Do you ever get the feeling that you are standing on quick sand? That you are desperate for solid, principled ground, yet it feels everywhere you step you just sink further into soft convictions and passive attitudes. Or perhaps, you hungrily thirst for cold water and everyone gives you a drink of lukewarm liquid. Maybe you feel more like the only light bulb that is shinning in a dark world… frustrated? Discouraged? Weary?
I realized today in my typical chorus singing epiphany style that I did not have many examples of strong, sound, conservative Christians in my environment. I realized today, as Noel was passionately asserting the very real presence of Hell, that in my little world I usually come across two kinds of Christians: The very conservative Christians who, professing an unpracticed, dutiful, fearing doctrine of a wrathful, and punishing God, come across as hypocrites, unloving, and rather faithless. And the second kind of Christians grasp on to the faithful, loving side of God, but have seemed to entirely miss chunks of scripture which are laid out to be immovable rules and regulations of Christ-like Christian living.
Why must so many Christian’s be hypocritical? I don’t get ridiculously angry over much, but I do have a deep sense of justice and intolerance for accepting things which common sense and God tell us is wrong. Lately, I have become rather disgusted with the people of the south. I was talking to a good friend who is African and he told me of how people will avoid his line in the grocery store, even when it is empty, and go to a longer line with a white cashier. I really couldn’t believe people would be so ignorant and brainless, especially when presented with a rare, Wal-Mart short line, until I visited this friend and actually witnessed it. All the lines around him were long, except his. Oh goodness! How it made me so ridiculously angry. How vile we behave as humans! How truly despicable we “Christians” behave. I have witnessed countless Christians who treat people the same way as the people did to my friend. What sort of message are we sharing if we treat people different because their skin, or ethnicity, or social class, or background is different than ours? What if a person was teetering on the fence, deciding if they were going to give their lives to Christ, and they were shown this prejudice, this racist attitude by fellow Christians? What if they give up Christ because of it? Do you not think that the Christian’s responsible will have to answer to this on the Day of Judgment? I shudder to think…
I don’t understand how people can keep quiet. I don’t understand how people can be without godly zeal, passion, and justice. I don’t understand how people cannot care enough to care. I don’t understand how people can sit in church and not sing praises to God; I don’t understand how people can profess generosity, yet give so little of their time to God; I don’t understand how big brothers and fathers can let their precious little sisters or daughters indulge in immodesty—wearing shorts that are too short, necklines that are too low, and shirts that are too tight. They are men, they know how hard it is to struggle against impure thoughts—shame on all of you!!
It seems in today’s world if you stand up for anything other than tolerance, unquestioning love, and acceptance of everything, you are labeled as hypocritical and judgmental. And yet we are called to use godly judgement. People will always be charged, ready for a debate. And in such arguments neither side will listen and simply becomes further entrenched in their original view. This is so discouraging to me. I don’t consider myself wiser or better than anyone. If anything I consider myself one of the lesser Christians, a silly girl who seems to constantly fall to doubts and worries of this life. I just fail to understand why people reject what seems to my simple mind as common sense, plainly written out in the scriptures… why do people no longer fight? Why do people no longer take a stand against sin? They preach a doctrine of love…but if you really love a person and care about the residency of their eternal soul wouldn’t you do everything in your power to teach them? Lovingly and firmly, instruct them? Where are all of God’s soldiers? What has happened to Christianity?
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