{"id":370,"date":"2013-06-13T01:29:17","date_gmt":"2013-06-13T01:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/yourbestlifenow\/?p=370"},"modified":"2015-11-30T16:55:42","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T21:55:42","slug":"6-questions-christians-should-just-start-asking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourbestlifenow\/2013\/06\/6-questions-christians-should-just-start-asking.html","title":{"rendered":"6 Questions Christians Should Just Start Asking…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the article I wrote a few weeks ago was released,\u00a0\u201c6 Things Christians Should Just Stop Saying,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0I have received a myriad of emails and comments. Most have appreciated my awkward attempts to share my feelings and concerns about the state of Christianity today. Others, however, were not so appreciative. In fact, some were quite offended.<\/p>\n

I meant no offense with the former article.<\/p>\n

I mean no offense with this one.<\/p>\n

I do feel, however, it is way past time for the Church to let go of its own collective ego and get real with life and faith and the big issues of our time.\u00a0The Church is largely dying. This is true in many places. And even if you disagree with my assertion<\/a>, I think you would agree the Church is declining, as well as going through dramatic changes, good and bad, and whatever emerges on the other side will likely be dramatically different from the Church we know today.<\/p>\n

When I assert, however, that the Church is dying, I do not mean to convey the notion that the Church will disappear.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, however, the madness in the Church is escalating, as seen in\u00a0the most remarks, for example, by Rev. David Barton in a recently recorded Sunday morning service<\/a>. Barton, the evangelical preacher, said something to the effect, \u201cYou can\u2019t be Christian and drink Starbucks Coffee because Starbucks supports gay marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first, I thought, \u201cYou\u2019re kidding, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Then, I thought, \u201cYou didn\u2019t just say what I heard you say?\u201d<\/p>\n

He did.<\/p>\n

Then, I thought, \u201cYou mean I can\u2019t be a Christian and have a Bud Light occasionally or shop at Target (my wife\u2019s favorite store) or J. C. Penny\u2019s or \u2026 What\u2019s this? \u2026 Not at Amazon either?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, you mean I\u2019ve gotta give up my Levi jeans? Is that what you really just said? Expedia, too?\u00a0Because last I checked, they ALL support gay marriage.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

You can see perhaps why I have now six questions Christians should just start asking.<\/p>\n

1. Why would it surprise any Christian that the Church has squandered its prophetic voice when buying a cup of coffee from a company that supports gay marriage is now the criteria by which we are to judge the genuineness of one\u2019s faith?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, really! Is this what it comes down to now?<\/p>\n

I have more questions\u2026<\/p>\n

2. Why are there more atheists in cultures and countries where Christianity is the predominant religion? Has something gone terribly wrong with Christianity?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say, \u201cNo. There\u2019s nothing \u2018wrong\u2019 with Christianity. But yes, something seems to have gone terribly wrong within the many denominational expressions of Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

3. Why are the numbers of those leaving organized religion in Christianity outpacing the number of those uniting with the Christian religion here in America by almost two to one?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And, why do most Christian leaders, when asked how to explain this anomaly, almost always suggest there is something wrong with those leaving instead of asking, \u201cIs there something wrong with us who are staying?\u201d<\/p>\n

4. How can our new Pope Francis \u2014 the venerable pope himself \u2014 say that in the end everyone will be \u201csaved\u201d only to have\u00a0the Vatican\u2019s \u201cDamage Control Department\u201d<\/a>\u00a0quickly explain that the pope did not really mean what he said?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Really?<\/p>\n

You think that correcting the pope\u2019s theology increases the credibility of your own?<\/p>\n

Oh, come on. You\u2019re not that stupid, are you? And if you are, why would you be surprised \u2014 for that matter, why would any church be surprised \u2014 when the world takes what it says these days with about as much seriousness as it does the entertainer Rush Limbaugh?<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a comedy show. The Church is becoming so.<\/p>\n

5. Why do Christians who say they they take the Bible literally insist that Jesus was saying in John 14:6 that he was literally the only way to God, but then overlook applying the same literalist logic to John 10:16 where Jesus says, \u201cI have sheep that are not of this fold\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Using the Bible as a proof text to support your theological biases is just that: \u201cusing\u201d the Bible. It leads to all sorts of abuse and misuse of what should be regarded, but not worshipped, as a sacred guide pointing beyond itself to God herself. Yes, \u201cher-self.\u201d See what I mean? When you bring to the Bible your assumptions and biases, you interpret the Bible through your own lenses, instead of the other way around. This\u00a0IS\u00a0<\/em>the history of Christianity and why there are something like 30,000 different Christian denominations in America alone. Has it ever occurred to you what distinguishes each of these denominations, one from the other?<\/p>\n

Each one believes it is just a little more \u201cright\u201d than the 29,999 others.<\/p>\n

And then, there is question No. 6. Admittedly, there are a dozen other equally good questions I could have noted here. You might have a few of your own you would add in the \u201cComment\u201d section. Maybe some Christian leader somewhere is paying attention, instead of always looking for a fight or pretending to believe in a Church that has clearly gone mad.<\/p>\n

Question No. 6 I\u2019ve included for those of you who too quickly assume I\u2019m some enemy of the Church. If that makes you feel better, then believe that lie. The fact is, I love the Church, with all its flaws. Hell, how could I not? I\u2019ve got plenty of flaws myself. And like the Church or not, it is in-and-through the Church that I have experienced God\u2026whoever or whatever God is.<\/p>\n

Which leads me to say, hard-nosed atheists, and there are plenty of them around, share much in common, in terms of their narrowness and arrogance, with religious fundamentalists, Christians, Muslims, etc. \u00a0Anymore, when I meet mean people, or mean people leave mean-spirited comments in posts like this, I know I\u2019m likely meeting an atheist whose arrogance has left him delusional or a fundamentalist whose angry and afraid about almost everything.<\/p>\n

6. Why do many of those who have left the Church largely because of the narrow intolerance they experienced there, frequently turn around and show the same narrow intolerance toward the Church they left?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is that fair? Or Christian? Leave the Church, if you feel you must. But let go of your resentment \u2014 your own critical spirit \u2014 because, if you don\u2019t, what good has leaving done you?<\/p>\n

Have any questions of your own? Or any answers? Share them.<\/p>\n

This is Your Best Life Now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since the article I wrote a few weeks ago was released,\u00a0\u201c6 Things Christians Should Just Stop Saying,\u201d\u00a0I have received a myriad of emails and comments. Most have appreciated my awkward attempts to share my feelings and concerns about the state of Christianity today. Others, however, were not so appreciative. 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