Lies People Tell - Blaming Christ

The first is the biggest. It carries huge ramifications and is the source of a whole host of problems for Christians. The problem, as is so often the case, is that the premise that the opponent and the defender both accept as true is not. So we end up with a very difficult place to stand. The premise of this big lie is "Christians have caused ..." followed by a host of horrors done by Christians. You've heard it, I'm sure. We are to blame for the Crusades. Some have suggested that we are to blame for the Holocaust because, you know, Hitler was a Christian. Christians are responsible for slavery. Christians are responsible for hate crimes against homosexuals. And on and on. So we ask, "Why do you say that?" and the reply is "Whoever did it called themselves Christian, so Christians are responsible for it."

Do you see the problem? Now we're left hanging out here as if we need to defend the Crusades, the Holocaust, slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries, and hate crime against homosexuals. We surely don't want to say "Christianity was wrong". So what to do?

What to do? Recognize the lie. Here, let's see if you recognize the source of this quote: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 7:21). Yes, that would be a quote from Jesus Himself. Jesus made it abundantly clear that not all who claim to know Him actually knows Him. He warned, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matt 7:15-16). For some reason, it seems, we're not allowed to do that. We are not allowed to recognize if someone is a false prophet. But John warned about this as well. "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world" (1 John 4:1). What was the test? "We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). So the test from Jesus was "their fruits" and John tells us to see if they listen to the Word. Jesus agreed: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (John 10:27). Here, then, is the definition we should be using but fail so often to apply. What is a "Christian"? It is not one who professes to be one. It is one who bears fruit, who follows Scripture, who listens to Christ. Look, this isn't fine semantics. A "Christian" is simply "one who follows Christ". "Christianity", then, would be constructed not of those who simply claim the role but of all of those who follow Christ. The primary message of the followers of Christ is the Gospel -- how do we get a right relationship with God? So much of the rest is purely extraneous. But the world has bought a lie. Because someone claims himself to be a Christian, then he is. We don't have to buy that same lie.

Back that into the accusations, then. "Christians caused the Crusades." What about the Crusades was "Christian"? What in Scripture would suggest that going to war in the Holy Land was what Christ would want? What in Christ's teachings would suggest that fighting for power and land was what Christ had in mind? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! So why, simply because someone claims it was "Christian", does it get attributed to "Christianity"? Because no one is defining "Christianity" as anything except a loose claim by folks denied by the words of Christ. In other words, when people complain about the Crusades, I'm perfectly free to agree. "Yes, absolutely! Those were terrible! What does that have to do with Christianity?"

"Christians are responsible for slavery." Where, in the following of Christ and the message of the Gospel, do we find the slavery of the 18th and 19th centuries? (Important note: The "slavery" of the Old Testament and the "slavery" of the 18th and 19th centuries were not similar. Another lie.) In truth, it was Christian abolitionists that brought about the end of the practice. The abuses that define our modern perception of slavery are in direct opposition to Christ and the Gospel. So ... why is it that Christianity is blamed for something that Christ and the Gospel would oppose?

It's the same with the rest. When Hitler acted in a purely non-Christian manner, why is Christianity blamed? When people commit hate crimes clearly in opposition to Scripture, Christ, and the Gospel, why is Christianity blamed? "They did it in the name of Christianity" is not a sufficient reason to blame Christianity. Here's the story I told someone awhile back when he made that assertion. "Imagine that I come to you one day and pull out a gun and tell you, 'I'm going to have to kill you.' You say, 'Hey! Wait! Why?' I tell you, 'Your wife told me to.' You say, 'That can't be; my wife loves me.' Why is it that someone who claims to do something in the name of your wife is immediately discounted because you know your wife better than that, but someone who claims to do something in the name of Christ is accepted at face value even though we know Christ better than that?"

Don't buy the lie. Things done "in the name of Christianity" are not the same as actual Christian behavior. You see, if we recognize that lie at the outset, it becomes much easier to short-circuit the discussion. "No, you're absolutely right. Those things are absolutely wrong. The only problem is it wasn't Christians involved. It was bad people misrepresenting themselves." And the blame gets placed where it ought to be rather than at the feet of Christ.