When Christianity Becomes Christlike
Shattered & Sanctified | Part 2 of 3
Last year, I published a book called Shattered and Sanctified: Confronting the Sin of Toxic Christianity. In the first post of this series, we looked at what happens when Christianity becomes toxic. But it's not enough to simply identify the problem. We also need a picture of what faithful Christianity looks like. Today's post is another excerpt from the book, reflecting on our calling to become more like Christ. My hope is that it encourages us to cultivate a faith that bears the fruit of Jesus' life in the world.
Typically, when we think about saints we think about the disciples, or people from the bible, or people like Mother Teresa. We usually think about saints as people who live their lives in near perfection, pious, righteous, and holy. In the New Testament, however, the Apostle Paul refers to all Christians as “the saints.” He addresses his first letter to the Corinthian church by writing:
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours (1 Corinthians 1:2).
I want you to think of yourself as a saint of the church. Now, you may not always feel like a saint. You may not always act like a saint. You may not always be the saint that you want to be. Nevertheless, just by virtue of you claiming Christ in your life, you are on the journey. You have God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and you have those around you, and you have the church.
In other words, you don’t have to do life by yourself. As Christians, we have the benefit of joining in partnership with God through the gift of the church. There’s a great story that illustrates how we all have a place together in the life of the church.
There once was a devout young prince in a remote mountain village. He desired to build a house of worship so that all of the people in his kingdom could come and worship God. It took a long time to construct the church, and the prince was careful to only allow the workers inside the building. All of the people in the village were eager to see inside the sanctuary.
Finally, one cool summer evening, the people of the village were invited to come inside the church for a service of worship. As the people gathered inside, they were a little disappointed with how dark the sanctuary was. It was beautiful, but there thought there would be brighter inside, but then they noticed something strange. Rather than having chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, there were notches all along the walls.
The prince came forward and announced that every family represented in the village would be given a lantern and assigned one of the notches on the wall. When they came for worship, they would bring their lanterns with them and hang them on their designated notch. The point was that if everyone showed up for worship the sanctuary would be bright and vibrant and fully lit. But if a family was absent, then their light would be missed.
Each of us has a light to shine. It takes all of us to truly be the church. It takes all of us to come together to live out God’s mission for this community and this world. It takes all of us, showing up, getting out of our cars, inviting others to come and see. If we are going to be the church, then it is going to take all of us. I love the way Anne Bosarge from the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church puts it. She says:
Be the church. Want to grow the church? Want to heal the church? Stop doing church. Stop going to church. Stop running the church. Be the church. Be a balm to the broken. Be a healing presence to the sick. Be present with the rejected. Be thoughtful toward the forgotten. Be generous to the poor. Be welcoming to the stranger. Be embracing to the sinner. Be patient with the lost. Be encouraging to the downtrodden. Be safe for the abused. Be comforting for the mourner. Be the heart of Jesus to all. Be love. Be the church.
In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul outlines how we are to be the church through living out the fruit of the Spirit. Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The fruit of love invites us to know that God accepts us just as we are – and it allows us to accept others despite their flaws and mistakes. The fruit of joy invites us to find vitality and passion in good times and in bad times. The fruit of peace invites us to find reconciliation and acceptance in our relationships and in our community.
The fruit of patience invites us to slow down and embrace the moment and to celebrate what God is doing in the here and now. The fruit of kindness invites us to come alongside others in their moments of frustration and pain. The fruit of goodness invites us to do God’s good work in the world.
The fruit of faithfulness invites us to see things through – and to commit ourselves to what God is doing in the world. The fruit of gentleness invites us to be a sensitive and comforting presence to those who are hurting. The fruit of self-control invites us to be disciplined in our impulses and to be wise in our decision making.
As we have gone through all of these different fruits, I want you to notice what is missing from the list. Notice that there is no mention of comfort or wealth. There is no mention of prosperity or happiness. There is no mention of security or success. The nine fruits of the Spirit offer a different way of living. These fruits bring about a life of sacrifice and obedience. And ultimately, these fruits bring about a life of love.
As Christians, we are invited to embrace the life of the Spirit. And we are called to share this fruit with others. We are called to reflect God’s love to others. So, I wonder what fruits might be missing from your life?
We don’t always do a good job of showing love to others. We let our own selfish desires get in the way of living the way that God would have us live. We hold grudges. We act out in anger. We lose our temper. We get greedy. We hurt other’s feelings. We don’t always live up to the standard of what it means to be a Christian. We don’t always live lives that reflect God’s love. But God invites us to life in the Spirit.
