Stop Telling People You’re a Christian

As a pastor, I meet a lot of people who tell me they are Christians. However, there’s a favor I’d like to ask a few of them…

Would you please stop telling people you’re a Christian?

Here’s why:

You’re too judgmental, you’re too negative, you’re always focused on how bad things are and never on how good things can be.

You complain about the government, you complain about morality, you complain about most everything but talk joyfully about nothing.

You criticize people, judging this group and that group, vomiting righteous indignation all over your Facebook page, your coworkers, your neighbors, and especially other people who you don’t think measure up.

So if your joy comes from being a “Jesus Jerk” to people…

  • if you won’t tip your server at the restaurant (and a respectable tip is around 20%)
  • if no one on the internet is theologically correct enough for you
  • if you feel the need to point out every flaw in a sinner’s life

…then how ’bout you not tell anyone you’re a Christian? Please?

Your tactics don’t sound like “the Great Commission” Jesus called us to. Instead, your joyless faux-Gospel is really a “Great Omission” – you’ve deleted all the joy that should be naturally present in the Christian’s life.

Though you must have been a child once, you’ve forgotten how to have any fun. You’re against everything outside of church and are suspicious of anyone having a good time. Sure, I know there are many things in this world we should avoid, but why all the continued focus on them? Why not think on the good things, like Philippians 4:8 commands us?

Maybe all your morality is really just “sour grapes”. Are you actually just mad about all the “fun” you’re missing out on?

Perhaps you get a twisted joy from sucking the life out of every room you enter. People have learned that “they’d better watch their p’s and q’s around you” or you will point out their wrong behavior and put them in their place…though not always to their faces.

Even when your point is well-taken, your motive and spirit are dead wrong. Jesus never criticized people into God’s Kingdom, He loved them in! The only ones on the receiving end of His anger were the self-righteous rule-checkers – the Pharisees – watching everyone else’s actions like a newly deputized Middle School hallway monitor, the Barney Fife’s of the religious world.

However, there are some religions who’d love the way you act – the ones whose founders encouraged rabid self-righteousness and merciless judgment on those outside their faith. Perhaps those religions would be a better fit for you. I could make some recommendations if you’d like and try to point you to a compatible “hate group” in a neighborhood near you.

Sort of like “Non-Christian Mingle” for angry religious people…

But what you’re preaching, that’s not Jesus. Jesus is the one whose “lovingkindness leads us to repentance”, who “left the 99” to search for the one lost sheep. That Jesus never talked hatefully to sinners the way you do.

You see, some of us are really trying to represent Him the best we can, though we’re admittedly far from perfect. But we keep getting tripped up by the bad taste you leave in everyone’s mouth. And your brand of “faith” is like a rash you should be embarrassed to expose in public.

Somewhere along the way, you’ve decided to try and beat everyone else on the race toward Christlikeness. But the race was supposed to be about beating our own time, not someone else’s. So maybe once you’ve stopped viewing church as a full-contact competitive sport, you’ll remember the real Jesus you’ve forgotten.

But until then, please get off your soapbox, because no one’s buying what you’re selling. Even sinners know that your “joyless jesus” is not the real thing.

So this Sunday, maybe just stay home…read the paper, watch TV, cut the grass…you know, all those things you criticize non-believers for doing.

Perhaps what you need is a good “time out” in the corner for a while.

That’s it: a time out. And when you pick a corner to sit in, just make sure there’s a mirror there too. Because that’s the person you need to be taking a long hard look at.

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