Inspiration

I get up at 8AM, or at least I try to. I make it out the door around ten minutes until nine and I have about 3/4 a mile to walk to class. The chilly walk through the moist February air wakes my body up as I approach my class. I really wanted to sleep in on this particular day, but this day was different. We just concluded our section of the class focusing on the life and works of Gandhi, and today’s class is the segue to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and we’re discussing Matthew chapters 5-7, or more commonly known as the Sermon on the Mont.

The professor gives us all a few minutes to review the text as the majority of the class had not read it in preparation for the class. We begin to discuss the beatitudes and their meaning and I was taken aback by the responses I witnessed. The professor asked us “what do you think he means by ‘blessed’” as Christ opens each verse in chapter 5? Well its just a religious term, or it simply means god bless you. I’m thinking aren’t you not supposed to use the word you’re trying to define when defining a word?

One student interjects, “this is all subjective, you interpret the text to mean what you want it to and that’s it.” The teacher responds by pointing the student to the last verse of chapter five. “be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The student defends his claim that we cannot be perfect and that statement is subjective and should be taken lightly. The politically aware and active student smirks and makes comments beneath his breath as if he is above the use of scripture in the classroom; didn’t he say his Lutheranism was important to him? I’m personally unfamiliar with the Lutheran church, but as a sect of Christianity I’m sure the bible is included in their doctrine. 

The students came to a consensus that the bible is what you want it to be; you should highlight the important things. For instance, “Do not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.” However, we should just ignore the “inapplicable” or unappealing parts so they do not interfere with our current worldview. For a class of fifteen students who all claimed to hold dear their faith in Christ on the first day of school this was amazingly contradictory.  We should remove that part about give to the poor, or adultery, remove homosexuality, and definitely remove that part about divorce, loving our enemies? How on earth can we do that? Love the terrorist in Iraq? We can’t do that, lets remove that from scripture. This class reinforced and represented faithfully one thing: American Christianity.

To the rest of the world, American is known as a Christian nation. However, the very faith that founded this country is being butchered, and removed from the country. We are Christians for convenience sake. Many of us go to church on Sunday, we tip the preacher for boring or entertaining us and we continue on with our day, unchanged. When an American reads the bible they take a knife to it as they read. Upon finding a verse that offends them they cut it out, when finding a verse that encourages them they highlight it. The American Christian bible would probably only be 1 cm thick if printed to the standards of the average Christian in this nation. The Sermon on the Mont, which is considered one of the most important parts of scripture in the bible, would consist of a handful of verses. Americans do not like to be told what to do and ignore or persecute those who tell them what to do.

To state it simply, America has become an existential, Christian ethics defying nation. The existential mind set is summarized: you follow whatever moral code makes you feel happy, and I’ll follow mine, and as long as no one steps on anyone’s toes everyone is happy. With this mindset there can be no absolute truth, everyone cannot be right. America believes in the existential way of thought as it supports the first amendment right to freedom of religion. By extension, if I think its OK to get a divorce I should be able to and still claim to be a Christian, or if I’m gay I can still be a Christian, if I want to steal, or rob someone, murder, it should still be OK and I am still a Christian if I want to go to Heaven when I die.

 

The simplistic truth that I am trying to address is that true and pure Christianity is not about religion–Christianity is not a religion. It’s about this personal and real relationship with Jesus. It’s so simplistic, but apparently difficult. When you’re in a relationship with someone you want to spend time with them, you listen to what they say, you consider them a friend, a father, a mother, a sibling, a lover. When you have a relationship with God, you also consider Him your Lord. When someone is your Lord, you’re their servant and you do what they say to insure they’re pleased with you. Many Americans relate to God like a middle school buddy, they listen to Him when He’s saying what they want to hear and ignore Him entirely the moment He says something that offends them–even disowning Him entirely when something is said that offends a choice or lifestyle they’ve embraced.

 

When I am speaking to people who do not relate to Christ, are agnostic, or of some other faith I do not quote scripture at them as it only pushes them further away; however, when I’m speaking to people who claim to adhere to this faith I believe scripture is necessary to edify and hold each other accountable, which is why I am brought to Luke chapter 9 right now.

 

It is red in my bible signifying the Son of Man, Jesus Christ Himself said these words “If you are ashamed of me and my words, I will be ashamed of you before my father, and the angels.”–Luke. 9:26 If we cut out Christ’s commandments that offend us because we’re ashamed of those words that convict us we are in turn ashamed of Christ, ashamed of God. In turn, Christ who is our intercessor before God will be ashamed of us before God and the angels! What does this mean of our salvation? What does this mean of our supposed relationship with Christ?

 

Many of us claim to follow Christ, but turn our back on him when its inconvenient or out of our way, but that is not what Christ has commanded of us. When you’re married you cannot just be unmarried for a day when you’re not feeling like it; likewise, you cannot just refrain from Christ when you’re a Christian. If you would call yourself Christ’s disciple, deny your self daily, take up your cross and follow Christ daily, –Luke. 9:23

 

By professing this faith in Christ we die to our selves and our carnal nature and are reborn as spiritual beings subservient to God and his commands. Many Americans claim to have had this spiritual enlightenment, but the Holy Spirit is void in their lives and they never died to their own carnal nature. Are these people really Christians? Only God can judge that, but scripture states that Christ sent the Holy Spirit to live in his Christians to set them apart from the world and if we don’t have that which sets apart from the world in this world, what will set us apart before God and the angels?

These are the events that inspired me to continue sharing my philosophical and theological thoughts with the world after about four years of refrain.

Tomorrow: Church is for the middle class

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