the problem with "pre-Christians"

As part of the "All Things New" paperwork, I have been asked to think about times recently where I have engaged and entertained "pre-Christians".

The first time that the phrase was used, I answered the question... kind of. Instead I talked about post-Christians. I encounter quite a few of these... they once went to church and now they don't. They find church to be... too... rigid, too closed, not meeting them where they are. I get these people. Truthfully, I see their point and have felt the same way. At times, I feel that I could slip away and be at home with that life. I expect a lot of the church, it is the body of Christ after all, and there are times when I feel that it has lost sight of who She is supposed to be. The church seems filled with personal agendas, and God I pray that they are not mine.

The second time that that phrase was used in a question, I didn't even attempt to answer the question. Instead, I ranted about the phrase. To call someone who doesn't believe in Christ a pre-Christian makes it sound like Christianity is their destination. As if, we are all on the road to Christ. As if any other path to God is invalid and illegitimate. Those days of us as outsiders thankful to be grafted are long gone... clearly.

The Barna group* posted a study a couple of weeks ago citing why young adults are leaving the church. Leaving. There are some there despite what you might hear on a Sunday morning. One of the reasons why they are leaving is because of the exclusive claim of Christianity. The walls that have come to surround the city make the light that shines within not visible.

I don't like the phrase "pre-Christian". I find it offensive. Offensive enough that I am willing to tell them why. I am willing to write it down and have it go in a file that will follow me everywhere I go. Every time that the cabinet sits down to make an appointment there will be this document in a folder with my name on it before them. And so despite how stupid this seems,  here is why I won't actually answer their question...

it does us no good to talk about Christ in ways that are not gracious (exclusivity is not gracious)
if the only reason why we are engaging people is to help covert them, then we have sadly misunderstood what relationship is about
I believe that we no longer live in a Christian culture--we need to stop acting like we have home field advantage.

I have tried other ways to God. I almost converted to Islam. I thought hard about Judaism. I have been greatly moved by the Vedanta understanding that incarnation happens every moment--that every moment we are baptized into a new life, as new creations. And in this all, I have realized that Jesus is the way to God for me. That the beauty that I have found in other faith traditions is real, but Christ stirs in me something that the other paths were not able to.

I have met great men and women who seek God with all they have, but their label will never be "Christian". This doesn't necessarily have anything to do with Christ, but it has to do with Christianity.

Let's try not to label people with our labels... I don't think that it will serve us well

http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/528-six-reasons-young-christians-leave-church#.ToxQX97cVdE.facebook

looking up

So, as I was killing time last week while the kids were at their after school sports practice, I went over to Macy's at North DeKalb Mall and I saw this sign: Men working above. 

I looked up. There were no men. There were not even a bunch women with one man among them (as the Greek may imply). I looked up and I only saw the ceiling of the awning.

Men working above? Where? 

Everywhere we look we see signs. Some pointing us to things that we can see, some pointing beyond the visible. 

When we look up, sometimes all we see are ceilings and awnings that block us from seeing something more, Someone bigger.  We look up and we see rusted lights, frayed wires, exposed fixtures, places that birds and bugs have made as their home... and that's all we see. We don't step out from the under the protection of the awning to look for more. 

I admit that I saw this sign and I laughed. I thought about how the "men" were a trinitarian God and started humming the old Gaither song, "he's still working on me". And then I chided myself for the maculation of God. Someone should report that to the Conference rep of COSROW  :) 

But the Men... the Man... the Woman...Sophia... the army of the Lord is not working above. We cannot/should not look up to see how God is working, but as people of the Incarnate God and people who believe that we are to be the hands and feet of God we know to look vertically. To look around our communities, our churches, our city streets to find the evidence that God is working. The work is done by us because of our love for Jesus and our belief that He is the one who calls us, leads us, and ordains us. 

So, if you decide to follow the signs that point the way, remember to step out of the safety of the awning. You might get wet, you might get burned but you can't get a glimpse of God in the world if you never enter the world. Look up, but look beyond and step out.