conclusion--am i post-christian? journal 9

I think the conclusion for me is becoming a rather sobering look at myself. I struggled with so many of the post-modern shift, saying in the back of my head not me, not us. But as I time has gone on I am beginning to see some of them, in me and in the world around us. I struggled with the idea of being “Post-Christian” only to discover that I think I am there. I want everything to with Jesus and little to do with the Church. I see the message of “Jesus hates” in the world around me. I think this would be rather non-concerning if it was limited to Jesus hating my SUV, but its not. I see it in the message the church is broadcasting to world outside its doors and how in some places there is this expectation that people change before they enter the church. The church instead of becoming a place of refuge for the "sick" has become a bunker for those who are "healthy." It pains me to write this, but I see it in the way the church treats those who have had abortions, homosexuals, those with mental illness, those with sin. The church instead of being a place of love has become a breeding ground for hate.

The book talks of the response being love. Agreed, however I think our love needs to be less selective, less exclusive. As I am writing I am listening to a Jason Mraz song called I’m Yours. The songs talks of our “God Forsaken right to be Loved, Loved, Loved” About not hesitating and surrendering to this idea of Love, and how it cannot wait. Like the optimism of Christian in Moulin Rouge to change the world. Love has the ability to be the lived theology of Christ. If we moved from loving people on an individual level as so many Christians do on there own and love people on a corporate level I think the shift away from the church and the labels attached to it, would diminish and the church wouldn’t need to feel so threatened by the shift away from Christianity.

I wish I wasn’t so cynical, but somehow my experience with the church has led me to this point. I pray for healing from my distain for church. This divorce of Jesus from his church is dangerous, and needs to be resolved. Maybe pop culture has something to teach us. In the end I think we need to leave our bunkers, enter the world, and be light.