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How
can Christianity be a religion of love when "Christians" so
often condemn those whose lifestyle and views
differ from
their own?
Christianity
is on the record in respect to the primacy of love and
in respect to the reality of judgment. There is also plenty
of evidence in scripture and tradition of a variety of
interpretations and applications in regard to the relationship
of love and judgment and how they work together between
God and people, among Christians themselves, and between
Christians and others. Admittedly, the record is mixed,
at best.
There
are the signal, cautionary warnings that arise out of the
heart schooled in scripture. Let us judge not, lest we
ourselves be judged. Well, I happen to think we all are
judged anyway, and that it's actually a good thing. Let
any of us without sin cast the first stone. Well, I don't
know about you, but that let's me out. Let us love one
another as we love ourselves. I could use some improvement
in that department too. How about you? When Christians
get conflicted, confused, and cranky, we can always ask
what Jesus would say and do. Even though we're never up
to his example, we're all better off for having to make
the comparison and acknowledge the contrast.
It's
good news that the perennial appeal of Christianity rests
upon the example of Jesus and not upon the example of his
imperfect followers. Still, admirers of Christ and critics
of Christians have said the
Gospel would be more credible if Jesus' followers did a
better job of imitating him. Our
work is certainly cut out for us in that regard. One way
to reconsider the discrepancy is to imagine how much
worse we
all might have been without his corrective example hanging
in judgment over all our misdeeds. At the same time, the
most luminous saints are the ones capable of a more gracious
level of faith in action, practitioners being more clearly
perfected in their imitation of Christ. The more inspiring
followers stand out from the saddest aberrations of discipleship.
Jesus'
example continues to exercise its judgment, continually
exposing the intentions and motivations within people and
events, sifting spirits, sorting good from ill. The key
is his own motivation and intention, to serve God's will
by offering salvation to all. He does so in the right spirit
and for the right reason, not to condemn but to recall,
not to hurt or harm but to help and heal. That example
provides the standard against which we exercise judgment
ourselves, with humility, acknowledging ourselves to be
both sinful and sanctified, garden-variety saints seeking
to live as Christ for the world.
As
such, we seek to grow into the most faithful and life-giving
lifestyle possible by grace through faith, and we wish
the same for anyone else. Any lifestyle that is life-giving
and lived with integrity is one that must have its origin
in grace, because its is only grace which can accomplish
such new life in us. That allows for a lot of varieties
of manifestation, based on the summary of the law of grace,
loving God above all, and so loving neighbor as self.
--The
Rev. Dr. Katherine M. Lehman
Christianity
is a religion of love because Jesus reveals God to be Ultimate
Love. The spiritual journey is one of our learning to "bear
the beams of love." That process of transformation
is what we traditionally call sanctification, or growing
in holiness. We use words like "enlightened, awake,
whole, saved" to describe the same process. Our goal
is union with God, ourselves, and others -- a consciousness
that is as transparent to divine love as is humanly possible.
Each
of us is at different stages in that process. We live within
different levels of maturity.
Most
people love about as well as they can most of the time,
given their own limitations and their own level of maturity. That's why even great atrocities of prejudice can usually
be traced to some form of immature love. Nations sometimes
launch unjust wars for the sake of love of country.
When
Christians label non-Christians and even other Christians
as infidels, it is because they love the part of the truth
they have grasped but their love is still narrow and immature.
Most sin is distorted love.
Knowing
that, can't we be a bit more generous with each other?
--The
Rev. Lowell Grisham
It
is a puzzle, isn't it? This question is a first cousin
to some of my reflections on the question: "What if
I am not certain what I believe?" Certainty can lead
to arrogance. Arrogance invariably leads to condemnation.
Maybe Christianity's "religion of love" needs
less certainty and more trust. At the beginning of this
century, I think we need to bring back a book popular last
mid-century: J.B. Phillips' Your God is Too Small.
The title tells the story. Many Christians seem to have
(need?) a very small God. And with that small God they
seem bent on whipping the very world that God so loves.
The
only answer I have for this question is that we must struggle
more faithfully, we must labor with more love to hold up
a balance to what many see and experience as an oppressively
rigid Christianity. This balance of grace over guilt may
be one of the Episcopal Church's best and most enduring
gifts to the patchwork fabric of the Christian faith.
As
one of the saints of old has said, "Truth is never
truth if it is on the side of oppression." To that
I would add, Christianity
is not of Christ if it is abusive to those "whose
lifestyles and views may differ from their own."
--The
Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey
'I
might be a Christian except for the Christians I have met." That
or a similar statement is attributed to Mahatma Gandhi.
Compiling a list of individuals or groups who have misappropriated
the mantle of Christianity is a monumental task. The
names listed would be familiar to most. Many of the
vast numbers that have pillaged, cheated, abused and defiled in the name of
Christ are among the legends of our western civilization. The task is further
burdened by the many more that have, with pureness of hearts and the highest
standards of contemporary morality, proselytized in the name of such "Christian" causes
as the "white man's burden" and "manifest destiny."
Add
to the list, those groups that validate their particular
brand of Christianity by distinguishing their beliefs and
practices from even the slightest variance in the beliefs
and practices of all others. A Christian is not someone
who is "saved" through the rubrics of membership
or the mere ascription to beliefs.
Being
a Christian is not about exclusion. Being a Christian is
not about separation or discrimination. Being
a Christian is not about deciding who may be right or wrong. Being
a Christian is not about securing what is rightfully yours
or imposing justice on or even for others.
Jesus
left us a final gift. It is a peace that needs no guarantee
of security. You cannot build a wall around it and it cannot
be sold or earned. You cannot even attain it by the most
zealous adherence to the Golden Rule. Think of the most
abhorrent individual. It is not enough to forgive him,
you must embrace him. Not when he is penitent, but when
he is most adamant in his abhorrent behavior.
Admittedly,
there are few among us that can pass that test. At best,
we try or we struggle with the concept. Fortunately, there
is no litmus test for admission to the Christian church.
Christians today are burdened with the same doubts, fears,
bigotry and arrogance that have betrayed and divided the
church for almost two-thousand years. Still we persist
in gathering in worship. We persist in calling ourselves
Christians. We persist, as individuals, in the face of
repeated failures.
Ultimately,
being a Christian is less about answers than it is about
questions. Being a Christian is less about the final destination
than it is about the road we travel. Being a Christian
is about a journey of discovery. Being a Christian is about
taking that journey together.
--Bill
"Christians," those
who trumpet their faith from the housetops and hurl down
judgments on others below, often give Christianity a bad
name. By presuming to know so precisely and literally what
God's will is, they take on the self-righteous posture
of the Pharisees and separate themselves to that extent
from the healing Spirit of Love. "Christianity is
a very good thing," George Bernard Shaw observed. "I
would like to see it tried sometime."
--Major
First
of all, I do not think everyone who calls themselves "Christians" are
at all close to Christ. In fact, I suspect that a lot of
people who profess to be Christians will be very surprised
one day. No one knows who the "real" Christians
are except God. It is not our place to judge such things.
In the meantime, all of Christianity gets a bad rap when
some misguided people do and say very un-Christian things.
It
always seemed to me that Christianity should be judged
by Christ's example, not by his followers' examples. His
followers, including me, are fallible human beings struggling
to overcome our own demons. Sometimes we fail. The beauty
of Christianity is that Christ gently picks us up again,
forgives us, and helps us back on the right path.
And
what was Christ's example? He said that everyone has sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God. He did not condone
sin but he forgave it. My interpretation of the Gospels
is that He was more concerned about the sins of pride,
self-righteousness, and hypocrisy than about sins of passion.
Christ did condemn all kinds of sins, but he was compassionate
and understanding in doing so. He demonstrated his love
for all people regardless of their lifestyles or views.
In my opinion, we, as Christians, should do likewise. Many
of us do a pretty good job. Many of us have a long way
to go. But no one of us is better than another. We are
all saved by Christ's grace and by His grace we will become
more and more like him.
--Nick
As
Christians we are called to have compassion for people
in situations that we may not understand. However, when
a lifestyle in any way harms you or others, it then becomes
unacceptable. A wide breadth of belief is the foundation
of our Episcopal denomination. I believe this acceptance
and inclusion to be exactly "what Jesus would do."
--Louis
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