A Work in Progress

Being the mainstream Christian that I am I find myself falling into a trap that, it appears, some being or some entity wants us to fall in to. I suppose to be fair I should at least provide a brief definition of what I consider to be a mainstream Christian. Maybe I should even stay away from the word mainstream and adopt the word secular. I feel that this word more rightfully explains the idea I am trying to get across, though I feel a single word can hardly describe what I am getting at. These mainstream/secularized Christians, such as myself, partake in everyday society as a non-Christian would. We work the same public jobs and attend the same public schools as the world does. In no way would I want to spend time to argue that this is the problem or that these Christians are not really actually Christians. It is clear that though they are in the society they are not bound to the rules and constraints that the earthly society dictates.
If I am making a distinction about these mainstream Christians, I am sure you are wondering what these people are being compared to. For lack of a better term I will call them traditional Christians. These Christians are much more conservative and put an extreme emphasis on the importance of family. They are less a part of the modern world and often spend time involved with friends who share a similar ideology. However different their lives might appear, the mainstream and traditional Christians are not all that different—in fact the share the single most important belief that should draw them together as a body of people. This belief is one in the powerful redeeming love found only in Christ Jesus our lord.
You might have notice the word “should” from just above. This is going to be part of my focus for the remainder of what I have to write. You would think that sharing the power of the blood of our risen Lord would be enough to form unity between these two groups of people--- often times however, it brings strife.
I hate to make the distinction between these two groups. I’ve wondered if it was just me making these separations bigger than they should be. That might be true but I feel that there is definitely some tension. To explain what I mean I will give an example. If a student is given a blank outline of the United States with no states drawn in doesn’t mean that there aren’t states. As the student traces the shape of states into the outline, states are not actually being created. I feel like I am the student tracing the states into our country. I believe that the separation in there, whether or not I write about what it is. By saying there is a difference I am simply drawing the lines and making what does exist simply more visible.
To continue on though, the Bible says that in our life there “must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity” (Eph. 5:3). The demands set in this very are clearly set high. Many of us mainstream Christians flirt with this command because we seem to find it as too strict of a law to be taken 100% seriously. Dating and engaging in other certain forms of modern entertainment set us up to be filled with lust—it is something many of us realize but fear that we lack the power to be able to change it. That is one of the significant problems I feel that we as Christians are facing today—but it breaks down and gets even worse. Many of the traditional Christians attempt to eliminate any form of temptation from their lives. Television in limited, dating and prom are frowned upon, and other accepted worldly practices are denied. This is not because these people totally want to remove themselves from the world but because when God says “not even a hint” it is something that encourages them and is an end that they strive to accomplish. Lust might not be something that these people can completely conquer but in complete submission to the Lord, they strive for perfection.
There is a clear difference in the way that these two groups of Christians handle just one of the many issues presented in the bible. My goal here is not to make traditional Christians look like angels while condemning everyone else (saying that I am one of the everyone elses). Yes, us secularized Christians should try to strive for perfection, but this isn’t the main concern I plan on addressing from here on out.
My main focus, that I think is important to realize, is the gap in the brotherhood that these two different views create in a group of people that should be tightly bound together. Myself, and other mainstream Christians I know, often think of the other group of believers as outsiders and often alienate them. It might take forever to understand why we do this completely, but it might have to do with our own selfish hearts. We don’t want to be told we are wrong or that we could possibly do something better. Human nature makes us want to defend ourselves. Should we, as mainstream Christians, quarrel with our brothers because they might be doing something better than we are? Should we treat them as if their beliefs are radical and outlandish? No! Christian unity should be our goal; fighting each other does not lend itself well to the outside world that eagerly watches every action we do. Our primary beliefs are the same and yet we still find a need for dispute. Christ called ALL believers to take up their crosses and follow him (Mark 10:21). This command doesn’t seem like something meant to be self-rewarding and fun filled—it is a struggle that might often seem impossible. It requires all of us, every aspect of our lives, to be wholly dedicated to Him. This means that “not even a hint” is actually meant to be “not even a hint.” IT is something all Christians should strive for. We should want to honor our creator with everything, not with half of our being. This struggle to follow his commands literally, as He intended them to be obeyed, should not be an issue that causes divide among us but it should be something that requires unity. We need our Christian brothers and sisters as our support—not as our enemies.
Whether or not the traditional Christians look down on us mainstream believers is not something I could claim to know. I could guess that they might view us as outsiders too, but this topic is not something I could cover without first getting their perspective.
So far, there might be two groups of people who will read what I have written and be offended. I don’t mean to offend but I can imagine it happening. Actually, one of these two groups, if getting offended leads you to change your thinking, then I am hoping and even striving to offend you. This group would be anyone who realizes that their own pride could be causing a separation between Christian brothers and sisters. Or the person who might feel convicted because they aren’t living fully to follow God’s commands but instead living to please both God and themselves. The other group that might be offended are those mainstream Christians to who what I have written so far does not apply to. To you, I apologize, as I know that all people cannot be easily categorized into two distinct groups. To you people, I encourage you to encourage your brothers to take up their crosses, to strive for unity, to create a body of Christ that is full of people not ashamed of their brothers and sisters.
Talking to some of my brothers and sisters about what I have previously written has made me feel that there are a few additions I should cover.
One of these said issues of concern is that of legalism in relation to motive for following Christ’s commands. From what I have gathered, it appears that there might be another two groups of Christians. One that takes God’s commands seriously because they truly believe life will be better if they obey a good Gods commands. The other group, also follows his commands, but does so in a more legalistic manner. They seem to obey the rules because they have been raised under the rule that rules should be obeyed. The first group bases decisions on a defined and concrete truth; measuring the outcome of every decision they can make in a given situation. The second group, subject to the authority of the rules themselves, views each situation as two distinct choices—obey or not obey the rules set before them. Obeying in no means is the problem I have with this but doing so just because it is a rule set by man or otherwise is. If a rule is your conviction, when the rule changes, so then does your belief. The first group is bound by the constraints of a constant defined truth that dictates a concrete right and wrong, while the other is bound to personal laws that are subject to change.
Another issue of concern applies more to the group I have before called “secularized.” Although this clearly does affect all believers, I feel it hits us harder in a certain spot. What can we, as believers, do to change, to devote our lives (in their entirety) to the perfect creator? Or a better question…what should we do? We should be able to put our own desires aside, giving them up for a greater eternal pleasure. Can we do this? I don’t believe we can, but in attempting to turn ourselves aside we put Christ in control. And “we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We can’t force ourselves to be better, but we can allow Christ to work through us to further better us. That is what we should do and also that is what I believe we can do. It sounds easier than it is though. What does any of this look like? That is something I plan on trying to explore.
I attempted to accomplish the above and am sad to admit that I did fail miserably. I may have been able to change my ways for a day or two, but that is not sincere and does not carry a life altering power. What was the problem? I though I had a bad one, but as I thought about it I realized that I might not have been in as bad of shape as I had originally thought. Maybe failing at this attempt wasn’t even a problem at all. The main concern might just be the attitude that it produced. I don’t think we all have a switch that determines what part of ourselves we are going to give to God at any certain time. We can’t just flip the switch on one night and become super Christians. As much as I was excited to step out of my comfort zone and try to flip this switch on, I quickly found a problem—there was no switch at all. To become fully devoted to God is not something we can change instantly in one night. The bible teaches that whatsoever we sow that also will we reap. If we want to be fully devoted to God, in every aspect of our life, it is something that we have to work at each day of our lives. Like a farmer, we have to nurture the seeds (which are our desires) to grow into what God would want them to be instead of what we would want them to be. Just like a field of corn does not grow overnight, nor will a field of devotion. My mistake was in hoping for a light switch change, where I could sit down and turn my devotion from off to on in one swift movement. The truth is, that in the few days that I was really trying, I was planting and nurturing my seeds that will eventually grow into something I can see. We might all want a light switch relationship with God but just like it is easy to turn the switch on, also will it be easy to turn it off. Growing our spirit and our souls might not be the most enjoyable experience, but it is something we are called to do and is something we should want to strive to do. If god was willing to give the life of His son for us, we should be equally willing to give our life (that is not really ours in the first place) in an equal manner. So maybe I didn’t really fail miserably, maybe I just started down the long road of spiritual maturity. Right now, it might not seem like fun, but I do eagerly await to see what the results might be.