Are we really Christian?

I have been struggling a lot lately, and only a few people have actually been in the loop about it.  It sucks… a lot, however I feel like it is giving me a whole new view point that will be very important later on when I am called to a church.  I will probably have a few follow-ups to this post in the coming months as I continue to think about this and read a book or two, but here is the initial thought:  I can’t blame people for leaving the church.  Now, before you freak out thinking I am running away or talking trash about God or anything absurd like that… I’m not.  However I spent a lot of time thinking about my actions and those around me and looking at the way we interact and I see it- I see why people hate the church.

One of the biggest criticisms of Christians is that we are hypocritical, and all too often I hear Christians saying “NO! Of course we aren’t! We are GREAT Christians!” blah blah blah. Right.  But we ARE hypocritical.

Over the last several months I have looked at different communities from an outsiders view, paying attention to the way in which they interacted with each other and those on the outside.  What is funny is the communities that claim no faith base but are instead gathered because of another common interest are the ones who are the most inclusive and welcoming.  The Christian communities? Not so much.

I have seen people preach one thing and do the opposite all too often.  “Well Jesus said we need to welcome all people… (10 minutes later) I have no reason, but I just don’t like them and I will give them a hard time because of that.” And that is Christian how, exactly?  Or “We are all brothers and sisters in Christ…. Except for them.”  I can’t say that we help ourselves at all though because we continually say that it is an open table but exclude a list of people.  Basically if they don’t think, look, and act like us they are not allowed.

The most interesting part? I have continually been excluded from various “Christian” communities but the ones that I really have nothing in common with except for the fact I know one person? I am welcomed with open arms.  Now, I can’t sit here and say all this and not be honest- I have done my own excluding in my time so I am in no way saying that I am free of guilt.

This is my question though- why can’t we just embrace each other’s differences and truly live in the way that Christ did? I can’t think of any part of the Bible when Christ said that any person was excluded, but instead he taught that we should reach out to those who otherwise would be excluded, living together as one body.  Just because someone thinks differently from us doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time with them and it definitely doesn’t mean that we should discount them as being “dumb” or “not understanding”.

Now, I have to admit that the reason I began to pay more attention to this situation was because I saw it happening more to myself and heard about it happening to people that I am very close to.  I will also admit that I have made some different choices than I would have months ago because I have taken the time to really think about the situation and who would be affected and how.  I still screw up sometimes, but at least I am trying.  I lose patience too easily with those that “don’t think” and realize that I am losing patience because I am falling back into bad habits.

We exclude people from communities that preach inclusion.  When people come in our doors expecting to find an inclusive community and don’t, can we blame them for leaving? Can we blame people for being fed up with us because we preach one thing and act another? I think not.  What we can do is become more intentional about making sure that our actions and words follow the teachings of Christ- that we listen to what others believe and think and do and reserve our judgment.  No one gave any of us a paper saying that all that we do and say is right, so how can we say that because someone isn’t exactly like us is wrong?

Our country is built on a system that allows for people to think, vote, and lead differently.  We live in a world with hundreds of religions and government systems, allowing all of us to live in different ways.  In any situation where there is more than one person, there will be differences.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  What is wrong is when we force our own beliefs on others and fault them when they don’t conform.  I am a Christian and am even studying to be a minister, but nothing makes me sicker to my stomach than when someone decides they need to preach to me and tell me why I am destined for Hell or need to be saved.  Don’t ask me what I think and then don’t even give me a chance to tell you before you tell me what is wrong.

I have said it before and will say it again- I don’t write this blog to impose my opinions on others, but rather to work through my opinions, beliefs, and thoughts for myself.  I might ask questions and urge whoever might read this to think about something, but I never tell anyone that they must do what I write about.  If I do, I hope you will let me know so that I can make sure I don’t accidentally do it again.  With that in mind, here is my question from all of this…

What can we do, Christians or not, to live a life that welcomes the lives of others in a way that we truly can be free… after all, we live in the United States of America.  This is where people who are persecuted in other countries escape to, in hopes of finally finding freedom… but are they really?  Are we living our lives in a way that encourages differences or forbids them?  What can we do so that no one suffers because we couldn’t deal with the fact that they are different?