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Brands of Christianity: A Faith of Following Jesus Completely

November 1, 2008 by admin

This week we have seen four different misplaced priorities that can creep into the lives of Christians and cause them to project a brand and image of Christianity that is clearly unbiblical and is not Christ centered. Today, I want to share a story of a brother in Christ who was willing to live His faith and reflect Jesus Christ in a way that brought much glory to God through his sacrifice:

Sebastian walked through the halls of the palace daily. He had worked hard to get to this position in the royal guard, but once he had gotten to Rome, he restrained himself from the idolatrous lifestyle of imperial Rome. He only wanted to serve Christ wholeheartedly.

When Emperor Diocletian heard of his restraint, he had little interest in his service record. He confronted him and found out about his faith. At this, he ordered Sebastian taken outside the city and shot to death with arrows. The soldiers did their job and left his body to rot. Soon a group of Christians came to give his body a proper burial,

As they lifted him, one of them exclaimed, “He moves!”

“Shhh!” cautioned another. “Let us take him somewhere safe.”

Sebastian was taken to one of their homes where he was treated and recovered from his injuries. As soon as he was well enough, he placed himself before the emperor again. Once he had tasted the hope of heaven, the pleasures of this world had even less appeal for him.

The emperor was of course shocked to see Sebastian seemingly back from the dead. He ordered Sebastian seized and beaten to death and his body thrown into the sewer. His body was recovered again by Christians and buried in the catacombs.

This story of a faithful perseverance in following Jesus to the end comes from the Voice of the Martyrs Persecution Blog and ends with a challenge to each one of us to truly embrace a brand of Christianity that is all about Jesus. The author continues with this challenge that sums up where we have been this week:

Sexual immorality. Unbecoming language. Stealing. Lying. Cheating. Too many Christians define themselves exclusively by what they do not do. Certainly, there is a whole host of activities that God forbids his people to practice. However, restraint is not profitable in and of itself. Sebastian was not martyred merely for his restraint—otherwise he would have been killed for simply being a good person. He was martyred for his forthright faith. Likewise, we must restrain or hold back from evil in order to fully embrace God’s commands. Obey. Worship. Love. Serve. Define your faith by what you do, not simply that which you do not. Are you known for merely being a good person or for being a good person with an outspoken faith?

My hope and prayer is that God would make us radical followers of Jesus Christ who will not compromise and be unashamed to be known as Christians. Not political, legalistic, cultural, or philosophy-driven Christians, but Christians who will follow Jesus even if it costs us our lives.

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Brands of Christianity: Philosophy-Driven Christians

October 31, 2008 by admin

The fourth and final misplaced priority of Christians that can reflect negatively on the image and brand of Christianity is philosophy-driven Christians. Philosophy-driven Christians are people who ascribe to Christianity is merely an academic pursuit. They see Christianity as a great philosophy to be observed, studied, and debated. It is not a bad thing to study the Bible or Christianity academically. The problem arises when the academic pursuit becomes such a priority that it causes you to miss the relationship with Jesus Christ that the Bible is all about. This is embracing the thoughts of Christianity without embracing the core – Jesus Christ.

The problem with the Christian brand that philosophy-driven Christians present is that they present an academic, knowledge-driven Christianity that can be completely void of any relationship with Jesus Christ. You can know the Bible and know a lot of academic knowledge about Jesus but not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Philosophy-driven Christians need to see Jesus Christ as the core of their Christian studies and come to him for a relationship in which Jesus transforms them into His image. Then they need to continue to pursue their academic studies driven by worship and reverence for a God who that cannot wrap their minds around.

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Brands of Christianity: Cultural Christians

October 30, 2008 by admin

The third false priorities of Christians that reflect negatively on the image and brand of Christianity are cultural Christians. Cultural Christians are very similar to the legalistic Christians that we looked at yesterday in only one point. Both the cultural Christians and the legalistic Christians have never embraced Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and become Christians. They are merely impostors who are playing Christian games merely because they think that it will bring some benefit to them. Cultural Christians are people who are Christians only to the fact that they have no true religious affiliation and live in a nation like the United States that chooses to embrace Christianity.

These are people who celebrate Christian holidays such as Easter and Christmas without having the relationship with Jesus Christ to embrace the full meaning. They may also go to church, as I heard a pastor once say, as CEOs – Christmas and Easter only. This minimal church attendance is only to make them feel like good people for going on the special days.

These cultural Christians may also use there religion to benefit them. By claiming to be a Christian, cultural Christians may be able to avoid conversations about faith that may be uncomfortable because they have an answer and a church name, that they attend twice a year, to end the conversation. Cultural Christianity is seen very frequently in politics. Candidates will be quick to claim that they are Christians and get some good photo opportunities in some churches in order to become friends with the extremely political Christians that we explored on Tuesday.

Even though cultural Christians may play the Christian card to get ahead, they are the ones that really need Jesus. They need to realize that claiming Christianity without knowing Jesus is not true Christianity. They need to repent of their sin and Christian games and run to Jesus. This will allow the name, brand, and image of Christians to be defined not by a buzz-word that gets personal benefits but rather a name that defines followers of Jesus Christ.

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Brands of Christianity: Legalistic Christians

October 29, 2008 by admin

The second false priority of Christians that gives a negative brand to Christianity is legalistic Christians. Before we begin, let me define legalism. Legalism is not good moral living and following the commands and laws of scripture in order to live in a way that pleases God and seeks holiness. Legalism is a life of embracing the rules for the only purpose of proving to the legalist and to others that the legalist is better than everyone else because the legalist keeps the rules and others do not. The legalist loves to be seen doing good deeds and loves to point out others failures in doing good deeds.

This false priority of legalism leads to forgetting grace. A legalist loves to follow the rules to the point where they feel like they do not need grace. ”Why would Jesus have to die on the cross for them?” they think. ”I am such a good person who follows all of the rules. I will make heaven a better place just by my presence there. I do not need Jesus because I am a good moral person with no real sin to speak of.” The legalist does not stop with not needing grace personally but goes on to totally fail to extend any grace to others. If someone else falls in their good works, the legalist will be the first to point out the flaw and make sure that everyone sees this great show of failure. Then only to look for a place to note to others how good the legalist is at morality and how the legalist would never fall like that.

Legalism causes problems because it presents a picture of Christianity that does not need Jesus. There is no reason to tell someone about Jesus because to the legalist Jesus is functionally a moral judge that the legalist is trying to impress rather than a rescuing Savior that the legalist is falling down in worship before. The life of a legalist also projects that sin is not a personal problem that effects everyone. Sin is something that “bad people” do in the mind of the legalist. It is not something that everyone struggles with and needs to be rescued from.

Legalist Christians need to realize that, if they truly believe that there morality sets them in right standing before God, they need to repent and run to Jesus and receive salvation. The way that the life of a legalist is structured has no room for sin, repentance, and Jesus. Christians who embrace legalism are not really Christians. They are just copy-cats trying to act like Christians without truly embracing Jesus and coming to him to be their salvation. These false Christians need to repent and stop putting a stain on the Christian name and brand that they copy in outward appearance but fail to embrace.

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Brands of Christianity: Political Christians

October 28, 2008 by admin

Since the presidential election is only a week away, I figured that we would begin with the first misplaced priority that has negatively reflected on the Christian brand in the eyes of many people. Politics is something that many Christians have taken to become the core priority of their faith. This is something that happens more unintentionally than they even realize. There passion and desire for Jesus Christ that was at one time at the core of their faith and what defined them as a Christian seeps slowly into the background as they take up to fight for a government that legislates Christian morals and priorities.

I am not saying that politics are a bad thing, or that you should not vote for candidates that you think reflect the values and priorities laid out in scripture. The problem becomes when the American flag takes the place of the cross in our churches and the Battle Hymn of the Republic is played over Amazing Grace. Our place of triumph, victory, and focus as Christians should be a hill called Calvary where Jesus Christ defeated death, hell, and sin not a battle field where our freedoms were won. The second is definitely something to be remembered and celebrated but never at the expense of minimizing the cross and the gospel.

We as Christians are called to be focused on another world. We are to live as aliens focused on eternity. When we make our Christianity focused entirely on politics and defending morals in America, we are living in a way that is so focused on now that we do not live a life focused on the temporary mission with eternal consequences called the Great Commission. Our ability and opportunity to share Jesus with people can be greatly hindered if politics are the heart of our Christianity. Politics stands between us and the person we are trying to introduce to Jesus as another point of division and debate.

If your life is totally defined by and wrapped up in what happens next Tuesday, you need to pray for an eternal mindset and that God would open your eyes to see that no matter what happens next Tuesday He still sits on the throne as sovereign over all nations and rulers. Let us not live in a way that defines our Christianity by our politics that are temporal decisions that can cause major divisions and take away from the gospel.

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Brands of Christianity: Introduction

October 27, 2008 by admin

In the marketing and business world, there is a very important item called a brand. A brand is something that is hard to define, but it is basically what people think about and connect with the name or logo of your business. It is the initial reaction to your product or company. This reaction is built off of past experiences with the brand (i.e. your company or product) and includes both the positives and the negatives.

This week I want to take this concept of a brand and apply it to each one of our lives as Christians. When people interact with us since they know that we claim to be a Christ-follower, they will begin to define the term or brand of Christian by the way that we live. I think one of the major issues that we will explore this week is that false brands of Christianity come first and foremost from misplaced and misdirected priorities in the lives of Christians. This discussion will begin by defining four false priorities that many Christians embrace and will end with a story of someone who fully embraced the gospel. So this week, lets reflect on our priorities as Christ-followers that help to brand the concept of Christian in the eyes of people around us.

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Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions- Book Review

October 18, 2008 by admin

I just finished Truth and Tolerance by Pope Benedict XVI. I was very impressed with the Pope’s knowledge of the fields of sociology, philosophy, politics, history, and theology. He is able to take the current issue of tolerance being the standard for faith-based conversations and showing the logical fallacy in tolerance. This is the fallacy that intolerance of people who are not tolerant is in an of itself and expression of intolerance. Pope Benedict also continually points to the problems with humanity being fulfilled in the gospel. He also is able to argue the validity of Christianity through tracing the growth of the relationship of God to man starting with the call of Abraham and making his way all the way to modern Christianity. With regard to the underlying desire for freedom that drives the philosophy of tolerance, Pope Benedict attributes this desire for freedom to the core sin nature of man and man’s desire to be god. This is a very brilliant book arguing the underlying premise that freedom in any form without truth is not freedom at all. This is a very academic and well-articulated book presenting the fallacy of tolerance and the necessity of the truth of the gospel.

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The Requirement of Difference

August 23, 2008 by admin

I was sitting in class yesterday, and the professor went off on a very interesting tangent that I think we as Christians must address. My professor was sharing about the time that he was asked to speak for a Christian athletes event at a well-known Baptist college in town. He came in and gave his presentation and then was invited by some students to stay after the meeting as they brought out a keg of beer. This is a story that I have heard this professor share multiple times, but this time he added some additional commentary that was profound. He said that he was shocked that Christian athletes were drinking. He then went on to raise the point that since these are Christian athletes at a Christian school there should be something different about them than the athletes at a state school like the college I attend.

This professor who, to my knowledge, has never claimed any religious identity at all knows that there should be something different about Christians. There should be a defining mark in the lives of Christians with regard to what we participate in and do not participate in that should set us apart from the rest of the world. This professor was watching for this mark of distinction and found none. I think this is the reason this story keeps coming up. People are watching so the question is are we representing Christ well in our actions, decisions, and lifestyles.

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Theological Reflections from Joel Osteen’s Your Best Life Now

June 28, 2008 by admin

I had a few minutes of time to kill today at a local bookstore and wanted to pick up a book that I could read that I would not be tempted to buy. I ended up selecting Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen. I was able in the few minutes I had to get through his first of seven steps for achieving the best life you could imagine. Step number one is entitled: Enlarge Your Vision.

I know that this book was not intended to be a theological work but when someone constantly refers to “God” there is clearly some ideas about the characteristics of this being that will in turn be communicated. The “God” that Osteen describes I am assuming is intended to be the God of the Holy Bible considering the authors position as a pastor of a large Christian church. I was not entirely sure that this was true, however, since Osteen found it convenient to not cite the chapter and verse of scripture when he quoted “God’s words.” This is scary because the Bible could be used to justify many things when context is not an issue or concern.

The picture of God that was gathered in the first step for achieving Your Best Life Now is a picture of God that is very different than the picture that the Bible presents when taken in context. God was presented as someone who is waiting to bless you in whatever your dream is. God is an ally that we can claim for success financially, physically, or emotionally. Joel went on to recount stories of his personal experiences of being in a packed parking lot at a mall and claiming that God would provide him a parking spot on the front row and seeing it come to pass. He went on to describe many other blessings and benefits that he has received due to having “the favor of God.” Osteen’s God is not just a genie through which all blessings flow at the whim and imagination of one who holds His favor, but He is also a just God. This justice is not justice that is presented in a biblical theology where God has a right to judge actions and motives based on His standards of right and wrong. Osteen’s God’s justice is more like a big brother God who will watch the back of the favored ones and judge those who hurt them or get in their way. This God should not be a God with a capital G like the God of the Bible, but rather should be a god with a little g since this is a deity created by the desires of man rather than coming from the revelation of the scripture of who God is and what He is like.

Osteen goes on to address the topic of faith. Faith in the first step to a better life is defined as faith in oneself and your ability to improve or succeed. Faith is based not in the work of Jesus Christ, who somehow does not get noted at all for the first 50 pages of the pastor’s book, in His death, burial, and resurrection but rather in the work of imagining the possibilities of your future potential. This faith is not a faith of scripture. It is a faith of positive thoughts in positive dreams of a life empowered by a genie god who exists for your personal fulfillment.

The most scary thing to me about this theology that comes out not only in Osteen’s bestselling books but also in his frequent television broadcasts is that people are being sold a lie. They are being convinced that God exists for them and them alone. The God of scripture is a glorious and incomprehensible God who has the power to create, judge, and to do as He pleases. All of creation is subject to Him not the other way around as prosperity preachers like Osteen would lead you to believe. God is the one who is to be worshiped, glorified, and made much of. It is not the other way around. Let us not buy into smooth talk, perfect smiles, and bestselling books who present a god made in the image of and to fulfill the delights of men.

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Reading with Discernment: LifeWay Expresses Concern Over Emergent Theology

June 5, 2008 by admin

If you are a person who frequents Christian bookstores like myself, you may have noticed a new sign beside some specific titles in LifeWay Christian Stores. This new sign reads as follows:

“READ WITH DISCERNMENT. This book may contain thoughts, ideas, or concepts that could be considered inconsistent with historical evangelical theology. Therefore, we encourage you to read it with extra discernment. For important background information and additional insight related to this book, please review the Author Briefing and related content at www.lifewaystores.com/readwithdiscernment “

This sign encourages Christian readers to read with their eyes open and through the lens of discerning truth for themselves. This is a very wise statement and should, in my opinion, be handed out to everyone who purchases any book besides the Word of God from a Christian bookstore.

These signs were, however, not placed next to all the books in the store but rather were placed strategically next to books by authors who are considered part of the Emergent Church including Donald Miller, Rob Bell, and Brian McLaren. This is very interesting considering the many other books that also twist theology and minimize the Gospel. I am not Emergent and do not embrace the idea of reforming the message of the Gospel, but I do think that LifeWay is going in a good direction by warning people to not be blind sheep that fall into the pit of bad theology.

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