Christianity is that Which Looks and Acts Like Christ

I talked with a friend this week who has been burned badly by judgmental "Christians." At one point in her life, when she was at an all time low, most (but fortunately, not all) of her "Christian" neighbors actually walked by her house and ignored her. Those who did walk by knew her needs, her poverty, her situation with her husband, yet they judged her, condemned her, and shunned her. And many of them still do. Why? Because she wouldn't listen to them, believe their "gospel," or support their church. We talked about how that sort of "Christianity" damages a person's chances of genuine faith in God.

Jesus was known to be a "friend of sinners." The church is the second incarnation of Christ on the Earth. Therefore the church should also be known as a friend of sinners. My opinion is this "friend" status between Jesus and sinners was nothing short of those sinners feeling loved and accepted by Jesus. In other words, sinners were drawn to him, felt comfortable with him, and trusted him. At the same time Jesus would teach the Kingdom of God to them, calling for repentance and holiness. He would invite them to turn away from their sinful lives and come follow him. Yet, he was still known as a "friend of sinners." So how is this possible? How can we be like Christ in this regard? How can we preach the same gospel of the Kingdom to the world and maintain a lifestyle of open friendship to those who are not "Christians"? 

But what is a Christian? In so many ways the friend that I mention above has taught me to not be judgmental. And in so many ways she is very Christian - that is very Christlike and loving. She is one of the main reasons that I have re-thought my walk with God. So what does it mean to be Christian?

I read this simple definition a few years back: Christianity is that which looks and acts like Christ. To the extent an individual or church looks and acts like Christ that individual or church is "Christian." To the extent it does not look and act like Christ it is not "Christian." I like this definition because it measures all of our activity against the activities of Christ. And it makes sense -- "Christianity" (if we must call it that) is founded by Christ. He is the Son of God and the ultimate example for us on how to live in this world -- in the world but not of the world.

Would Christ pass by this wounded woman's home knowing she was crying behind that closed door? Would he talk about her behind her back, avoid her in public, and ask her to leave the neighborhood? Would he shun her? Would he shun anyone? When Christ invited people to turn from a sinful life, trust Him and follow Him, if they did not do so would He give up?

Would He write her off, scold her in anger, and move on to the next? How would Christ treat her?

But you say, "No, Jesus was tough on people!! Scripture is full of places he was tough on sinners!" But I say, "No, He was tough on the Pharisees." He consistently condemned the hypocrisy of the "Teachers of the Law" and berated them for not practicing what they preached. We must read through the Gospels more carefully. Jesus was a "friend of sinners." That is exactly what made the Pharisees hate him so much -- for he not only condemned their attitudes and behaviors toward sinners. He showed them daily how much God loves the sinners by loving them Himself. The hypocrites' lack of love was exposed to all by the stark contrast coming from the very Messiah they had been waiting for. The more it was exposed the more angry they became. Off in the distance, at every encounter between a sinner and Jesus, was most likely an angry Jewish Ruling Elite with a rock in his hand. As the prostitute dried the remaining perfume with her hair that Pharisee turned the stone in his palm looking for the best grip to throw it!

Jesus was a friend of sinners.
The hypocrites were not.
And it made them furious, because it exposed them for what they really were.

We must see that there is always a tension within each of us, a battle between the Spirit and our flesh. The Spirit wants to show us how to love unconditionally, how to become a friend to sinners just like our Lord. But our flesh wants to judge them, condemn them, and shun them. Then our flesh wants to pick up a rock and hurl it at those who are loving the sinners like Christ-- because their love makes our flesh feel guilty. The tension is always present but so is the answer -- surrender. Daily surrender to the Spirit is the only way for God to win over our flesh. Daily surrender. Daily surrender. And then we must seize those moments to love; those moments that come to us a dozen a day; those moments that we so often miss. We must seize those moments and act on those thoughts to love -- for those thoughts, those moments, are a gift from God. The thought to love is not from our own mind but from the mind of Christ within. Only He can love through us. We must surrender to Him, and become a mere vessel. As we do so the tension gives way to rest.

Christianity is that which looks and acts like Christ.

But we have to be honest with ourselves -- there is no perfect "Christian." If we ever think for a minute that we are, or our church is, or our country is, or anything is, perfectly "Christian," or even a better "Christian" than "that" Christian over there -- then we have forgotten the plank-eye story. Jesus Christ was the only sinless human so he has a right to tell us a parable about the plank in our eye, reminding us that if we ever get proud of ourselves for any reason we have become the hypocrite. The point of the story is not "get the plank out of your eye so you can move on to judging others." The point of the story is "always remember that we always have a plank in our eye!!" So at the same time we say "Christianity is that which looks and acts like Christ" we must always walk in ultimate humility knowing that we have a very long way to go.

That Way -- His Way -- begins with loving and caring for our neighbor. It is the second greatest commandment coming from the lips of our King. And who is our neighbor? If Jesus lived in your neighborhood how would he treat people? If Jesus lived in your neighborhood how would he treat people who didn't live in your neighborhood?

Fortunately, my friend who was burned by the "Christians" in her life is not giving up on God. Fortunately, there were a couple people who showed her love. We talked about God's love this week. And we talked about prayer. We talked about faith. She is crushed, but so are countless more who fall under the heavy hand of hypocrisy. But God keeps on showing his love to them, and to her, revealing His acceptance and His care. And we keep praying for her and loving her by the grace of God and believing the way forward is not to judge, condemn, and shun but love, accept, and invite. We believe this is the Way of our Lord. He taught us whenever you give a glass of water to them you have given one to me. So we try to keep our cups full and our doors open. But we have so far to go...to love our neighbor as ourselves. And we always will.

God .... please help us love like you. 

Christianity is that which looks and acts like Christ.