“UNCHRISTIAN CHRISTIANS BECOMING CHRISTIAN”

1 Peter 2: 11, 12 (NRSV)

August 23, 2009/Seventh in a series, “Your Questions Please”

Focus: God helps us walk the walk before we talk the talk.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE THIS MORNING?

            Do you have a child or grandchildren between the ages of 19 and 32? Think for a minute. Let me ask you a question. Is that child or grandchild attending church today?  If you have a relative who was born between 1977 and 1990, the chances are high that they will not be sitting in church this morning.

            One parent in our congregation has a child in her twenties who not only doesn’t go church but also doesn’t care for Christianity. My friend’s email is the basis for today’s sermon. He wrote, “When I talk with young people today (say 30 or less), it seems that they more often than do not think that the Christian social values are in touch with their lives today.  They think attitudes towards gay people and non-believers, for example, are ‘a generational thing’ or that Christians are a discriminatory and divisive force in our society which, at best, should be ignored or ridiculed, and, at worst, scorned or even outwardly opposed.   So, the question is, what should we say to our youth about the Bible's lessons and views regarding very specific social values it emphases?  I ask this question because I know I have not done a very good job at this in my life and often shrink from even mentioning what the Bible says is God's view on many of the hot button social issues of our time.  I have heard it elsewhere and believe it to be true that part of our responsibility as Christians is to assert to people what God wants and does not want in our lives.  But, this is not very easy to do, even with some family members.”

            My friend has run smack into a deep generation gap. His child’s dismissal of Christianity is a common occurrence among young people born between the late 70’s to early nineties. David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons have written an interesting study of these young North American outsiders to the Church in a book called, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity.  The authors write, “Our research shows that many of those outside of Christianity, especially younger adults, have little trust in the Christian faith, and esteem for the Christ followers is quickly fading among outsiders. They admit their emotional and intellectual barriers go up when they are around Christians, and they reject Jesus because they feel rejected by Christians.”[1]

            The authors discovered that many of these young people have had some experience in the church and a fair amount of exposure to Christians; and that’s the problem. In their view, “Modern day Christianity no longer seems Christian.”[2]

            There are six broad concerns this young generation has about the Church:

1. Hypocritical: “Outsiders consider us hypocritical—saying one thing and doing another—and they are skeptical of our morally superior attitudes”
2. Too focused on getting converts: “Outsiders wonder if we genuinely care about them. They feel like targets rather than people.”
3. Antihomosexual: “Outsiders say that Christians are bigoted and show disdain for gays and lesbians.”
4. Sheltered: “Christians are thought of as old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with reality. Outsiders say we do not respond to reality in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers.”
5. Too political: “[Christians] are overly motivated by a political agenda that we promote and represent politically conservative interests and issues.”
6. Judgmental: “Outsiders think of Christians as quick to judge others. They say we are not honest about our attitudes and perspectives about other people. They doubt they we really love people as we say we do.”[3]

You may or may not agree with the observations of these young critics. They do, however, have my attention. Rather than arguing with them, I’ve asked instead, “Are they right?” As I thought of us, sitting here in our sanctuary, I thought of another congregation of Christians who lived long ago who also had targets on their backs. Peter wrote two very interesting verses that have something to say to us. Our Scripture Lesson is found in 1 Peter 2: 11, 12:

“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when He comes to judge.”

SITTING WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS

            Let’s sit for a minute with the Christians that Peter addressed. Like them, it is hard to hear criticism from outside the church. Like them, we might feel misunderstood and judged unfairly. Some of those Christians 2,000 years ago and some Christians from 2009 might feel defensive and even angry at those outsiders. We who sit here today have a lot in common with those who sat in pews so many years ago.

            And yet, there are big differences between the two churches. For starters, we are unimaginably free and unbelievably well-off, which means that while our critics might speak negatively about us or rail against us on a blog, nobody is going to throw us in jail for our Christian beliefs or practices. No one will take our property or our jobs because we are Christians. We aren’t in danger of losing our lives. Our Christian friends from the Roman Empire though, all live with the constant threat of imprisonment, job loss, property loss and loss of life. Our friends are suffering in all sorts of ways that are simply beyond our experience.

            So as these two congregations, separated by two-thousand years and very different social circumstances sit together ready to listen to a preacher name Peter, what might we hear from the sermon today to help us live our faith in the face of criticism from the outside. Peter says that we shouldn’t be surprised by misunderstanding or even by abuse because we are aliens or strangers in this world. We are different from those who don’t believe, or at least we’re supposed to be. We aren’t better than they are; we hold different values and we live a different sort of life. That’s why Peter calls his friends and us by the same name. “Dear brothers and sisters, you are foreigners here.” If you want to talk the talk you had better walk the walk first.  

            Dear friends, Peter says, you are strangers and aliens in this world. You don’t always fit in. Moreover, remember that you are in the line of fire. And you in the line of vision; and finally, you are in God’s line of vision.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

            If you expect Peter to say to us, “You’re right and they’re wrong,” well, you’re wrong. We look first on the wrong in us instead of the wrongs of those outside the church. “I urge you to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.”

            We who follow Jesus are in the middle of hot war against an enemy that relentlessly opposes us every single day of our lives. The enemy is not your critics, but inside you. Peter says that the desires of your flesh wage war against your soul. The flesh is that part of you that wants to turn away from God and from other people. The flesh feeds your selfishness by insisting that you give into your desires whenever they call.

            The desires of your flesh tell you to act out sexually before marriage or within marriage through the feeding of lust by pornography, or sleeping around or having an affair.

            The desires of the flesh give you complete freedom to express your anger or rage anytime you want to because you are entitled to do, regardless of the harm you do to those nearest you.

            The desires of your flesh fill you with envy over what you don’t have; or with jealousy for what others have—a good marriage, a nice home, a great job or a great family.

            The desires of your flesh convince you to give in to every appetite and craving you have for food, alcohol or drugs.

How do we deal with the criticism of those outside the church? We start by looking squarely at our wrongs. We start by fighting the battle every day of our lives. And it’s a daily battle that is tough and sometimes ugly. Our flesh doesn’t want to die and it won’t be going away any time soon.

            It’s easy to forget this battle because so many of us have simply stopped fighting. But admitting that we struggle to those outside the church and admitting, on occasion when we have blown it will get the attention of those outsiders who think we do nothing but judge others. We in the church are professional judges sometimes. Peter says use your expertise in spotting the wrongs in others on yourself instead.

            This past week I was home one morning with Sam and Miles. As I got out of the shower I heard through the bathroom window Sam yelling at Miles. I summoned Sam into my presence and I started yelling at him. “Why were you screaming?” I demanded. He started to explain, “Well, you see, I was humming.” I stopped him right there. “That’s wasn’t humming. That was yelling.” He said, “But listen, Dad, I was humming.” I brushed his explanation aside and pointed out his wrongs there and then again in the car on the way to his friend’s house. I felt pretty good about it all until I realized that I couldn’t stop thinking about the exchange. I asked God to help me look at it honestly. I realized that I was yelling at Sam for his anger when my anger got the best of me.

            Later in the day I called home to talk to my son. I knew that I wouldn’t have the chance to see him before he went to bed that night and I had to tell him something. “Sam,” I said, “I was wrong for yelling at you today. I didn’t give you a change to explain. I’m sorry. I love you.”

            We have to walk the walk before we talk the talk

IN THE LINE OF VISION

            We’re in the line of fire every day because we are fighting dark impulses of the worst part of ourselves. Just engaging in the struggle sets us apart from those who don’t know or follow Jesus. We’re also in the line of vision. Peter reminds us: “People who do not believe are living all around you. They might say that you are doing wrong. So live good lives. Then they will see the good things you do . . .”

            Peter uses an interesting Greek word to tell us that we are being watched. The word means to look upon, to observe, to be a spectator, to watch over a period of time. The word implies that someone is studying your life over a long period of time.

            Our young outside critics seem to be paying attention to us. What do they see? What does your life tell others about the Jesus you say you follow? What might they learn about God or the nature of Christian faith from watching you for a while?  Will they praise God or curse God for what they see in you? We have to walk the walk before we talk the talk because we’re in the line of vision.

            A friend of mine has a grown daughter who is one of the outside critics of the church. She grew up in this congregation but no longer attends church. She is dating a man, whose parents are Christian missionaries to the Dominican Republic. This woman and her boyfriend went to visit his parents for a week. While there, they went to a beach one day where and helped this man’s parents went to feed some of the million or so children of the Dominican Republic who are starving. This young woman starting texting her Dad right from the beach. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She saw Christians feeding the hungry.

She watched two Christians walk the walk.

WE’RE IN THE LINE OF GOD’S VISION

            Peter hopes that our lives as we talk to outsiders and our words as we speak to outsiders will result in the outsider becoming insiders. But even if they don’t come, Peter hopes that our lives will result in our outsider friends praising God because of our lives.

            You know, the outsiders won’t be our judge. And we won’t be their judge either. God in Christ is the only judge of the world. Wouldn’t it be great to hear the judge of the universe say to you, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And wouldn’t be something to hear our outside friends utter, “Amen”?

“Your Questions Please”/Study Guide: August 23, 2009

Question:  How do Christians live their values and beliefs when both seem so out of step with our culture?

Key Biblical Passages:

Living your Christian faith in a culture that neither supports nor understands it:

• “So get rid of all malicious behavior and deceit. Don’t just pretend to be good! Be done with hypocrisy and jealousy and backstabbing.” (1 Peter 2: 1)
• “It is God’s will that your good lives should silence those who make foolish accusations against you. You are not slaves; you are free. But your freedom is not an excuse to do evil. You are free to live as God’s slaves.” (1 Peter 2: 15)
• “Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:9)
• “So don’t be afraid and don’t worry. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.” (1 Peter 3: 15b – 16)

From “Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, Baker Books, 2007

7. Hypocritical: “Outsiders consider us hypocritical—saying one thing and doing another—and they are skeptical of our morally superior attitudes”
8. Too focused on getting converts: “Outsiders wonder if we genuinely care about them. They feel like targets rather than people.”
9. Antihomosexual: “Outsiders say that Christians are bigoted and show disdain for gays and lesbians.”
10. Sheltered: “Christians are thought of as old-fashioned, boring, and out of touch with reality. Outsiders say we do not respond to reality in appropriately complex ways, preferring simplistic solutions and answers.”
11. Too political: “[Christians] are overly motivated by a political agenda, that we promote and represent politically conservative interests and issues.”
12. Judgmental: “Outsiders think of Christians as quick to judge others. They say we are not honest about our attitudes and perspectives about other people. They doubt they we really love people as we say we do.”

For further information visit: www.unchristian.com