faith

I was driving to Saddleback this morning and as I passed the Trinity Broadcasting Network's white castle on the 405 I glanced at the illuminated marquee. It said something like "the brilliant splendor of the Lord's day has risen for you". That's not an exact quote, but that's the gist.

As much as I make fun of TBN and abhor their white monstrosity, and maybe its naivete, I believe that they truly want people to know Christ. Unfortunately, they are presenting the gospel in a way that is completely out of touch not only with culture, but out of touch with people in general. Even as a Christian I read the marquee and rolled my eyes at the overly mystical message. TBN was built with its white walls, perfect gardens, and pristine statues with the intention to make us think of Heaven, but instead the eyesore makes us cringe.

With places like TBN, embarrassment from fundamentalist Christians, and the general unpopular image of Christianity in the U.S. it is no wonder that I find myself and most of the other Christians of my generation on the defensive, always attempting to improve Jesus' public image, which we usually try to accomplish by criticizing those "other" Christians. Today I had a rude awakening, that first of all Jesus was never "popular" or "attractive" in the way culture wants its icons to be and he doesn't need me or anyone else to be his p.r. person. And second of all, like it or not, those "other" Christians are part of the same family that I am a part of whether or not I agree with them on theological, moral, or political issues.

So often we carry around our faith as a matter of pride because at least WE have it right... But that pride makes us pharisees and strips us of the freedom, grace, and love we're supposed to display as followers of Christ. Instead there seems to be a major spirit of judgment and criticism among this generation of Christians that is directed inward at the rest of the church.

Please don't misunderstand me; certainly the church needs to be criticized because it is so easy for her to miss the point, but ultimately I guess my point is that our aim should not to obtain the "right" faith. Instead we should pursue an honest faith. It isn't the TBN marquee nor the trendy Rock Harbor art shows that will reach people, I believe God wants people to be reached through heart to heart interaction that can only take place when we take down our pride and allow genuine faith to speak.