Most people are confused when I tell them I like to drink beer or smoke an occasional cigar. Others have a hard time with my geekiness. The fact I like comic books and video games seems to go against the perception of what a Christian is. This is because what most people know about Christianity is really just “churchianity”.
Churchianity is a perception of living or acting in holiness by living out your religion externally. Most people who are not Christian would likely have a certain expectation of how a Christian would look and act and it’s typically a “holier than thou” explanation. This comes from a misunderstanding of what Christian salvation is all about.
The perception is that of a works-based salvation (one where you can do enough good, or avoid enough bad to enter Heaven). In fact most people would say they are going to Heaven simply on the idea that they aren’t that bad. Now I must add, since I know someone will say something, that as Christians by faith and grace alone we do not have permission to do whatever we want.
It’s this misunderstanding that has invaded the view of Christianity within and outside of the church. Those who aren’t Christian have an unrealistic view of our faith, yet so many of those in the church have the same view. Christians put on Christ externally but their insides never change. We are indeed called to put on Christ (Romans 13:14, Galatians 3:27) but this action is taken by God through our baptism.
Just as we are called to workout our own salvation, a perpetual prayer and repentance life-we should be reminded that we have in fact put Christ on and should live in that. We once again assume that it is by our own works that we become righteous, when that work was done in Christ.
It seems we as human beings aren’t ever satisfied with Sola Fide (Salvation by faith alone) and think we must add to that works (which is a firm belief of Mormonism). It’s like saying, “when all else fails, just try to earn it”. This mentality causes us to craft idols in our lives, namely self-idolatry. When we attempt to “show” ourselves holy we often fail which leads to confusion and disaster. Instead we should learn to lean less on our own understanding/ability and more on the completed work of Christ.
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Hi Drew.
I know where your going with the conversation and I understand your point. Your second paragraph caught me off guard though. “Churchianity is a perception of living or acting in holiness by living out your religion externally.”
I think perhaps after looking at your sentence structure, the word perception is what your hinging your whole point on. We are as Christians to live out and act in holiness. (to list a few, Eph 4:2, 1 Thess 4:4,7, 2 Peter 3:11.) Your point could easily be missed as it made myself do a double take and think, did he just say what I think he said? I come from being addicted to video games and spending way too much time indulging myself in those little fantasy worlds. Questions I learned to ask are, is this bringing glory to God? Does this bring glory or advancement to his kingdom? We have so many problems in this world and we cannot tackle all of them alone. One must ask of oneself, how/where can I contribute? How can I try and make a difference? How can I be salt and light? I understand needing some time to unplug, but simultaneously, I cannot be smug or self-righteous in an attempt to justify the things i “like”. I wasn’t placed here to do things I “like” per say, I was placed here to worship God and give him honor and praise in all that I do. Instead of spending my evening playing games, could I be studying God’s word on a topic I want to engage culture with? Could I write out witness cards? Could I work on my street preaching “pitch” in front of the mirror. Could I create a neighborhood Bible study night? Could I better spend my time donating it to a homeless shelter?or church food pantry?or one of my church’s ministry outlets? If I was of higher caliber knowledge, should I try and engage people outside of a large well known public place? The questions are endless and needless to say, we ALL fall short. I went to work all day and provided for myself and my family. When do I go out and work for God?, Sunday? Occasional Wednesday night prayer meeting? How much of our time actually goes back to God? See what I found was, the place where most of my time was going (video games), was my idol. Since I am to have no other god’s before my God, I found a big problem in my thought process, in fact, I was lying to myself. Self-deception is a tough nut to crack due to our own depravity. Without God’s word, we are unable to see it. I am not saying that you Drew, are like this. What I am saying is that people are that way, people perceive themselves different from what they are and as Christians, we need to look in and look out for one another. I didn’t write this to be argumentative to your article as I did enjoy it, however I felt this was an issue that needed more attention as you addressed it in a single sentence. My desire is to help benefit someone who may not have had this thought process and may be struggling with this very thing. Not to sound cheesy, but there is HOPE in Christ.
We are to be holy, set apart. One of the things I take issue with is this: If you look like the world/if you present yourself like the world, how does the world know your different? By your actions, perhaps. Most people struggle to get their faces out of their phones, let alone pay attention to what your doing. Are we that naive? Do we really believe that the rest of the world had trouble distinguishing the Israeli people B.C. when the LAW first came down? Personally, I think the world should do a double take at us. IF we don’t look different and act different, we struggle to be noticed-then what pray tell is the point of that? How do we ever expect to get the chance to witness, to answer those who ask us what is the reason for the hope inside of us? In fact, the world uses that very point against Christians. How come the world doesn’t know we are a Christian without asking? When we wear the latest fashions, think of all the money used to purchase those clothes that could have been put to better use. With all our abundance comes even more waste. Look at political figures. They dress nice, the look clean cut. Why? Because they want people to take them serious and listen to what they have to say. For some reason though, Christians think the sleeves, tongue, nose, eyelid, weird hairdo and whatever else we could pierce or tattoo helps our cause. In fact, I see it as more of a double standard (borderline hypocrisy)-the opposite of what most Christians might think. You had better be one slick talkin, truth talkin individual to keep my attention, cuz otherwise, you look like the rest of the world to me. See my point? Looks are not everything, but first impressions are hard to erase. And for the record, I have two tattoos. But I am realistic with the my conscience and the conscience of others. I don’t want to do things that would damage my witness to others. Didn’t Paul talk about this very thing?
Another modern example of this concept would be TV. I know a lot of Christians are very knowledgeable about TV shows, movies, actors, etc. They get excited about it, record shows etc. I don’t understand it myself. Why do I care who played what part or what happened on a make believe show? When people engage me about a show, I reply, I don’t watch TV. They look at me strange. Why don’t you watch TV? Because it doesn’t benefit me in any way with my Lord and in fact, it hurts me. Does God care about what happened on General Hospital or the Walking Dead? NO. Instead, I see TV narratives and commercials trying to indoctrinate me with “their” worldview. Does that mean I can’t watch TV, no, i just don’t give it any priority, at all. In fact, I have to spend so much time focusing on the things of God, I can’t even enjoy TV.
You might say, Mike, all this seems so shallow. The world is shallow my friend, why give them ammo? Just because you can swim in the deep end doesn’t mean your to good to wade in the shallow end with the kiddies. If you don’t agree, I would question your motives in the first place.
As time moves on, we find new ways and reasons to justify our actions. This was the very thing in the garden, the woman you gave me right? See nothing new under the sun. We just got more slick with it, or so it would appear. Food for thought Drew, or anyone else who feels led to respond. I’m not wishing to pick a fight with anyone, just sharing some of my thoughts I had after reading the blog.
Love ya Church