It’s a Thursday evening and I look around the cozy room to see my peers in light-up Christmas sweaters and holiday-themed pajama pants. But our youth group’s topic of conversation is anything but jolly. We are discussing the recent events in the world and our frustrations with being misrepresented as Christians. This week I interviewed Hailey Hart, a fellow student who co-founded the LifeStream youth group at OCU. She and I talked through some of these frustrations together.
From the outside, today’s Christianity looks like it’s being presented as an exclusive group. Please note I don’t mean exclusive like extraordinary, but in a more literal sense: looking to exclude. Hailey Hart describes it as a coterie. “I think the modern perception of Christianity is… a bunch of people who hate things," she said. "I think that people see Christianity as a group of people who… want to be insiders.”
This is such an irony, because it strays so far from the Christian teachings of unconditional love, acceptance, and understanding. Jesus surrounded himself with not only imperfect people, as we all are, but with people he didn’t necessarily always agree with. He loved everyone – he made it very obvious that his following was to be an all-inclusive one, if you were willing.
When I asked Hailey about this, she responded, “I think you asked [about] it because you know that that’s like the furthest thing from what Jesus Christ’s life represented. “ She then used the allegory of John 8:1-11 to illustrated her point. She says, “I think that’s a beautiful... epitomized version of where we are at right now… and [shows] the way that Jesus would react to the way that we’re currently acting.”
The key here is the power of will, which he gave to everyone. So why in this day and age do we have people claiming to be Christians who take this God-given power of will away?
The shooting at Planned Parenthood was supposedly a religious mission. Yet Christians everywhere find themselves restlessly searching for which Christian beliefs were upheld and exemplified. Instead, all they find are a misguided interpretation of these beliefs by radicals.
“If there’s a Christian being a good Christian – being someone who is respectable in their faith, and there’s a Christian being a crazy radical Christian… that Christian who went and killed those people at Planned Parenthood, of course he’s going to be recognized [by the media and society] for his ‘Christianity’ more than someone who might be quietly practicing. “
These radicals ignored the very foundation of our religion. Now Christians everywhere are dealing with the perverted image that is the consequence of radicals like these, the Westboro Baptist Church, and others. These actions are ones that I, and many others, are ashamed to be associated with.
Upon reflection, I realize that this is the first time I can even begin to understand the discrimination that Muslims in this country face. Hailey weighs in by remarking that the “Actions of those few [radicals] are now affecting the masses of the faith.”
There are times that I avoid talking about my religion, not because I am at all reluctant to share its teachings and philosophies, but for fear of the negative connotation that is now linked with it. So I have come to the conclusion that religion in and of itself is not the problem – humans are (and always have been). Religion is not the enemy. Radicalism is.
The true irony here always strikes me because the warped “logic” goes against the very nature of the universe. We have the power of will. I believe that it is God-given. Anyone who tries to take this power of will away from you -- through spreading hate, by force, or in any other way -- is directly disrespecting the God they claim to be fighting for. In fact, they are playing God.
Hart agrees, noting that “We were given [the power of will] for a reason... and if you believe in that then you believe in the freedom of choice… but I think there’s something so beautiful in that -- something so emotional and deep and spiritual in the option.”
This, however, is more than a consideration. It is a call to action: fellow Christians, I encourage you to promote open discussion about what is happening in the world – especially as it relates to your spirituality. We are lucky enough to live in a time and place where we are no longer actively prosecuted – we have our power of will, and we have prime opportunity. Through fellowship, prayer, and leading by example (in following the example that was left for us), we can reintroduce to the world the true sense of Christianity. It is a place that is open for all.
