Castrated by Christians
Why Christians are leaving the faith…
Recently, there have been some popular names in Christianity renouncing their “faith.” Bestselling author, Joshua Harris, made a shocking announcement after his divorce went public saying, “I am not a Christian.” Then weeks later, Hillsong Worship Leader Marty Sampson, claims to no longer associate with Christianity. I have seen a lot of people write their opinions and responses on blogs and Facebook posts. I also read the response by Skillet’s John Cooper.
It’s heartbreaking to hear all the "denouncing of faith" but personally I understand and can relate. I also understand and agree with a lot of what John Cooper had to say in his response, but I think Mr. Cooper and a lot of American Christians are missing the point. Now I might be wrong, but since this is my blog…here’s my opinions on why many Christians are “falling away.” For the record, falling away is a biblical term but it doesn’t mean what you think it does. Falling away means to turn from grace in Christ back to following the laws of Moses. In other words - replacing new covenant reality found in Jesus with old covenant living according to rules. Paul even had harsh words for those who went back to old covenant living as he tells the church in Galatia they might as well cut off their penis. Don’t believe me? Check out Galatians 5:11-12. It was a common term used among first century Jews. It’s not however, a term for people falling away from church back into sinful lifestyles. In fact, those types of people aren’t even falling away from Jesus. How can you fall away from Jesus? They are most likely falling away from church people telling them to be better and try harder.
Again, here’s my reasons for why people are “leaving the faith”…
People don’t run from Jesus. They run from people and systems who claim to “know” Jesus. Even in my own conversations with atheists, I have never heard one person disagree with the lifestyle of Jesus. They only despise the judgment from those who claim to live like him.
Christians tend to allow little room for dialogue and doubt. We’ve created an institution where people have to look like and believe like us or they’re out (or called a heretic). We don’t allow people to grow, wrestle, ask difficult questions, disagree, and discover who they are and why they’re here. We don’t allow people the time to process and experience Jesus on their own timeline. We don’t even allow people to struggle or doubt, completely ignoring the reality that one of the greatest ways we can reach people is by walking with them through their struggles and doubts without trying to fix their struggles and doubts. People are not assignments! Stop trying to save the world and just start by loving the next person you run into as if you were running into Jesus.
Christians tend to interpret and cherry-pick the Bible apart from Jesus and use it to bring shame, guilt, and condemnation. Can we please stop elevating the Bible over Jesus? The two aren’t the same. Shockingly, Jesus trumps the Bible. There’s a reason the popular wristbands said, “What would Jesus do?” not “What does the Bible say?” Unfortunately, many Christians worship the Bible instead of the real, authentic, and loving God that is progressively revealed in the Bible and is fully revealed in the person of Jesus. If you don’t understand covenants and which covenant applies to you and which don’t, you will misinterpret and misapply verses to your life. Besides, Jesus is the Word according to John 1. So, we must read Scripture through the lens of Jesus to determine what is God and what is not. You can’t turn to the Hebrew Scriptures to know exactly what God is like. Only Jesus shows us exactly what God is like. For example, God doesn't desire infant killing or genocide. Yet, according to the prophet Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:3, God commands it. I don’t believe God told him to do that because it doesn’t line up to the character of God revealed to us through Jesus. I think Samuel's nationalistic view point of God caused him to operate opposite of the Spirit of God. Why? Because Jesus reveals to us who God is and who He has always been. Either Samuel got it wrong or Jesus did…Or what about the idea from Deuteronomy 28:58-63 that God finds pleasure in destroying the disobedient? Again, when you line this idea up with the character of God revealed to us in Jesus, it’s easy to reject (or put in its proper covenant) for 1 John 4:8 claims God is love. Ezekiel (who didn’t have the full revelation of God) even rejects this idea in Ezekiel 18:32 when he pens, “For (God) takes no pleasure in the death of anyone…” So either Moses (who scholars believe wrote Deuteronomy) got it wrong or John and Ezekiel got it wrong. But both can’t be true. As Keith Giles said in his book, Jesus Unbound, “Jesus even told us: There is no life in the Bible. But the Bible points you to the One who does give us life. That’s Jesus. The Bible never points us to the Bible. The Bible always points us to Christ. Read the Bible. Follow Christ.”
I could show you several other blatant contradictions in the Hebrew Scriptures as the authors were learning about who God was and is. My faith however, isn’t determined on the accuracy of every detail and event in the Hebrew Scriptures. And none of these examples trip up my faith because my faith isn’t found in a book. It’s found in the God who is revealed in the book. My faith is dictated by the compassion and love Jesus had for all people regardless of their lifestyle, gender, or race. My faith is challenged by the grace and forgiveness that Jesus showed to the disciple who betrayed him and the men who murdered him. My faith is inspired by his disciples who went on to never renounce their faith in the midst of being brutally tortured for it (who dies for something unless they’re convinced it’s real?). My faith is solidified in the fact that Jesus got up, conquered death, and brought me life...a life of hope! A life that keeps empowering others...keeps believing...keeps loving. A life that quits focusing on getting to Heaven one day and instead brings Heaven to Earth. Again, people don’t leave Christianity because of Jesus. They leave the Bible thumpers who castrate others in the name of God.
(PS if you made it this far, thank you. Also, I’m excited to remind you that my new book, Stoker, comes out August 25th! If you live in Southern Indiana, we’re having a release party and you’re invited. Hope to see you there!)