When It Comes To Perception - Christianity's Taking A Beating
Articles coming out in Time Magazine and the Los Angeles Times this weekend indicate just how much
of a beating the Christian faith is taking right now when it
comes to the public’s perception. I’m going to be writing more about
this in coming weeks because I blame much of this on a flawed strategy to
impact the culture. The last 30 years have seen a rise in Christian
organizations with strategies that “confronted” the culture. They
viewed it as a culture war, and went on the attack. But “power” and
“influence” are two different things, and controlling the process
doesn’t necessarily mean you control their hearts and minds. Read these
articles because they’ll give you a good perspective on what the
non-religious person is thinking right now about the Christian faith,
and the people who espouse it. Then in coming days, I’ll be
responding on a number of different fronts.
I was at one church where the Pastor and the congregation tried to keep politics out of the church but kept the other topics in.
In another church the Pastor incorporated his own politics into the sermon. Half the congregation (Right Wing) loved it and the other half (Both Wings) complained.
And in another church the Pastor tried to keep politics out of the church, but the Right Wing members kept trying to bring their position in.
Was there a strategy in the first place? It sounds more like we just reacted as opposed to have been purposeful in building and establishing relationships with the people of the world (which we [I] were [was] once a part of but the grace and love of God...) into the Kingdom of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the line our focus shifted and we need to focus on what will not change no matter the season/condition/political/cultural/emotional/fashionable and any unstable thing in this world to the love of God in Christ Jesus while we have time left in this world. Then again it is a sign of the times and Noah did not get many to the side of righteousness long before the law.
The articles say Christians are too anti-homosexuals, old-fashioned, and hypocrites. Also too judgmentals and too involved in politics. Is that true?