Matthew Clark - reDefinition: Has The American Church Correctly Defined Christianity?

There is no use having a silent God. We would not know anything about Him.

Francis Schaeffer

The first step to finding a solution is to accurately define and diagnose the problem. You cannot get better if you do not acknowledge that you are sick. By any objective standard, one can see the United States of America is sick. Furthermore, you cannot get the correct answers if you are not asking the correct questions. The question is not IS there a problem in the United States? The question is WHAT is the problem in the United States?

I am troubled by what I see today. I look around and see the most prosperous nation in the history of the world falling apart. We are ripping at the seams, and the worst part is that this dilemma has not been brought about by some foreign power in the distance; it is happening from within. We have no one to blame but ourselves.

It brings a deep sense of grief when I see what we have become: so much hate, so little compassion. We have become a nation defined by division. Every issue, every single one, has become politicized.

As I write these words, our cities are burning from the riots brought on by the death of George Floyd. Our citizens have been forced into choosing a side: support the police or stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. This is a conversation that our country desperately needs to have, but instead, most have drawn a line in the sand and chosen a side. End of discussion. It is no longer about the exchange of ideas; it is about winning the argument.

Has this not become the case with most topics? Are you a Democrat or a Republican? A conservative or a liberal? Do you fight for the lives of unborn babies or a womans right to choose? Are you for big government or small government? Do you kneel or stand for the National Anthem? While many of these arguments are not new, the amount of vitriol for the opposing side is. Unfortunately, I fear that the only time in our nations history that mirrors what we see today is the Civil War.

Is this the problem we face in the United States? Disagreement? I believe it is beyond that. A differing opinion over a topic is not a terrible thing in itself. We can be united while having differing views. The problem does not lie in the abundance of division but rather in the absence of unity. There is a difference. I know two brothers who support opposing football teams which results in hostility during rivalry week. However, they are still united in the fact that they are family. Their bond as siblings is stronger than their disagreement. Do we forget that we are called the UNITED States? It used to be that simply being an American was what unified every citizen in this country. This is no longer the case. Sadly, our disagreements have come to define our relationships with others.

MISREPRESENTING CHRIST

What can bring unification and bridge this divide? Is it even possible for us to stop looking at the other side with disdain? Is there a way to love those whom we adamantly oppose? Christianity has the answer to this question: the most unifying aspect of every person alive is that we are made in the image of God. Even better is that a loving God died in our place for those who bear that image. That is what joins us together. That is what should unify us. Christians know this, but sadly, many believers keep it to themselves. They do not say a word.

In this desert we call life, the majority of people walk around trying to quench their thirst by clinging to the things of this world. They turn to the pursuit of fame, fortune, or relationships, unaware that these things will never fully satisfy. Christians, on the other hand, know the true source of life: Jesus is the living water that will sustain and the well that will never run dry. Why, then, do so many Christians hold this water in their hands and never share it with the thirsty? It is truly heartbreaking to realize that instead of showing non-believers the one thing that will save them, we keep it to ourselves as they die right in front of us of spiritual dehydration.

This is not the image of Christianity we see in the Bible. Suppressing the good news, or the Gospel, was not the lifestyle of the early Church. In the book of Acts, Luke details an unstoppable movement that happened solely because these Christians could not keep their mouths shut about what they knew. Their lifestyles matched the message they were sharing. In the United States, not only do many Christians abstain from proclaiming the truth of Christ, they live lifestyles that contradict the Gospel.