When The Term Christianity Loses All Meaning
Lincoln Adams | September 24, 2007 @ 8:00 amI recently got temporarily banned from a “conservative” forum after challenging one of the members for making disgusting comments regarding his lifestyle. He basically bragged about being a heavy drinker and for sleeping around with as many women as he could mathematically fit within a day.
Normally this would get a yawn from me. I am from New York after all. 
But here’s the thing: he called himself a Christian, and a devout one at that.
Say what now?
Since when did God start giving thumbs up for behaving like a drunkard and a sex maniac? Was there a footnote I missed in Revelation that said, “Oh by the way, all those commandments I mentioned earlier about living a sinless life? Just kidding!”
Dudes, seriously, what is this? It was so outrageous I initially thought he was just joking. When it became clear that he wasn’t, and even worse tried to defend it, I finally called him out on it. I wasn’t nasty about it (though I could have been), and even used Scripture to back up my points and explain why I felt he was wrong.
So what happens? The board starts coming after ME. Well one “Christian” in particular, who I’m sure had also expressed the same reservations and concerns about this guy behind closed doors, yet decided to take his side and attack me because of an unrelated post I had made a few days earlier that she thought was distasteful. So, my lacking tact was somehow worse than a guy who brags about smelling like the women he slept with the night before?
O-kaaay.
Then another “Christian” (who also happened to be a mod) starts blasting me in private messages (PM), telling me that I go too far, that I should have taken it to PM, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah bladdy blah blah. Not one person, NOT ONE, ever considered the idea that maybe, just maybe, I might have had a point. And I did have a point, but I was the only one who was actually willing to say anything about it publicly.
I’m not the kind of guy who likes to murmur behind closed doors. I’d rather bring things out in the open, that way there’s no doubt as to where I stand on things. And believe me, there was no doubt then when I made that post. But once again, because I said what I felt was the truth, I get my arse put in a sling. So much for contending for the faith once delivered to all the saints.
The cowardice and hypocrisy of that board astounds me to no end. They were perfectly willing to express the very same concerns I did behind closed doors, but to actually tell it to Man Whore’s face was another matter, and even worse, they pretend to be on his side through it all. These are Christians? Good grief, the word has lost all meaning.
Hypocrites, In-Your-Face Perverts, and Cowards. That’s what the church today is all about, and why I no longer want any part of it. Yet in spite of it all, I really do believe there are good Christians out there, some of who even frequent this blog, and while they’re not perfect, they’re still trying to do the best they can in a screwy, psycho world. I have nothing but heartfelt admiration for them. I only wish we weren’t so spread out away from each other in distant lands. Oh well. At least I know they’re out there.
And yeah, I admit I’m hoping that amongst them all, the girl of my dreams is still out there as well, waiting for me. 
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Tags: adultery, alcoholism, apostasy, christian, christianity, church, closed doors, conservative forum, cowardice, cowards, drunk, drunkard, drunkards, few days, footnote, fornication, forum, girl of my dreams, God, hypocrisy, hypocrites, lifestyle, message board, revelation, Scripture, sexual sins, yawn
Categories: Christians Gone Wild
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13 Responses to “When The Term Christianity Loses All Meaning”
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Reminds me of that guy in the Jesus Seminar claiming that he was a Christian.
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Had to go Google that one.
What the…???
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By the way, you and I are apparently the same age according to what you said on my blog.
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I bet I’m younger though.
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All I can say is job well done. Let me direct you to 1 Corinthians 5. I have studied that passage over and over again because of a friend I had that committed adultery. This is the one where someone in the church has committed a sexual sin against the church and Paul was mad because not only did the church not take the responsibility and rebuke the person, but they also were boasting as if this person had done know wrong. Paul says it’s better to cast this person to Satan with the hopes that they will return back to a “holy” life. He goes on to talk about judging the believer and holding the believer to a certain standard of living. It is only the unbeliever that we are to treat different. If this person on the message board was claiming to be a believer and professing to be a follower of Christ, then by all means, he deserved to be called out on his behavior.
Paul makes it very clear in most of his letters that there are certain sins that are not to be tolerated in the church. I don’t know what you said to the guy, but I do know that if you did it lovingly the way Christ rebukes us, then you did nothing wrong. Paul also said after Christ said it too, that we will be persecuted. James talks about how we are going to look different from the rest of the world. Scripture says we are aliens here. This is not our home. Our home is above. I heard a sermon about persecution on a local radio station here. He said that if we are being persecuted for defending Scripture, then we are doing something right.
Does that mean we cast every person down for evey sin they commit, no. However, I did read some conversations from this particular person on the message board, and things he boasts about are exactly the things Paul warns us against. Scripture is clear! Keep studying it, keep reading it, and ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Then you can’t go wrong!
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Thanks ecclesia.
As a side note, I was wondering why your comments always seemed to get moderated. I had to check my list of filters and for some reason “spirit” was included, so that must have been it.
Darned heathens. 
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Okay. Where do I begin. Well, let’s see…I’m probably at least twice your age, and I can tell you this sort of “who are we to judge” sugar-coated nonsense was going on in the evangelical world even back when I was in college, which was before the age of chat rooms and message boards.
Glad to see someone mentioned 1 Cor. 5; saves me the trouble.
I’ve seen the same thing on “Christian” message boards, which is a big part of the reason I no longer post on them. (That and the proliferation of extreme charismatic, aberrational theology….everything I know about IHOP and the KCP is due to my involvement on a message board and subsequent research I did). But back to your point - you’re right. The term “Christian” has or is losing its meaning, at least here in the West. I fight against cynicism (towards the church) daily, but a lot of what I’m noticing is that by slapping a label “Christian” on something, you can market it successfully to a significant percentage of the population. Examples I’ve seen this week? “Christian” stunt-men/pro-wrestlers and a family “Christian” conference they were pushing at church (it features hot tubs, boating, tennis and luxe accommodations). Don’t forget the all-you-can-eat buffet meals - remember, our God is our stomach. Nothing wrong with a conference, if you want to spend your $$ on a vacation that way — but please tell me what any of that has to do with the Gospel?
The guy practicing “greasy grace” on the message board is the logical conclusion of the self-absorbed lifestyle many in the “Church” lead. Add to that the culture of extreme tolerance we live in, and naturally no-one’s conscience is being pricked. And if I sound like a headcovering-wearing holier-than-though IFB lady or whatever, I’m NOT. Not by a long shot. In my early 20’s, I drank waaay too much, shacked up and sinned with impunity - shortly AFTER claiming Christ as my personal Savior. And you know what? Although I repented of that life years ago, I still carry the scars on my soul. As Max Lucado put it, “there’s no creature on earth more miserable than a disobedient Christian”. It’s because if we truly ARE in Christ, the Holy Spirit is only going to let us get away with that “double life” for so long. If he sees nothing wrong with it and feels no shame, I doubt his conversion was sincere and may God call him to take a long, hard look and do some soul-searching.
A repentance free-gospel is no Gospel at all. Of course we’re not going to be perfect once we come to Christ, but there’s got to be some sincere desire to obey His most basic commands there.
Sorry for the long vent — this post really hit a raw nerve. You’ve touched on a real problem in our understanding of “Christianity”. It’s become more a commercial thing than a deep committment, I’m afraid.
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Marie, what else is there to say but
I really wish you hadn’t quoted Max Lucado though. He can be such a weenie sometimes. I think his books are even scented with perfume too. Dude, who does that??
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LOL! Point taken about Max Lucado — he’s spoken at Promise Keepers and other “weenie-esqe” gatherings. He also was on some New Age-y meditation DVD “Be Still”. In the early ’90’s, he published a Bible study on Christ that wasn’t half-bad, though. I still like the quote….I don’t know; he may have been quoting someone else.
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I think I might have read the book you’re referring to a ways back. Reminds me of the saying that even a broken clock is right twice a day.
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LOL, your pretty funny, I also live in NYC it might be cool to have friends like you. Here is a website that is pretty cool its probably the coolest church on the web, but thats just my opinion. Enjoy http://www.yhwh.com
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@Courtney Parris: Looks, uh… interesting. I’ll give them a further read later on.
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