This is our pastor’s article for the April 13th, 2012 edition of the Stone County Gazette.
The Deforming of Christianity
By Pr. Rich Futrell
Recently at a Christian bookstore, I saw shelf after shelf with books on every topic and fad that has passed through modern Christianity. Books were there on how to be a better wife and how to get your best life now. There were books on how to be more purpose driven and how to be financially successful. There were even books on how to improve your sex life. But the shelves were scarce on the Christian faith itself.
That made me think of this quotation from Rick Warren:
I’m looking for a second reformation. The first reformation of the church 500 years ago was about beliefs. This one is going to be about behavior. The first one was about creeds. This one is going to be about deeds. It is not going to be about what the church believes but about what is the church doing.
That quotation troubles me. For it stresses, at best, that what we believe matters little. Even worse, it stresses that Christianity is about what we do, not what we believe, that it is about us, not about our God and Savior. Such misplaced emphasis implies that Christianity is not about faith.
Our problem from eternity’s perspective is not that we behave badly, as bad as bad behavior is. Our problem is that we are dead in our trespasses and sin (Ephesians 2:1). That’s why Christ didn’t come to make us more civil, successful, or socially responsible. He came, instead, to give us life.
When we center our religion on what we do, we then center our religion on ourselves. We then become the focus instead of God. It becomes about what we do, how we act, and how we live. When that happens, Christianity then becomes no different from any other religion that tries to appease God by virtuous behavior. Christianity becomes no different from the Pharisees, whom we read about Jesus taking to the woodshed time after time.
“This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’–and I am the worst of them. But that is why I received mercy, so in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display all of his patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:15-16). Indeed, the Apostle Paul was a Christian with a creed!
Christ shows the world His love by saving us, right where we are, in our appalling condition as an example to those who would believe. He saves us and uses us–even despite our deeds. Yes, the righteous deeds that flow from our life in Christ are what we do to serve others. But they should never be the focus of our attention. That just takes away from Christ.
In matters of faith, our behavior is not the focus–Jesus Christ is. After all, He is the One who saves us. Even more, He has come even to rescue us from ourselves. And if we’re brutally honest, we must admit that we are but miserable sinners in desperate need of God’s life-giving words of forgiveness. That’s something we never outgrow.
We need deeds, to be sure–but those of Christ. We need His perfect life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. After all, that’s what separates Christianity from every other religion in the world. And if we lose that, then we lose Christianity, no matter how many “good” deeds you may be doing.
