To Be A… Christian?

WED., AUG. 4, 1999, 8:37 AM
A.S.C., F.P.C.

It was a small, faithful group this morning around the unadorned breakfast table. The Scripture focus was Paul’s letter to Titus, an uncircumcised Gentile, certainly one of the early Christians. You expect that Titus was pleased that Paul was telling him, clearly, that he did not have to conform to all of the Jewish laws in order to be a Christian… and you can imagine that he was happy to know that he didn’t have to be circumcised.

But the call seemed to be that Christians should be obviously virtuous, gentle, and kind. Why? So that non-Christians would want to be like these that they observed and worked with. Converts would be “drawn” by this gentle, sin free behavior, and the Christian flock would grow… with each “new one” then being a model for yet more.

It was a rather simple “prescription” for a small minority, opposed by Jews and ignored by non-Jews in that area of the world. In some ways (but not all) the situation is similar to that of Native Americans in your culture. While Indians are not “evangelizers,” they are urged to be gentle, cooperative, and accepting of their present minor role in American life. There was plenty of feeling, in that first century, that this “new movement” would die out… and, by Paul and some of the Christians, that I, as the Christ, would soon return, and it would be “the end of the age.” “Don’t seek rewards here… they will come in the next world.”

And yet you note that Paul, himself, did not take this advice completely. He was the most powerful voice in proclaiming that I, God, had come to earth as Jesus, had taught sufficiently, and then accepted My physical death on the cross as the mystical way of absolving humans of sin… even sins. It is mystical because it doesn’t make sense in “modern thinking” – a sinless one dies and hence the sins of many are taken on His/My shoulders… sins are forgiven.

It is the “ultimate welfare.” As Paul says to Titus, “You didn’t earn this forgiveness… you are not worthy of it. It is just given to you, because God is kind and generous.” But what next? Ideally you are so thankful for this “gift” that you lose desires to sin and have great desires to serve Me, in innumerable ways.

But… aren’t there “rules” or “laws” or “a right way to behave”? Here’s where it is mystical again. Titus is being told how to get young Christians… and older ones, too… to behave, under the unspoken premise that if you are a Christian you will just “naturally” do good… and no wrong. At the same time, in other Letters to Churches, Paul affirms that to be a Christians is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Specific behaviors (doing and not doing) are of no final relevance.

Thus, as Christianity has become a dominant world religion the range of Christians continues to expand. There are quiet, meditative Christians… and loud, boisterous Christians… and many in-between. There are sober Christians and drunk Christians, as the ends of a spectrum. There are Christians with concern for the environment, and Christians whose focus is immediate help for suffering, “unequal” humans. There are Christians who support military action to right “wrongs,” to preserve a “way of life,” to conquer an “enemy.” And there are Christians who are staunch pacifists, with a “turn the other cheek” perspective.

You, o son, are an “official Christian,” who was baptized as a baby, who joined the Church as a youth, and who have been an active Christians layman during your adult life. You feel comfortable as a Presbyterian, a middle-of-the-road denomination, with historical roots in the doctrine of predestination and “chosenness.” (These roots are not admired by all Presbys, of course.)