Great Christian Article

As a Christian, I thought this was a great article.

http://www.dallasnews.com/localnews/columnists/sblow/stories/122202dnmetblow.54426.html

Church sign brings new meaning to phrase 'bully pulpit'
12/22/2002

By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News

I passed one of those church message boards the other day. Here's what it said:

"It's Jesus – Or Else."

And Merry Dadgum Christmas, I wanted to add.

Ordinarily, that sign might have made me laugh. Our clumsiness as Christians is often comical. But this time the sign made me want to cringe. Or cry.

That's probably because of a story I had read just the night before in my church newspaper, the Baptist Standard.

<B>Here's the start of that story: Non-Christian adults in the United States view "evangelical" Christians somewhat more kindly than prostitutes but with less affection than lesbians and lawyers. </B>

Lower than lawyers? Man, that hurts.

I'm just glad the poll didn't ask about journalists. We might have scored lower than an evangelical prostitute.

The findings of this survey are so ironic. Evangelical Christians are the branch of the church most concerned with spreading the faith. You might say they are the salesmen of Christianity.

And if that's so, we're in a heap of trouble. If this were business, the sales manager would be out the door right now.

Of course it's not hard to understand why people take such a dim view of evangelicals. And as a Southern Baptist, I guess I'm lumped in among them.

Take that "Jesus Or Else" sign out in Garland. Of the thousands who pass it each day, maybe one or two will be sufficiently terrorized to get themselves in church.

But how many more curl their lips in disgust at such spiritual bullying? Instead of being drawn to church, their hearts are hardened just a little more.

Pollster George Barna blamed part of the image problem evangelicals have on the "thrashing" they take in the media. (It's always the media's fault.)

Admittedly, we in the media are much quicker to write about some boneheaded remark by an evangelical leader than the countless acts of kindness carried out each day by Christian foot soldiers.

But on the other hand, those people are the leaders of the evangelical movement. And how can we ignore it when Jerry Falwell calls Muhammad a "terrorist" or Franklin Graham calls Islam "evil"?

I know, I know. The Bible says religious belief will put people at odds. But let's face it: Some Christians just seem to enjoy the clash a little too much.

I got a gift of a YMCA devotional the other day. We tend to forget what the "C" stands for in that name. But the book had wonderful guidance on sharing your faith – what we call "witnessing."

Just tell what God has meant in your life, it said. Don't try to build a persuasive theological argument. And never, never run down another person's beliefs. Just share your own experience.

How brilliant! And easy.

So if I were going to follow that advice, here's what I'd say my faith means to me:

It's Christmas every day.

But without the parking hassles.

If I understand the essence of Christ's teaching, it's simply this: God's love is a gift. We can't work hard enough to earn it. We can only humble ourselves enough to accept it.

And talk about a gift that keeps on giving! The real message of Christmas is that we can have peace and joy in our lives every day.

To my fellow Christians, I say: Let's talk more about the joy and peace – and a lot less about the "Or Else" stuff.

To non-Christians, I say: Forgive us when we're clumsy or offensive in our sales pitches. And pray for us when we stray into mean-spiritedness.

Sometimes we forget: We're not put here to cast judgment. We're here to spread Christmas joy.

Whatever your faith, I hope this week brings you big, heaping gusts of God's love.

Merry Dadgum Christmas.