“Get down off your holy cloud / God will not deal with the proud” (‘Always’ by U2)

I’m convinced that sometimes Christians have a large stick up their ass. So many Christians are so sure they have all the right answers, so sure they know everything, so sure they have it all figured out. That’s such a load of crap. These Christians are afraid to say they don’t have all the answers because then it sounds like they’re being relativistic, and that’s the big no-no. So instead they pump themselves up with pride and effectively give the world the finger.

All in the name of Jesus. He must hang his head.

Why is it that Christians are expected to like everything labeled “Christian”? I get so frustrated when a new CD releases or a movie comes to theaters and it’s supposed to be dripping with Christian values and Christians are expected to be beside themselves with praise. That’s so shallow, so dimwitted, so dishonest. I’ve seen so many poor Christian movies and read some lame books and listened to some music that really shouldn’t have been made. Yet we’re expected to like it, just because it supposedly honors God.

You know, they say do all things to the glory of God, and sometimes I think you can do anything to the glory of God. All that matters is your effort and your heart, if those are in the right place then God is glorified, right? Sometimes I question that logic. If the plot sucks and the dialogue is forced is God really glorified? Maybe he is, and maybe he isn’t. But can’t a sucky plot be compared to a string of obscenities? Neither really glorifies God. Yet somehow the sucky plot gets off easy, and Christians rally around it. The obscenity laced movie, no matter how good and moral it may be, is picketed.

Why do Christians so easily damn some actions and so easily ignore others? And why are the actions they damn always in others and the actions they ignore always in themselves?

A good story is a powerful thing. It captivates the young and the old. It is at the heart of any great medium, be it book, movie, song, or what have you. It has great power to sway and to make great truths known. He who does not understand the power and mystery of the story, is oblivious.

It is a great and fantastic story in which we who are called Christians put our faith. That is what has enabled the cross to endure for centuries. It is a powerful tale that tells the greatest truth of all. It is a true story, and a story most grand. Failure to understand and appreciate a story, is a failure to understand and appreciate the true inter-workings of God’s amazing grace.

Grace makes beauty out of ugly things.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Goodness gracious.

Grace. It’s a concept few really get. It basically means forgiveness. It means that despite your shortcomings, your failures, your wrongs, you are still loved and accepted. That’s a fundamental part of Christianity. At least it’s supposed to be.

There are those who question grace. If you really had faith, you wouldn’t have screwed up in the first place. And they turn their head. Or it may just be a negative word said to someone else in private. Or a smug look, or a grudge that never fades. Some think that your failures continually crucify Christ, and somehow that behavior requires their condemnation.

Grace is something the church needs to rediscover. We have become self-righteous. We are more concerned with the filth flowing from a sinner’s mouth than we are with the eternal state of their soul. We are more concerned with how something looks to others than we are for the actual people involved. We are more concerned with the visible consequences that come with some sins than we are with the hidden sins that resulted in those consequences.

The Pharisees had no grace. They wanted to cast stones upon the woman caught in adultery. My great-grandmother was also caught in adultery. A public apology was demanded, which my shy great-grandmother couldn’t bring herself to do. A quiet and fair settlement was reached, but in the proceedings a woman consented, with the caveat that in the future all sexual sin in the church would be publicly confessed. It sounds more like a soap opera than the minutes from a church business meeting. Where is the grace? We have become Pharisees.

Times do change, but often they do not. One generation’s dirty laundry repeats itself. And while the dirty laundry may always be there, our reaction does not have to be the same. Mistakes are forgiven. And forgotten.

The church should be the most grace-filled place in any community. Everyone in that community, from the lowest outcast to the wealthiest gentleman should feel acceptance from Christians. Isn’t that why we bear the name?

Christians are so embarrassing. The Bible told us we’d be persecuted, but we always thought it was because the world hates God and as an extension they hate us. In reality the world’s probably more ambivalent towards God. They hate us because we’re just so incredibly stupid.

I’m back. Did you miss me?

Nothing irritates me more than when Christians completely miss an obvious application of the scripture. Jesus hung out with the rejects of society. Samaritans, tax collectors, lepers. He loved them. Yet what do Christians do? Unfortunately, many of us would be the antithesis of what Jesus taught. We cross the street to avoid people who are different from us. We’re scared of the “inner-city” or the “ghetto.” We segregate ourselves by race, class, social standing or even health, and then avoid each other like the plague. That guy’s poor and dirty, I better not make eye contact. Isn’t that a bad part of town? I don’t want to go there.

Yet that’s where Jesus went.

Why does the church in America always seem to feel responsible for promoting patriotism? When America is at its least patriotic, you can still find a good 4th of July service in most churches. And when America goes to war, it is the church that first in line to salute Uncle Sam and pat the brave soldiers on the back.

And in some ways, that’s good. The soldiers do need a pat on the back, and we should respect our country and the freedom we’re given. But Jesus said to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. It seems like churches in America give a lot more to Caesar than what is really his. Didn’t Jesus also tell us to love our enemies? I don’t remember churches lining up with love offerings for the people of Iraq. I don’t exactly see churches lining up to help the people of Afghanistan either.

Patriotism is one thing, but it feels like American Christianity has forgotten that we are not of this world. Our allegiance is to heaven, and we should be concerned about a more important war.

God Bless America. In God We Trust. One nation under God. With all these mentions of God, you’d think we were a Christian nation. It seems that America likes to claim Christianity as much as Christianity likes to claim America. Churches love an excuse to promote patriotism and remind us of religious freedoms.

Forgive my lack of patriotism, but I didn’t know democracy was the official political system of Christianity. You might think that from the typical attitude of many American Christians. But Jesus didn’t come to promote any political systems. He came to promote a faith that transcends politics and government. So why do we constantly tie Christianity with democracy?

It may be true that freedom of religion allows us to talk about Christianity and to preach to the world without fear of imprisonment. But has that freedom resulted in an entire nation of dedicated and vibrant Christians? Not even close. That freedom has resulted in a lazy church. Throughout the world, where Christianity exists within other political systems, life isn’t always so easy. The result is Christianity that must survive under pressure, a faith that is tested and refined. The result is a persecuted church that asks for prayer not for an end to persecution, but so that they may endure the persecution.

The American church needs to realize that we are a global faith. America may be the land of freedom, but it is also the land of safety, security and comfort–something Jesus never promised us.

The other night on the news I saw a story about a missionary in Afghanistan. They called him the only free American in the country. The only other Americans in the country have been arrested on charges of trying to covert Muslims to Christianity. He spoke with a slight Carolina drawl, but worked with the local people trying to bring aid and relief. He had no desire to flee the country in the wake of U.S. attacks. In fact, he saw it as a greater opportunity to show the people of Afghanistan love.

That is true Christianity in action.

Why does God allow bad stuff to happen? It’s a fair question. A lot of people have been asking it lately, with good reason. Why would a loving God let two airplanes full of people slam into the World Trade Center? And then let the buildings, full of emergency personnel and trapped survivors tumble to the ground, becoming a giant tomb of rubble?

It’s a question even the great Protestant evangelist Billy Graham has asked, and Graham himself admits to not having a good answer to the question. In some sense, there is no good answer. It’s one of those difficult facets of Christianity we often have to accept with a good dose of faith.

The Bible addresses the question in the book of Job, and in the end the answer seems to be that God is God, and who are you to question what he does? This is a point few people realize today. They forget who they’re talking about, and assume they can challenge God and expect a perfectly good answer that suits them. And if the answer doesn’t suit them, they become atheists with renewed fervor.

I do think that it’s good to remember that God is God, and he’s not bound to give us an answer. But I also think that God understands our questioning and doubtful nature and does want us to struggle with questions like this.

I think part of the answer involves the concept of choice. God didn’t make us a people required to worship him. He gave us the choice. And in that choice lies risk. If we don’t choose God, we make bad choices and pain and evil enters the world. We see this when Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden. But if we do choose God, there is the potential for all the love our Father has lavished upon us.

Some may wish God would just lavish that love upon us anyway. But God wants our love in return. And programmed love isn’t love. It’s a joke. So God gave us the choice to love him, and thus took the risk to ensure that our love would be genuine. The result is we didn’t choose God, and the world became a painful place. Thankfully God gave us a second chance, through Jesus, and we can still choose God.

That’s how I answer the question. It doesn’t always seem like the best answer, and I’m sure it’s not the final answer. But it does seem to give some semblance of sense when bad stuff happens.