I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about that little gem at the end of Romans 3 - “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” At least, not while considering this at the end of 1 John 1: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Today I came across an AP religion column about Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz. Kelli Kennedy wants us all to know that “Donald Miller still loves God and Jesus…His problem is with Christianity, at least how it’s often practiced.” To him Christianity seems to be about “conservative politics, suburban consumerism and an ‘insensitivity to people who aren’t like us.’”
The column goes on to paint this image of traditional Christians as ultraconservative, totally intolerant, and shallow in their spirituality. I don’t want to critique the article here; I just want to lament the truth in this image of Christianity in America.
As followers of Christ we have two huge weights to balance: the knowledge that Christ has saved us through the cross, and the knowledge that without him we are wretched sinners. We tend fall too hard to one side. We either focus on ritual perfection, and thus become the Pharisees of scripture, or we focus on hyper-inclusiveness that flies in the face of Paul’s teaching at the end of 1 Corinthians 5.
Why does this happen? It’s sin, plain and simple. Sin clouds our vision, making it impossible to see God’s grace and the call to holiness in the proper light.
The Wall Street Journal paraphrases “Christian leaders” as saying that the church’s traditional role is one of moral enforcement. Miller uses that type of attitude to imply (or maybe flat out say, I haven’t read anything of his) that there is no place in the church for behavioral expectations.
The important teachers disagree with him on that: Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, Jude, John…but they also disagree with the idea that the church is to be a “moral enforcer”. We were all sinners before we knew Christ, and without Him we still would be. So we know that we are no better than “homosexuals and Democrats and, well, hippie types.” So we should respect them as people, despite any disagreements. That’s the way of Christ.
Rule #8 is coming…
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