After a while, there are certain things that a thinking Christian gets sick and tired of hearing from other Christians.  Even a most basic understanding of Scripture (which in itself is sadly lacking—see below) allows no place for mindsets that include many ideas that have historically been justified by misquotes, out-of-context verses, or adventures in proof-texting that would make any circus contortionist green with envy.  Most humans demonstrate lapses of judgment from time to time, but there are certain un-Christian attitudes demonstrated by some folks in the Church that should be so obvious that they normally would not even be up for debate.  The following five examples should suffice to make this point.

There is no place in the Church for racism

           There is an old saying that goes, “The 11 o’clock hour on Sunday mornings is the most segregated hour of the week.”  And despite the supposed enlightenment of our present generation, there is much less exception to this rule today than we might have expected.  Some say we have come a long way in a short time, others point out how far we still have to go—is the glass half-full or half-empty?

           Charges of racism, the false as well as the true, go flying about our society in every direction.  If true racism is to be defined as judging another on the basis of their racial heritage or ethnicity, then it stands to reason that some sort of  racial judgment is of necessity involved in the origination of any such allegation.  In other words, if you make a comment that causes someone else to call you a racist (whether it is deserved or not), then the person who makes the accusation against you is inescapably judging you according to your race in order to make the accusation—they decided that your race is ultimately behind that comment.  So in these cases the victims and the perpetrators are inevitably one and the same; when we recklessly fling such accusations at anyone else, then by definition we have become guilty of the same crime ourselves.  In other words, this is a “no-win” proposition; if I call you a racist, I have then become a racist myself.

           The only way out of this vicious cycle is to repent right here, right now.  We must go cold turkey on our bad attitude, and more importantly, we must go cold turkey on our reactions to the bad attitudes of others.  Our tendency to point out any minute difference between ourselves and others inevitably leads us to consider the difference as a point of our own superiority; the thought is something like: “Because you’re not just like me, you must be inferior to me.”  Blame it on our competitive mindset, or on unbridled anger, or on sheer pride or ego, or on anything you like—it still has to go, and it has to go now.

There is no place in the Church for anti-semitism

           There have always been those within Christendom who consider the Jewish people as enemies.  Most of these conveniently ignore the fact that Jesus was Himself a Jew, and go on to then portray Him as someone who resembles a European—some representations have even gone to the point of showing Him as having blonde hair and blue eyes.  It’s bad enough that non-Christians claim the name of Christ in the pursuit of their own ends—which admittedly include the committing of atrocities against the Jewish people—but throughout history, some Christians will occasionally join in and add to the problem by perpetuating the various manufactured stereotypes, and from time to time even throw the stones themselves.

           The unique relationship between the religious system of the Jewish nation and the Christian faith may not fully qualify them as “brethren.” but they certainly at least can be seen as our “faith-cousins.”  The third chapter of Romans begins with a statement from Paul about the role the Jews played in the foundation of the Church, and in the third and fourth chapters of Galatians he gives us a more clear explanation of the relationship between Jewish law and those who by faith are the “seed” of Abraham.  Many wise Bible teachers of today recognize the rich contributions that can be made to the Church’s understanding of our God if we will explore and study the heritage of the Jews.  As one teacher put it, “God isn’t finished with Israel—in fact, He has barely begun!”

           Some of the lamest arguments ever perpetrated against any people have been those leveled at the Jews for killing Jesus.  Some blame the politics of the Sanhedrin at the time, some feel that it was symbolized by the name of the betrayer Judas Iscariot, because his name (a variation of Judah, from which the word “Jew” is taken) is seen as representative of the whole nation, still others blame the mob who shouted, “Crucify Him!” even after they had only one week earlier welcomed Him with singing and with palm branches.  But we must recognize that it was God’s plan all along for this to come to pass, and because Jesus was in Jerusalem, the capital of the Israelites, at the time of this event, it is only normal that the people of that city and region would be involved.

           If you’re looking for someone to blame for the death of Jesus, then blame me—go ahead, it’s all right.  If I hadn’t been so totally consumed by my sins, He would not have needed to die on my behalf.  The fact is that His crucifixion was as much the result of your sin and my sin as it was a result of any of the actions of any of the people of that day.  So if you won’t take your share of the “blame,” I’ll still take mine.

There is no reason for any Christian in a literate environment to lack a working knowledge of Scripture

           We’ve all heard the corny jokes: this one’s so stupid he thinks that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife; that one’s so dumb he thinks that the epistles were the wives of the Apostles; the other one’s such a moron he thinks that John 3:16 is the third floor men’s room.  But when an average believer thinks that “God helps those who help themselves” is a Biblical saying (as far as we know, it was first written by Benjamin Franklin in 1736 for Poor Richard’s Almanac), then it’s clear that something has got to give.

           Our Father, the Master Teacher, has given us homework; yet as unpleasant and inconvenient as that prospect may sound, it is still necessary for our success at the endeavor of Christian living.  We are charged with the task of engaging in systematic searching of the ultimate textbook, the Scriptures, and we have enough help from various tools to make a variety of approaches tenable.  He has given us the means to study it with a well-rounded variety of methods so that we may understand what it can do for us; and by doing all these things we glorify Him.  Despite the reliability of those who we might trust to wield it for us, we still need our own consistent study of the written Word to keep us together, on track, and inside the parameters of the Spirit of God.

           If we face the facts, we have to admit that the knowledge that most of us have of the Bible comes to us filtered through other people.  No matter how trustworthy the other people are (or that we think they are), at the very least we are restricting the Spirit of God from one of His means of direct access to us, forcing Him to use more indirect ways than perhaps He would prefer.  It is indeed perilous to abandon our quest to know the Scriptures for reliance on the exclusive conduit of other people‘s transmission of it—this extra degree of separation from His guidance can only result in more misunderstanding and frustration for us.  So it is up to us bear the responsibility to know for ourselves the direction of God, because as Jesus said of the shepherd, “… the sheep follow him, for they know his voice (John 10:4).”

There is no reason for Christians to be ignorant of basic Church history

           Christians have a tendency to avoid reading about Church history—or any kind of history—unless they have to for a class at a Bible College or some similar requirement.  Occasionally, some will read a little bit of it, but often they are merely looking for inspiring stories of the saints of old so they can be motivated in their own walks.  Some read it to look for skeletons in the closet, so they can revile the church or some faction therein.  A few will read just enough to gather evidence to either prove or disprove some off-the-wall theological point or to find the origins of a doctrinal debate.

           The story of the Body of Christ is one that is worthy of our reading and studying for many reasons.  Of course we can at least expect to see our fair share of the Church’s triumphs and tragedies, advances and declines, good and evil characters, etc.  But a fair assessment will then reveal the hand of our God at work to show us lessons from the successes and failures of our spiritual forbears.  For those of us who are willing to be objective about it, the mistakes of our spiritual predecessors can not only help us to avoid future problems, but can also let us see most of them as well-meaning human beings, just like us.

           George Santayana started it when he said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”  Mark Twain put it thus: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”  I saw a sign in front of a church back in the 70’s that seemed to try to clarify the sentiment by saying, “The past is not to live in but to learn from.”  More recently, there is a saying I’ve heard from many different sources which goes like this: “One of the definitions of insanity is: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result every time.”  In a recent speech, Rwandan holocaust survivor Clemantine Wamariya said, “History doesn’t repeat itself—we repeat history.”  By now the message ought to be clear; ignorance of the past generally only leads to a cycle of frustration, defeat, and stagnation.

There is no reason for the Church not to be reasonably environmentally responsible

           Immediately upon the mention of this topic, the common knee-jerk reaction is to accuse somebody of either being a “planet-poisoner” or a “tree-hugger.”  These bits of unnecessary haranguing illustrate how polarizing this topic can be, especially in light of what may be at stake if everyone continues to miss the point.

           Certainly, no one speaking from a Christian perspective would imply that the earth is somehow a sacred thing in and of itself, as though it were some Gaia figure or deserved to be revered as “Our Mother.”  Our view should be a simple one, inspired by the creation story of Genesis: one means of expressing respect for our Creative Father is to refuse to act disrespectfully toward His creation.  Certain things then easily follow: for example, we should refrain from acting wastefully or abusively with His provision for us; neither should we behave in a way that would deface His artistry.

           We were given authority, also called “dominion,” which also bears with it a sense of accountability for the physical world’s care and proper upkeep.  One of the reasons that we may have lost sight of this could be the subtle change in meaning that this word “dominion” has undergone since its earlier English understanding.  Instead of the more proper original concept which emphasizes the responsibility of tending our garden as Adam was to tend Eden, we have tended to equate it with the more modern, stricter idea of domination by control; which has undoubtedly left some throughout history to consider this as a license to misuse and squander our natural resources.

           If we carry the idea of environmentalism too far, however, we may cross the line and delve into such things as concentrating on the creation above the Creator.  God has truly given us “richly all things to enjoy,” more lavishly providing for us than even the birds of the sky or the flowers of the fields.  Do we despise such bounty in the name of frugality?  Or do we make full and sensible use of it with due thankfulness, handling it responsibly and without indulging in “fleshly” excess?

           Clearly there is a sensible, moderate stance to take on this issue, and includes the totality of the Scriptural witness and not just the parts we like.  It is a place where bug-eyed leftist alarmism is eschewed and silly pantheistic attitudes are relegated to the past.  Yet it is also a place where we understand that to reduce, reuse, and recycle is merely a good beginning, and that even a seemingly trivial act such as littering betrays a carelessness unbefitting the people of God.

*  *  *  *  *

           The above examples are only a beginning, and are meant as representative topics and not as a complete survey.  Such things would never need to be addressed if it were not for the severe lack of common sense coupled with an inaccurate reading and understanding of the Scriptures which are so frequently demonstrated.  Remember, our God is even more capable than your junior high school teacher to see through the lame excuses that we so often hear for our lack of attention to the attitudes in our lives which need correction.