Unchristian

As some of you know, I am sharing “recaps” from the Catalyst Conference I attended a few weeks ago in Atlanta, Georgia. It helps me process the talks and I hope helps you develop your own leadership. I have often said, the moment a leader stops learning, he/she stops leading! I love leadership and always want to learn more. I am hopeful this Blog can help us grow in leadership together.

This talk was titled, “Unchristian.” The point was, unfortunately, that Christians are sometimes known far more for what we are against than what we are for. Statistics have shown that people who are far from God perceive Christians as people who are anti-homosexual, judgmental, and hypocritical. YIKES – does that bother you as much as it bothers me.

It is interesting – we are not hated for righteousness but for self-righteousness. In the book of James, the Bible encourages us to exude pure religion, caring for widows and orphans. (Read the whole book – it is only 5 chapters :>)

If we (Christians) were hated for what James prescribes, this would be a good thing. But we’re not hated for this. Instead of being dislike for righteousness, we are often disliked for self-righteousness.

The good news is there are churches and pastors and Christians who are turning the tide, if you will. There are many of us who want to redeem our image in secular culture. But keep this in mind - before we can change a culture, we need to change our own hearts. When dealing with moral issues, focusing on morality issues is counter intuitive. Instead, focus on Christlikeness!

In becoming like Jesus Christ, the world can’t help but stop and take notice, just as it did 2000 years ago. The reason we are called Christians is because we are supposed to become like Christ. It is high time we start embodying what it means to be a true Christian and stop acting like we are unchristian.

I hope to see you at Encounter tonight – it will help us tremendously in this journey of becoming like Christ! CU at 7 pm.