Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Challenges I Face in My Walk
The Crosswalk Religion Today news site reports on a study by Ellison Research of the biggest threats that Protestant pastors believe face the family today. Ellison reports that "Protestant clergy named divorce, negative influences from the media, and materialism as the three greatest threats to families in their communities." Two of these three have been cited by this blog as negative influences, and I agree that divorce is also a threat; so, I'm in agreement.
The report contains a number of other interesting items, including detail on how clergy from different regions listed different threats.
The report caused me to consider what threats challenge me and, perhaps, Christians similarly situated. In other words, what challenges does a middle class, well-educated, safe (relatively) Christian living in the United States face in his or her Christian walk? Here are some questions and issues that have me worried:
- I recognize that not every Christian can be a pastor or a full-time evangelist like Billy Graham. My job, however, is thoroughly secular. I don't work for a Christian ministry. How can I fulfill the Great Commission in such an environment? Sure, I can live a good life that (I hope) acts as a witness and I can always be ready to give an answer for the hope that I have. The fact is, though, that I really don't have much overt witnessing opportunity. Like most people in most jobs, the majority of my working day is taken up with, work. Secular work. I discuss this with my friends, middle class professionals who are Christians, and we are able to form a complete circle of rationalizations to keep us going. Still I wonder, am I rationalizing or am I making a difference even though I don't necessarily feel like I am?
- In a similar vein, I have a good income and my family lives well. I tithe and give a bit more. We do not live ostentatiously. Indeed, we live fairly parsimoniously compared to others in our culture. Nevertheless, we do live well, particularly when compared with people in other countries, particularly people south of the equator. So, what claim does Jesus' statement to the rich young man have on my life?: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Surely, this was only a trope of Jesus intended to focus us on what is important, namely Him? Surely He did not mean this literally? What if He did?
- Paul says that we "see through a glass, darkly." Paul wrote in a much simpler time, comparatively speaking. For Paul and the early Christians, the struggle of being Christians brought an amazing focus and discipline to their daily lives. Now, don't get me wrong, I do not envy them their suffering. However, I think it is honest to admit that they probably had a great deal of focus on Christ and His will in their daily lives, given the daily price they had to pay to be Christians in the first century Roman Empire. Yet, even at that time and with that focus, Paul writes that they saw darkly. With materialism, mass media, information overload, more than full-time jobs, and the one-thousand other demands of our daily lives hitting us, just how much darker is our mirror? With the multiple ways that modern society affects our perception, how closely can we really perceive Jesus?
- In a modern American suburb, how do we love our neighbors as we love ourselves if we don't know who are neighbors are? If we know our neighbors, how do we love them when we don't have much time to even talk to them?
- Given all of the above, and given all of the compromises that I have made in my walk, I wonder, will I hear "Well done, good and faithful servant" or will I hear "I never knew you"?
Perhaps the simplest question of all is this: Can a modern, middle-class American Christian who works in a basically secular job get into the Kingdom of God? Or, is the process that one takes to become a modern, middle-class American Christian who works in a basically secular job such that it is almost impossible? From an existential perspective, can we pull this off?
I'm open to comments on this.
God Bless,
Mark
