Deviant: Deviating from the accepted norm.
It has always puzzled me the number of people you find who are dedicated to deviating from Christianity while ardently maintaining their Christianity. I've never been able to figure this out. People go to great lengths to redefine the Gospel, the Bible, and Christianity in general in order to keep their pet view (read "sin") without losing their "faith". Why would they do that?
Despite what many might think, Christianity has a monolithic core. I know. Lots of people will disagree with that. But if you define "Christianity" as "following Christ" and Christianity's core definitions come from Christ's original followers (read "the Bible"), then Christianity is pretty narrow. You have to believe a set of things, and there is no negotiation. Christianity is built on the premise that God is (and there is no other), that all humans are sinners unable to save themselves from the just wrath of God, that in order to accomplish salvation, God became flesh in the from of Jesus Christ, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and bodily rose again from the grave. Other doctrines stand without negotiation as well. There is, for instance, the Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, and the Church, a universal entity made up of genuine believers. There is a moral code that follows from all this, a code derived from that inerrant Scripture.
Now, I won't deny that there is much discussion among true believers about the meaning and interpretation of Scripture. I would certainly affirm that not all genuine Christians agree on all points of doctrine. And, in that, I would also affirm that disagreements on these issues does not negate their Christianity. It's not these folks about whom I'm talking. You see, these folks all start with the sinfulness of Man, with salvation as a result of unmerited favor from God ("grace") through faith (apart from works) in Christ as our sole means of forgiveness and righteousness. These start with the Bible as their reliable source document, with the deity of Christ, with the Trinity as a given, and so forth. There is, in other words, fundamental agreement on so much before we ever get to the peripheral questions.
No, it's the rest that confuse me. It's those who argue, "You don't need to believe in the Resurrection to be a Christian." It's those who assert, "There is nothing in the Bible about sexual sin or homosexuality or how we should live our lives. You guys are just imposing your beliefs on others." It's the post-modern attack that says, "We cannot actually know truth. There is no 'worldview'. Texts have no inherent meaning. Morality is simply a power ploy. Truth is whatever you want it to be." Frankly, it's all a ploy to allow people to sin to their hearts' content and not face the truth. When people who like to call themselves "Christian" accept these arguments and run with them, I'm baffled. I mean, by all means you're free to believe what you want, but why would you demand that it is referred to as "Christian"? Why do people work so hard at stripping off anything that marks beliefs as "Christian" and then try to keep it "Christian"?
Sinning, frankly, is easy. Don't think about it; just do it. Still, it seems as if there is a large group of people that not only choose to sin, but also work hard at justifying it through Christianity. I don't get it. I don't see the point. It is not possible to deny Christianity and then call it Christian. And it's not right to impose a new, personal perspective on Christianity and expect it to be Christian. Now, I'm not telling these people to stop sinning. Oh, they should, and they would be better off for it. I'm just trying to figure out why they need to try to destroy Christianity by redefining it while they're at it. I just don't get it.
1 comment:
Amen! I've heard more and more of these arguments that sound exactly like some of your examples here. Personally, I think some of these people do this because they've been raised to believe all the Christianity truly is or they know the Truth deep down, but they've become distracted. Instead of focusing on the love and glory of the Gospel, they begin to look only at what they don't have and what they're "not allowed to do," listening to Satan's lie that the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. Once you even begin to give audience to such lies, it is so easy to get lost in a fog of false doctrine, and because it's in many ways comfortable there, you begin to loose the will to even look for the Light. You continuing to talk about God and call yourself a Christian because you know deep down that is right, but you spend so much time doing whatever you want and talking about Christianity that you don't take the time to read the Word and spend time alone with God You push aside that gnawing feeling that you need to stop, take stock, and face the Truth that living to please yourself is actually the most destructive thing you can do to yourself and not at all what God intends. If this is the case for any of these people, it's a horrible place to be. In some ways, I've been there, and I've watched other people be there too. Anyone in that muddy pit of false doctine needs our prayers!
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