Ask a surfer about the movie "Blue Crush" and you'll get an earful on how it was so unrealistic.
Ask a professional driver about the Fast & Furious movies and you'll hear over and over that drifting like that doesn't quite work like that. (Not to mention F&F6 required a runway 10 times longer than the longest runway in the world.)
Ask a politician about the show "House of Cards" or "Scandal" and…well…President Obama cleared that up.
Their lives were hijacked by Hollywood.
And that's exactly what I believe is happening to Christianity.
It's being hijacked by the people who either have no clue what it is to begin with or have stopped following God's word for their own version of what they believe it should be. I feel I am being misrepresented. And that's what's more frustrating in the larger play of things.
During an argument, one of the most frustrating things is when we feel we are not being heard, that our voice is drowned out by the other persons' inability to truly listen. Or even worse, when somebody stands up to address our case and we feel we are misrepresented. Our society is filled with so many opinions from so many places that now there are is an over-abundance of voices screaming for attention, and inevitably, people aren't truly heard or listened to. There is no unity, there is no one clear voice, and from that matter, we cannot be heard. Not that this one blog post will do that, but instead of shouting about one thing or another trying to argue the point at hand, I want to get to the heart of the matter.
Let's take some key components currently dictating "virtual water cooler talk" in the Christian community.
1) Noah (the movie)
2) Hobby Lobby
3) World Vision
(If you don't understand what these three mean, a quick google news search will help get you up to speed from here.)
1) Noah was previewed and discussed in a 3-person panel recently at the International Christian Media Convention by the National Religious Broadcasters about how the film both uses Biblical truth and diverts away from it, as well. That discussion led to the current NRB President & CEO's request to Paramount to add a disclaimer with the movie. Noah is now being promoted as a "fictional story based off the Biblical story." Typically, anything in hollywood that's based off of a real-life story, there's bound to be creative licenses.
The issue at hand was that Christians felt the film was being misrepresented as truth, or an accurate depiction of the Biblical story.
2) Hobby Lobby. This has been a widely-addressed and publicized lawsuit. It's also been one of the biggest stories that I've seen journalistic integrity go out the window. It has been publicized that the owners of the company desire to cease providing birth control in their insurance. That is by far not the case. If whatever journalists had actually read the lawsuit, or even dug just a half an inch in, they'd find that the only forms of "birth control" they'd like to keep off their insurance policies are two controversial forms of "birth control": 1) the morning-after pill and 2) abortions. Both of which are not necessarily known as "birth control." Hobby Lobby at this current day provides birth control on their insurance policies, and they are open to any who needs them, including for reasons of hormonal imbalances.
Again, their case in the media is being misrepresented and by those who also don't take the time to look into the basic facts of the case and inadvertently spread falsehoods.
3) World Vision. This has been one heck of a week for them and for the entire Christian community in a story that's made national headlines.
Take out the homosexuality debate and you get to the heart of the matter. Conservative Christians were concerned that World Vision, (who is a big name nationally, especially amongst evangelical Christians) had made a decision that misrepresented Biblical truth. Because in the conservative's view, Word Vision had taken a major step aside from Biblical truth and they struggled to support an organization who was not committed to the Gospel and solid Biblical teachings. (More on how that applies later.)
Right now, I feel like my religion, the truth of God, is being misrepresented and not heard. And I'd like to discuss a bit more in detail of the importance of the World Vision debacle.
First, let me pose the question, why is homosexuality such a hot-topic issue?
I believe it's because it's such a personal thing for many people. For those who've made that discovery of homosexuality, it's a very deep and personal issue. And if you were told that you were going to hell because of who you believe you are, you would probably be very very hurt. So for those of us living the Christian life and are against homosexuality, we have to be so very sensitive to this.
There are two major sides in this issue that splits evangelical Christians - "How To Love Homosexuals."
Some say that the sensitivity we need to have is "love" - that love they are talking about is a love that simply accepts them for who they are and can get behind the homosexual lifestyle. It's believed that it's engrained in who they are, they are born this way, so we must love them where they're at. I believe this is a false love, the kind that reels you in for a falsified truth.
The Bible, the breath and bread of Christianity, tells us that the love we need to have has to come from Christ. This love needs to be patient and kind. It shouldn't be boastful and arrogant, self-seeking, nor dishonor others, keep a record of wrongs against us (harboring grudges). BUT, Love does NOT rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It is a balancing act those must face, for it must embody love by giving grace, being patient and kind, yet being firm in instruction, even when it hurts...just like a parent must tell their child when they're doing something wrong to correct the behavior, yet still holds their arms open and says "I love you. I want the best for you. If you listen to my instructions, the best is going to come."
I am close with many mothers. Sometimes the best way a child responds to correction is by kind words suggesting another approach, and encouraging good behavior. Sometimes they must use discipline as a discouragement from bad behavior. I believe both are good methods!
Many Christians are getting bad raps because our correction isn't coming from a place of encouragement towards good but of condemnation of the bad.
But many Christians like myself feel our "parenting" (if you will) is being misrepresented by those who encourage the bad behavior because they are afraid or unwilling to help correct the bad behavior in a positive way.
Some may argue - why this sin? What's so different about this versus someone who lies? I don't know if there's an answer if we're looking at the specific sin. Homosexuality is a major red-flag in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, but what's that compared to murder? I can't speak for God. And perhaps there's a theological answer I'm missing.
But I believe the difference begins with the heart.
It had been said by some that the entire Gospel is at stake in this debate. Though it says nowhere in scripture to my knowledge that "homosexuals can't be saved" it has more to do with that very heart of the issue of true salvation.
The issue with homosexual Christians is that the act is an overt act of defiance against God's word. It is saying either "I'm claiming to love God and follow Him, but this part that He's saying is sin really isn't, so it's okay." or "I'm claiming to love God and follow Him, but I don't care if it is a sin, because this is who I am." It is either taking God's truth and twisting it to say "it's okay" or it's taking God's truth and ignoring his instruction. And in both cases, it's a claim to ignore God's love. It's on purpose, can't be ignored sin.
Does this mean that homosexuals can't go to heaven, even if they were saved Christians before? I don't know, honestly. That's a meaty chunk of theology that I haven't delved into yet.
But I do believe that if you are truly saved, your heart develops over time to be more like Christ. And if you're ignoring the Holy Spirit on this issue (or any issue for that matter) I'd say that's a matter of attitude and the heart. Who are you willing to serve. Christ said you must DENY YOURSELF and FOLLOW ME if you want to be a Christian - a Christ follower. So what is it?
I believe if we stop throwing out hurtful words at each other as Christians and begin to look at the qualities and teachings of Jesus Christ - from birth through death and resurrection - we'll find where that stable ground is. I hope that's where the definition of Christian can start coming from again. Because until then, there will always be misrepresented Christians who feel like our voices aren't being heard.
