Christian[kris-chuh n]:
- of, relating to, or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings: a Christian faith.
- of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ: Spain is a Christian country.
- of or relating to Christians: many Christian deaths in the Crusades.
- exhibiting a spirit proper to a follower of Jesus Christ; Christlike: She displayed true Christian charity.
- decent; respectable: They gave him a good Christian burial.
- human; not brutal; humane: Such behavior isn’t Christian.
From time to time, my belief that I’m “good without God” is questioned by those who profess to be Christians. Too often, it devolves into questioning my refusal to unquestioningly accept the dictates of those who believe in an unseen force and allow it to control their lives and those of others. That’s an extreme example, of course; not all Christians are like that…but neither is such an attack upon my lack of belief in a Supreme Being unusual.
Any response I might consider necessary and/or appropriate could be summed up by directing the curious to this Facebook post by Rev. Franklin Graham, who’s a man of God in the same way David Geffen believes in age-appropriate relationships. Graham’s fascination with and devotion to the world of the Old Testament and it’s “shoot first, ask questions later” worldview is both telling and disturbing. It’s telling in the sense that Graham’s fixation with homosexuality, something that’s undoubtedly had ZERO negative impact on his life, has me wondering what he’s so afraid of. If you believe as I do that one tends to hate what they most fear in themselves…well, I let you draw your own conclusions.
Graham’s Old Testament fixation is disturbing in that it betrays a distressing commitment to demanding others live under the governance of the same unforgiving black-and-white moral/ideological/theological framework he clings to. He might be appalled to learn that, judging by Jesus’ own words, the Son of God was a pretty Liberal sort- long on tolerance, love, and acceptance…and short on judgment, intolerance, and exclusion.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. [Matthew 7:1-2 KJV]
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? [Luke 6:41 KJV]
One of the biggest problems I have with so-called “Christians” like Graham is their unhealthy concern with what others are doing. Even though my Sunday School days are long behind me, I clearly recall that the teachings of Jesus Christ were directed at the individual and with helping to direct a person onto a godly path. Christianity in its most basic form is not other-directed, in that it’s not a license for the self-righteous and judgmental to weigh in on how others should- nay, MUST- live their lives.
Graham is intensely focused on how others choose to think, believe, live, and/or love. In so doing, it seems he’s lost sight of the reality that the angry, indictive, mean-spirited Old Testament God he professes to revere has no basis in reality, much less the Gospel.
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. [Matthew 9:35]
There’s little in Graham’s words or actions that mirrors these words, though he is quick to judge and condemn those whom he feels have strayed from the path of righteousness…as defined by the Rev. Franklin Graham. I have to wonder how he’d manage to square such a pronounced lack of charity and acceptance with your average man of God’s desire to lead a Christ-like life?
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. [Matthew 23:28 KJV]
So many Christians are, like Graham, fixated on the “sinfulness” and the allegedly unholy nature of homosexuality. The idea that not everyone can be wedged into the same moral/ideological/theological framework seems to be lost on those so outwardly focused. Instead of directing their considerable energies toward trying to lead a more Christ-like life, they marshal that focus onto condemning those who’ve chosen to travel a path they find repulsive.
EXACTLY what Jesus would do, don’tchathink??
