5 Myths About Christianity
Most people think that Christianity is just another religion. I cry foul! As we seek to discover truth, here are 5 myths about Christianity debunked!
5 Myths About Christianity
Myth #1 – Christianity is About Dos and Don’ts
This is probably a myth that was ingrained sometime during the early part of your faith journey. It could have been the cliche picture of a nun standing in the corner of the room, holding a ruler, and crushing your hand every time you screwed up. Or, maybe its a picture of the high school youth group, sitting in one of the upper rooms in the church’s education wing, playing a Chris Tomlin song on repeat, candles lit, talking about the virtues of purity. Maybe it was your Intervarsity group in college hosting “Dry Fridays,” which invariably seemed a lot less fun than the frat party happening around the corner.
Whatever your story, you are not alone in this experience. Christians throughout the ages have been guilty of a reduction of a great and mysterious faith to a list of dos and don’ts. On some level, I think it is a method of self justification. We want to know if our actions are ok. And instead of trusting that little Jimmy Cricket inside of us, we would much rather hear an exact definition of what constitutes sin. If you grew up in the evangelical church, you no doubt experienced some version of the. “How far is too far,” discussion. I remember this conversation almost verbatim. I was sitting in a small group room after a Sunday night youth worship service and my small group leader decided to ask everyone their opinion of how far we were allowed to go with a girl. Now, this discussion, when raised amongst a room full of adolescent boys, will obviously prompt a variety of opinions, most of which are geared toward selfish desires to justify previous actions or to somehow in that moment establish a universally accepted line of purity which can be tip toed toward and eventually crossed. In short, we all wanted a playbook. We wanted to know exactly (which ironically just auto-corrected as ecstasy on my computer) what we could do and still call ourselves “Christians.”
But this is another one of the myths about Christianity and it’s a shallow interpretation of what it means to be Godly is not limited to small group rooms circa 1998. As long as religion has existed, followers of God and eventually Christians have sought to boil down faith to a simple list of dos and don’ts. From the time of the Ten Commandments, the law has served as a guide but also a crutch that has blinded us from the true message of Christ. Listen to what Paul says about the law in Romans 7:4 “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”
Christ is not about the law. He is not about a list of dos and don’ts. I don’t need Christ for that. I could just as easily worship Hammurabi or James Madison. If a list would set me free, there would have been no reason for Christ to come. The Pharisees were doing fine with the law. They had over 600 different commands that they believed would bring them closer to God. They had the list down. They knew how to follow rules. But, Christ came that we would bear fruit…love joy, peace, patience, and all those other actions that are supposed to be an outpouring of our faith. Following a God of dos and don’ts does not bring life.
5 Myths About Christianity
Myth #2 -Christianity is the Same as Every Other Religion
I know that in our world of universality this may rub people the wrong way, but Christianity is absolutely different from every other major religion. (I throw in the word “major” here referring to all religions and sects that command at least 1% of the world’s population, knowing that there is certainly some religion in the world with a similar claim. But really I am talking about Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism). If someone tells you that their religion is the same, they have not understood the message of the gospel.
That being said, many religions seek similar ends…peace, happiness, love, acceptance, etc. But no religion comes close to the wild claims of Christianity.
So, let’s imagine that life is Mount Everest. We are at the bottom and God or the Divine or Enlightenment is at the top. Every religion in the world seeks that man would commune with the divine. So, there are books and rituals and songs and gestures and laws and chants and fasts and all other kinds of methods that give humanity a path up Mt. Everest. Some religions even claim that God sends someone down the mountain to demonstrate the best way to climb. We call this messenger Buddha or Muhammad or Elijah. So, man is at the bottom of Everest, trying everything he can to get up the Mountain, knowing that if he only works hard enough, follows enough rules, jumps through enough hoops, or follows the right prophet, he will eventually get up the mountain.
But, only Christianity makes the completely outlandish claim that God himself would dare descend the mountain. That sounds crazy enough, but it gets weirder. God does not come down the mountain to show us how to climb. He takes us, puts us on his back, and walks us up to the top. All we have to do is trust that he can get us there and stop trying to get there ourselves.
That is a radical claim- the idea that, despite the historical truth that man has always sought the divine, the divine is now seeking man. John 1 speaks of the Word becoming flesh. God came to us to carry us with him into eternity. That is the craziness that is Christianity.
5 Myths About Christianity
Myth #3 – Christianity is Sexist
This is a great one. It is one on the long list of claims made by those that associate all Christians with the evangelical right. Perhaps it stems from the long established traditions of Catholicism or perhaps the way the Bible was written or perhaps our own government’s unwillingness to include women in the formation of our first churches and governments. Whatever the case, many have grown to believe that Christianity at its core is sexist.
Here is the truth from a historical perspective. The rise of patriarchy is a sociological phenomenon most associated with the invention of warfare. Simply put, as men became warriors, they grew in status and gained social authority. There are many examples of egalitarian and even matriarchal societies in the historical record, but the west was Patriarchal long before it was Christian. Christianity was born in the midst of a Patriarchal society, it did not create Patriarchy.
In fact, in many ways Jesus is the ultimate feminist. He traveled with women. He invited women to eat with him. He even taught women and allowed them a presence in his ministry. These were all taboo in 1st century Palestine. Many of his closest friends, and the first two witnesses of the resurrection, were women. Now, it is true, that many in the church have been slow to change their views on the role of women in government, the work force, and the pulpit, but this is certainly not coming from the message of Christ. Galatians 3:28 says, “In Christ there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female. You are all one in Christ Jesus.” Our culture may be sexist and there may be those in the church that have been slow to adapt to change. But, Christ’s stance is egalitarian.
5 Myths About Christianity
Myth #4 – Christianity is Homophobic
It’s not hard to see where this one comes from. Its connected to myth #5 (see below). Over the last 50 years, the church has done much to earn this reputation. As society has progressed and become much more open to the idea of homosexuality, Christianity has long held strong to the black and white interpretation of a few sections of scripture. Instead of trying to act like Christ, showing love and compassion and acceptance and praying that God will reveal and heal a sinful heart, the church has long acted as the judge and jury.
But, before we criticize every member of every church over the last 50 years, let’s recognize that maybe no question has been more central to the development of the global church in the last ten to fifteen years than the inclusion of the LGBTQ community. Many churches have made great strides and are now among the leading voices for tolerance and even marriage equality.
Honestly, I feel like this is a myth that is sometimes used as a cop out by many, almost as if they are looking for a justification to rail against the church without really having any idea as to her current stance. I remember very vividly one of my college friends asking me what I thought of gay people. He knew I was a Christian. He was shocked when I said that I was accepting of them and, while, I did not agree with their lifestyle choices, it was not my place to cast judgement or throw stones. His response was, “I thought Christians hated all Gay people.” This is the myth that persists. The truth is that aside from a very few ultra conservative groups, most Christians err on the side of love.
The myth is simply not true. Calling the church homophobic is like judging your intellectual capability based on what you got on your math test in middle school. The church has moved on. The church has grown up. We are not the brimstone casting group that we once were.
Our role is not to change people or to convince people or to debate people. Our role is to love people despite our differences, our disagreements, our harbored inhibitions toward certain choices, our fears, or our interpretation of Deuteronomy…our role is to love the world!
My goal is not to start any fights or get a million negative comments but let me say this very clearly… If you are attending a church that is preaching anything other than love and forgiveness, you need to look hard at your doctrine! What I hear in churches around the country is an attempt to understand and reciprocate the love of Christ. That same love that He showed toward the adulteress woman, or the Romans nailing him to the cross.
5 Myths About Christianity
Myth #5 – Real Christians Vote Republican
This is one of those myths about Christianity that reveals my cultural bias. I was raised in a very conservative Dutch community where any vote that wasn’t Red was wrong. Republicans were the party of the Bible. They were the party of conservative Christian values. They were the party that stood against abortion and gay marriage. They were the party that represented the family. In fact, I actually heard one of my spiritual mentors say, “ I don’t know how you an be a Christian and vote for Clinton.”
First, Jesus is not a Republican or a Democrat. In fact…and this may shock you…he is not even an American. That’s right. Jesus did not write the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. He did not lead the army across the Delaware. He did not sanction this land in the name of America.
Look at his life. He had no political ambitions at all. That is one of the things that convinced the Jews in the 1st century that he that he was not the Messiah. Do you realize that Jesus did not even condemn Roman authority? Rome…the scourge of Israel…one of the most carnal, power-hungry, authoritarian, empires in the history of the planet. They stole the freedom of Israel. And Jesus did nothing to condemn them, overthrow them, fight the, stand up to them. All he did was love them. I find it so crazy that we sit and debate about tax policy and health care as if we were debating the nature of the resurrection.
Second, our government is flawed. There are flawed people running for office. Sure, the democrat may be pro-choice, but the republican wants to cut federal spending on homeless shelters. No party fully represents the values that Christianity claims. We are flawed people doing the best we can to make a difference. That is who you are voting for. You should vote based on which candidate has the best chance of helping the most people. We can disagree as to who that is, but to choose one party, Republican or Democrat, as the party of God is simply not a plausible stance.
Third, I don’t really know how this myth has perpetuated so long. Historical election returns rarely show a separation of more than 10% between the democrats and republicans, yet more than 85% claim Christianity. The math doesn’t work.
Conclusion
Basically, here is the point. There are a lot of myths about Christianity and it is very possible that your image of Christianity is based upon a preconceived notion or upon the actions of a few people a long time ago. The truth is that if you seek peace and love and rest and hope, there is no better place to start than the message of Christ. Despite its historical faults, this is a faith that seeks to bring life! So, don’t buy into the myths about Christianity. Our faith is much more than the myth.