It is all well and good if people hate us for the Cross....but,
Amazon.com: Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity ... and Why It Matters: David Kinnaman, Gabe Lyons: Books
According to Kinnaman's Barna study, here are the percentages of people outside the church who think that the following words describe present-day Christianity:
* antihomosexual 91%
* judgmental 87%
* hypocritical 85%
* old-fashioned 78%
* too political 75%
* out of touch with reality 72%
* insensitive to others 70%
* boring 68%
Should we worry about these perceptions? What should we do about them? Are they problems of Biblical theology that make us this way? How do we move forward and self-correct so that only the Cross makes people stumble and not us?
I think most people think of the typical American Evangelical today and I would generally agree with the above statistics. Ironically, I think that the statistics are pretty accurate when describing those who call themselves "committed Christians". Most who claim that name today are profoundly ignorant of the Gospel and, for many years, ignorance has been viewed as a badge of honor for many Christians. To be "spiritual" is prized over doctrine and, in the void of good doctrine, has crept legalism and a baptized form of patriotism that passes itself off as true Christianity.
That was some of the same thinking I had.
Do you think the Religious Right has done this damage?
I cannot click on Christian news any more because the news is not Christian, it is political news from a supposed "Christian slant" - sometimes full of revisionism and negativism."
I believe that we can separate the REAL offense of the Cross from lies and distortions about us. I also believe that we must separate the real offense of the cross from our own deficiencies and our own sinfulness that we often do not acknowledge because we are falsely led to believe that if we are offensive when sharing the Good News with others that we are being persecuted due to Christ rather than us being total boneheads.
We are quick to shout "I am being persecuted" rather than "I am being a blockhead!"
What are some ways to share grace graciously. How do we make the Good News sound like Good News to sinners? What are some ways to leave the only offense that people have with us as being the offense of the Cross and not the offensiveness of Christians?