Confession Of An Irate Christian or Why Can't You Just Agree With Me?

Emily Rant or, perhaps, a lament?

I recently had a conversation where I tried to explain why Christians are not the same as other people. I talked about how our values, morals, ethics, and very way of life is radically different from the people around us. I told how there are certain behaviors that we engage in and others that we avoid. I shared how our relationship with God compelled us to be set apart from the crowds and why we are to identified by this distinct state.

The person I was talking to became irate - irrational, even, refusing to acknowledge these things. In their opinion Christians were no different - worse, in some cases, than the people around them. I reminded them that simply claiming the title without modifying your life accordingly did not necessarily make one a Christian. I was still met with belligerent anger as they refused to see my point.

And that's when I, with all the love of Jesus in my heart, was overcome with the desire to smack them up side the head with my Grandpa's Bible - because his is significantly bigger than mine. I felt the sting of righteous indignation as I fought down the urge to choke this idiot out so that they might know the goodness of The Lord, and above all things I wanted to drive their foolishness far from them with a rod of correction.

Instead, I broke off the conversation because assault charges aren't in my immediate plans. Yet, hours later I was still fuming that anyone would choose to miss such a simple point - not all people claiming to be Christians are really Christians and if you do not see a life marked with integrity, love, compassion, grace, and mercy then chances are you dealing with a liar, fraud, or hypocrite. Surely, a little violence could be excused to drive home such a valid point?

Okay, yeah, I get that there is a huge disconnect between what I was saying and what I was thinking/feeling in that moment. I get that punching someone repeatedly in the throat so that they will acknowledge the life changing power of the love of Jesus isn't exactly the most credible means of communication. I was just mad, mostly at not being met with immediate agreement, but mad that I was being exposed as a rather small individual.

I, also, realized on reflection that I'm mad at other Christians too. I'm mad at each and everyone of us who lived lives that fail to uphold the standards of faith in such a way that we are unmistakably recognizable to the outside world as people whose lives have been radically changed by an encounter with the living God. I'm mad that our faith is only skin deep and if you scratch the surface you only find ugly, self-serving thoughts, and I'm mad that when faced with resistance our tempers rival that of a hooker who got stiffed. I'm mad that we are known more for our rage at the "world" and less for our conviction or desire to change the faults in our own lives.

I'm mad that we've stopped living our lives with integrity and excellence, as a service and witness to our King, and have chosen instead to justify our behaviors by blaming circumstance, mood, or barometric pressure. I'm mad because we have made everyone else other than God more important than God when we allow their behavior to dictate our feelings and actions. I'm mad that we will check our behaviors by how they will sound on Facebook, but we never stop to consider if they are up to the standard of THE BOOK. I'm mad that the actions and words of people who do not share our faith shame us into conforming to their image far more effectively than our relationship with our Lord motivates us to be conformed to his image.

You see, I shouldn't be surprised or angered that someone who doesn't share my faith doesn't see the distinction between Christians and everyone else. Why should they? Especially since most of us haven't either.