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What would your response be, if you walked into a car dealership and the salesperson, instead of telling you all the reasons why a particular make or model would benefit you, lacked knowledge, seemed indifferent or was continually tending to other tasks while under the pretense of listening to your needs? Chances are that you wouldn\u2019t stay too long, let alone purchase a vehicle from him. You may even become disenchanted with the dealer and even the brand. Conversely you also wouldn\u2019t be likely to purchase a vehicle from someone who was over-promising the quality of a large piece of metallic junk on wheels at a special price just for you. The real deal is hard to find.<\/p>\n
Our expectation is that the salesperson will be extremely knowledgeable about their product, they will have first hand experience and will understand how a particular automobile will enhance your life. We don\u2019t expect them to downplay the strengths or benefits of their product, we expect them to tell us the whole story. \u00a0We want the real deal.<\/p>\n
In his book, Bad Religion: How We Became A Nation of Heretics<\/em>, Ross Douthat, walks the reader through the fragmentation of the Christian faith in our North American context (he actually is focused on the USA, but there\u2019s enough in there that can effectively cross over the northern border).\u00a0 Douthat provides this picture which captures well the current Christian condition, when he says, \u201c..in a great many cases, one form of accommodation tended to lead inexorably to another (and another, and another), and after many waves of accommodationist enthusiasm the tide of faith went rushing out.\u201d[1]<\/a> (p,104)\u00a0 From Oprah to Osteen to Obama, the author contends that we are continually facing differing messages rallying to be the feature item of our religious buffet.[2]<\/a>\u00a0 We are creating Jesus in our own image, to meet our desires. By being presented on the same media menu, they are placed on equal footing, further confusing the growing number of people who are ready to attach their faith identity to \u2018made for distribution\u2019 sound bites. Some will take a helping of one, equating them with the others, others will take the \u201cdaily special\u201d with no consideration of it\u2019s nutritional content.<\/p>\n So how do we respond?\u00a0 Douthat offers this suggestion:<\/p>\n \u201cTo make any difference in our common life, Christianity must be lived – <\/em>\u00a0not as a means to social cohesion or national renewal, but as an end unto itself. Anyone who seeks a more perfect union should begin by seeking the perfection of their own soul. Anyone who would save their country should first look to save themselves. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a statement that looks great in print and is easy to quote. If it were less than 140 characters it would be tweetable. That it appears at the end of the book, indicates that it\u2019s application is much harder, which doesn\u2019t diminish the fact that Douthat is challenging us to be the real Christ-like deal in our society.<\/p>\n Whether we like it or not, as ministers of the gospel, we are simply one menu item in the crowded accommodationist, pluralistic, prosperity-focused cafeteria of our culture. People walk briskly through, take what is readily available, fits their schedule and tolerance level, in order to minimize the detraction from the regularly lives.<\/p>\n At a recent pastors meeting, this question was posed to me: \u201cHow do you encourage the people of your congregation to get involved in the community?\u201d It was followed by this statement: \u201cIf I\u2019m honest, my own interactions with non-Christians is non-existent.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s certainly not the first time I\u2019ve been approached with this question, and now feel less likely to stammer and stumble over my disbelieving words. My question in return is this: \u201cHow can we encourage and\/or challenge our church families with biblical truth if we aren\u2019t aware of how it will engage the current culture?\u201d<\/p>\n It would be like a car salesperson who had no idea how a particular automobile would perform in particular conditions. We would then, ourselves be presenting a fragmented version of the truth. God\u2019s truth must lead us to love God\u2026but sometimes that\u2019s where my peers and I end in our communication. We must challenge ourselves to understand the practical implications for how this same eternal truth of God insects with peoples lives, through us, knowing that we are also called to \u201clove our neighbours as ourselves.\u201d \u00a0Therefore, for our part, we must also be \u201cin the world\u201d \u2013 intentionally, actively participating in the life of the communities to which we are called. \u00a0That participation should take place as individuals, with our families, and with our church families.<\/p>\n Despite the unquestioned fragmentation of the Truth about Jesus, now might be the best opportunity to start putting the pieces back together as we intentionally engage the world in which we live and redefine the ideas it has come to believe. \u201cIndeed, like flying buttresses around a great cathedral, the pull and push of competing heresies may be precisely the thing that keeps the edifice of Christian faith upright.\u201d[4]<\/a> In that way, we will begin to workout Douthat\u2019s desire to see our faith in Jesus Christ lived out in real time, and provide the possibility of more people being fulfilled by the invitation to \u201cTaste and see that the Lord is good.\u201d (Psalm 34:8) He is the Real Deal.<\/p>\n\n