Labels and Apologies

1 Peter 4:16, "However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.

Before a Mormon woman wrote the insanely popular "Twilight" books, the biggest author writing of vampires was a staunch atheist named Anne Rice. And her vampires didn’t exactly sparkle in the sunlight.

In 1998 Anne Rice shocked many people when she declared she was a Christian. At the age of 58, she returned to a faith she had not had since the age of 18.

She began writing not of vampires as much, but of Jesus. In 2004 she stated, she would "write only for the Lord." And she found success with these books, as she had with her previous writing.

Then, on July 29, 2010, she stated she was no longer a Christian.

"Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else."

In her reasons for quitting, Rice says she disagrees with many of the views of Christians. She cites as one example for her decision, an article written by a Catholic Priest that states that: "Abortion and homosexual acts are unequivocally intrinsic moral evils."

But he also writes, "I urge all of the Catholic faithful to treat homosexuals with love, understanding, and respect. At the same time, never forget that genuine love demands that we seek, above all, the salvation of souls. Homosexual acts lead to the damnation of souls."

I suppose since she cites this man as a reason (among others) then we could debate if the statement is true or biblical. But that would do little. If you agree or disagree you probably wont be swayed by some blogger with 8 (and counting!) followers.

So one question might be, is disagreeing with what some Christians think on one or two topics, enough to leave Christianity altogether?

Maybe to some the topic is too huge, too important to stay in the church. Ok. But members within the church have disagreed on this topic for years, and still often worship together, knowing they agree on so much as to still be brothers and sisters in Christ.

We are all sinners, be it homosexual, heterosexual, or just metro sexual. A stance as a "pro life" or "pro gay" Christian doesn't make you a non sinner. The point of labeling yourself as a Christian is to tell people, I AM a sinner, but it is Jesus Christ that forgives me and loves me anyway.

Rice also mentioned members of the Westboro Baptist Church in her renouncing Christianity. To me this is like citing the KKK as a reason for hating all white people, or removing all crosses everywhere. Surely she would condemn people for saying all Muslims are hate filled terrorists because of a handful of them. Why not give her own (former) religion the same compensation?

But after all, "Christianity" is just a word.  Just a label.  Right?

Can we still follow Christ and not call ourselves Christians; because some of those guys are messed up wackadoos; but hey, not me!?

I remember when I considered stopping my love of the Dallas Cowboys when they acquired the player Terrell Owens. I didn’t like Owens, he had a history with our team, and I did not like the fact he was now on it.  I wanted to align myself with a team in which I could root for and like most of the players.

People said I was not a “true fan” for letting this one issue make me consider switching my allegiance.  Now he is long gone and I root for them same as always. Even though I nearly denounced my fandom for a football team, it was after all, just a football team. I would never think to denounce Jesus Christ because some crazies who claim to be Christians, don’t make us look good. 

Shouldn’t “true” fans get over the fact that not everyone in our group is someone we might hang out with regularly?

Remember, the Church is important to God. Can we honestly withdraw from the church and still be followers of Christ if it means so much to Him?

Father Robert Barron says he does not think what Rice is doing is actually possible.  To "follow Christ but leave the church."

"The church is not an organization primarily, it is an organism.  It's a living body."

John 15:5  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Barron also mentions how God says "Saul, why do you persecute me?"  Saul is going to persecute the church, not God specifically.  "That's the intimate connection between the head and his mystical body," says Barron.

Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch [acts 11:26] because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ.  It was originally used by the unsaved people of Antioch as a kind of contemptuous nickname used to make fun of the Christians.  It literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or an “adherent or follower of Christ.”

That sounds pretty good.  I embrace that title even as I fall far short of deserving it.

Why should we want to distance ourselves or apologize for 'belonging to the party of Christ"?

Jay Bakker, one of the more well known "Hipster Preachers" of today has as his church motto, "Religion Kills."  He famously put as an ad for his church, “'As Christians, we are sorry for being self-righteous judgmental bastards.'"   Revolution NYC: A church for people who have given up on church.”

Christianity has enough detractors.  It feels to me like Bakker and others way of reaching out is saying "its ok to hate us, we kind of hate us too."  I have heard Bakker speak both in person and in talks online.  I never feel lifted up.  While that could be looked at as just a preference of style, I feel it is because you sense his dislike for the "group" he belongs to.  His disgust for fellow Christians who disagree with him on these social issues is palpable, even when he isn't talking about them; though he talks about them a lot. 

Most hipsters enjoy Bob Dylan.  He needs to hear one of Dylan's great lyrics..."Serve God and be Cheerful."

He preaches tolerance and seems completely intolerant of Christians; who have reached an honest and studied opinion that happens to differ from his own. 

Christians are often targets in this world. But a big problem with that is, we often seem to paint the bullseye on our chest and tell others to shoot.

This fad of Christians apologizing for being Christian; is it what Jesus would want from us?  To apologize for being something that literally says we are followers of Christ?

We are so PC and apologetic to not offend anyone, we are ok with denying who we are.

Then by standing for everything we indeed stand for nothing and have an apostate religion.

How easy is it to be fishers of men when asked if we are Christian, we must say..."well kind of, I mean no, but, see..."

How much respect do people have for us when we seem to not even want to admit to following what should be the most proud thing in our lives?

“Yeah I’m a Christian, but I'm not like those. You can like me. I don’t mind how you act or what you do, if that's what it takes.”


"But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become." -Anne Rice

I agree that Christ is most important. But who has ever said that being a Christian means following you or me? You try to be a good example, but if following someone was all it took, no one would need Christ.

I  remember Bono being interviewed once, in where he said he did not feel worthy to be called a Christian. He was "inspired to be worthy of the word." He also said before and after this interview that he was in fact a Christian, he was not denouncing anything. He just felt the word was so big as to hope to be worthy of it. This feels to me to be the antithesis of Rice's conclusion.

Bono feels he is not worthy of Christianity. Rice feels Christianity is not worthy of her.

 Does Rice not see the Christians she has left as worthy of her tolerance, acceptance and love?  Gifts she has given to others.

But if Rice continues to reject us Christians, that’s fine.  We should make sure we do not reject her.  As Father Robert Barron says to Rice, “Come back, come home.  Cuz we need you."

It is one label worth having.

Sorry, that's just how I feel.

 

Circle the Answer that is MOST Correct

Through study I strive to be that person who can  respond and answer questions or comments (or articles) as best as I can.

I read this and was interested how the various ministers, deacons (theologians) that I have encountered in my life might answer this article.  This is not to say you must agree with what you think my answer would be.  I realize I have minister friends from all viewpoints within the Christian Faith.  I'm truly curious.  I'd love for you to indulge me with your various thoughts.  Only respectful discussion is welcome, but I'd love to have just that.

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/12/hey_kirk_cameron_learn_your_bible/

Kid's Today

I always thought it was supposed to be cool to be older.  I mean I know that old geezer Pete Townsend said it wasnt cool back when he was real young.  But I thought people say, in the church especially, did not hold this view.  That they did not see themselves as superior.  But this is often not the case.

The "Cool Kids" as I once dubbed them, seem to have all the answers.  Even if that means they are the only ones smart enough to know there are no real answers.

Recently this article got linked around a lot of places.  Here is the link

http://www.umportal.org/article.asp?id=8616

and below would be my response to it.  Like many such things, it has some truth in it.  But I feel  people aren't seeing it for all it contains.  And if they are, that is even more upsetting.

How To Get Young People To Stay In The Church

Reject everything from the past as square because really, what could you learn from an elder?

Do not be different from the world, be as much the same as possible.  Conform when necessary. 

Never say you do not condone anything; that is insinuating some things are wrong.

Water down the Word so we never feel wrong; rather we prefer to feel good in and about all things.

Actually, water down the Word to the point it doesn’t really matter.  That will keep us in your church.  As long as it doesn’t much resemble a church. 

Then when we realize there is nothing new or unique about what we hear at church from anything else we ever hear, we will get bored and leave, no matter how rocking your band might be.  Because they still aren’t as rocking as bands I can buy or go see some other day or night.  But right up until that point, we will stay in your church.

Not The Last Out

If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.   John 15:19

Gary Carter was determined not to be the last out.  But according to the people controlling the videoboard, he already was.

With two outs in the bottom of the 10th in game 6 of the 1986 World Series, Carter was all that stood between the Red Sox defeating the Mets and being World Champions for the first time since 1918.

As Carter walked to the plate, this message could be seen on the videoboard: 
"Congratulations, 1986 World Champions, Boston Red Sox."

"I was our last hope," he said, "and as I took my place and looked out at Schiraldi, all sounds shrank back, and I felt a presence in me, or perhaps besides me, a calming certainty that I wasn't alone. I was not alone, and I was not, so help me, going to make the last out of the World Series. I felt certain of that."

Carter is not the lasting imagine of that game; but without him that image would have never happened.  He did not make that last out.  He started an incredible rally (he had started one in the 8th inning as well) that culminated in the Mets winning the World Series in Game 7.

Carter was a Mets as well as Expos hero.  Beloved by two teams.  He was also disliked my teammates on both teams, for reasons that might not seem fair.  He had the courage to be completely different.  Keith Hernandez, Dwight Gooden, Daryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and other former teammates are all now infamous for their bad behavior during that time.  Carter was ridiculed and chastised for being decent and moral.     

Strawberry and others would ostracize him for not sleeping with groupies and for not taking drugs.  He once even stated he would enjoy having his wife come along on some away games.  This was not the wrong thing to say because teammates needed this time to bond.  It was wrong in their eyes because this was the time for the team to engage in behavior their wives would not want to see.

"He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way," Warren Cromartie, an Expos outfielder, once told me. "Gary was just ... different.

"There was a lack of respect for Gary Carter. He was clearly an overwhelming minority -- or I should say an underwhelming minority."  (1)

"He was too religious, too good, too square -- Tim Tebow with more talent and without social media." said writer Tom Verducci.

"His whole life is baseball and the Lord, and of course his family," said Reardon, Carter's Montreal Expos teammate. (2)

That enthusiasm for one's faith and family just never sat well with much of his team.  They never understood his love for life, especially when not taking part in these extra curricular activities.

"My enthusiasm for my family -- and for baseball, and other things, too -- strikes some people as a bit too much. My happiness crowds people a little." (3)

How could a man enjoy his job AND his family?  This behavior made people suspicious.  Writer Jim Murray said of him, "Gary Carter is the type of guy who, if he saved a child from drowning, the mother would look at him and say, 'Where's his hat?'" (4)

I respect as I wrote before, someone like Tom Brady for caring so much about something that as children we feel is everything to us.  Then we grow up and find out it doesn't mean near the same to the actual players as it does us fans. 

Carter had that same drive and appreciation for what he was a part of.  Mike Schmidt said seeing Gary Carter get elected into the Hall of Fame and what it meant to him, made Schmidt appreciate his own Hall of Fame election all the more. 

But Carter also seemed to have a peace and joy about him as well.

That child like enthusiasm earned him the nickname "Kid" even though the older players didn't usually mean it as a compliment.  As in "kid calm down, stop running so hard its just a practice."

So what was it that made Carter so joyful and so different?  I think a key to that can be found in his opening statement when named Manager of Palm Beach Atlantic University.  Carter's stated mission on the day he was hired:  "My primary goal is to help these young athletes become better Christians and prepare them for life, not just baseball."

Carter was different.  And often unappreciated for it by immature teammates trying to hide their own insecurities. 

Biographer of the 1986 Mets, Jeff Pearlman, wrote, "They saw an uncompromised figure and didn't much care for the vision of it."   (5)

Gary Carter died just a few days ago of Brain Cancer.  People that get caught up in whats "fair" would say this was not the fair ending.  That it is not right he should go ahead of former teammates that abused their bodies and squandered their gifts.

But Carter, unlike many of those former teammates, was ready for this.  As much as we can be.  Maybe looking back now his actions serve as a call to prepare themselves.  Ourselves.

Being different is exactly what we are called to do. 

If you watch one clip of Carter playing, I would make it the one below.  The very last at bat of his career.  At the plate trying to help his team gain the lead in a meaningless game.  But the "Kid" didn't have that switch.  Nothing is meaningless if it gives joy to those watching.  And Gary Carter had the joy of a Little Leaguer.  His whole career and beyond.  Quite a nice way to be different.   
 


(1)  Jeff Pearlman:  "News of Gary Carter's Inoperable Brain Cancer Hits Especially Hard" January 23, 2012
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194101/2/index.htm

(2)  Tom Verducci   "Gary Carter: The Light of The Mets"  February 16, 2012  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194993/index.htm

(3)  A Dream Season, by John Hough Jr.,

(4)  Tom Verducci "Gary Carter: The Light of The Mets" February 16, 2012 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/web/COM1194993/index.htm

(5)  The Bad Guys Won  by Jeff Pearlman