do that we’d have to kill everybody.

Anyway, last night we discussed the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43. The servants asked if they should pull up the “evil” weeds. But the master said no, let the evil and the good grow together, and he would take care of it later. It’s not our job (and we probably don’t really know how to tell the difference).

So… what if Christianity is more about being kind, compassionate, and loving, rather than feeling the need to point out all the evils of the world or figure out who’s “in” and who’s “out”? Hmm… kinda seems to be what Jesus was all about. I pray that I might become more like that kind of person, and have that kind of influence.

Peace, friends. Yep, that’s the revolution.