Shortly after I wrote this, I discovered that UCC pastor Chuck Currie is under attack from a right-wing Christian blog:
[Rev. Currie] seems wounded that I don’t consider him a Christian. When people teach the opposite of the essentials of Christianity yet parade around as pastors and label their opponents with demonizing and baseless accusations then what other conclusion can I draw? Words mean things, and to call him a Christian mocks the cross and the blood of the martyrs.
Obviously, there’s a lot to unpack there. But what I really want to know is this: why are conservative Christians so hell-bent on excluding people from their club?
NB: Here’s C. S. Lewis from “The Screwtape Letters” on the sin of spiritual pride:
I have been in correspondence with Slumtrimpet who is in charge of your patient’s young woman, and begin to see the chink in her armour. It is an unobtrusive little vice which she shares with nearly all women who have grown up in an intelligent circle united by a clearly defined belief; and it consists in a quite untroubled assumption that the outsiders who do not share this belief are really too stupid and ridiculous. The males, who habitually meet these outsiders, do not feel that way; their confidence, if they are confident, is of a different kind. Hers, which she supposes to be due to Faith, is in reality largely due to the mere colour she has taken from her surroundings. It is not, in fact, very different from the conviction she would have felt at the age of ten that the kind of fish-knives used in her father’s house were the proper or normal or “real” kind, while those of the neighbouring families were “not real fish-knives” at all.
Who said we’re excluding anyone? As I noted, words mean things. If people deny the essentials of the faith (Jesus is God, He is the only way to salvation, etc.) then it isn’t a putdown to say they are non-Christians, it is the logical thing to say.
People use “Christian” as a euphemism for “nice,” so when they hear “non-Christian” they perceive is as a pejorative.
Also, it isn’t “my club” and I don’t guard the gate. Jesus does. I’m just going by what He said. The New Testament teaches 100 times, directly and indirectly, that Jesus is the only way. The pastor in question proudly denies that. What other conclusion should I draw?
P.S. Is is interesting how many labels you attached to my post: Right-wing, conservative, attack. Why are you so hell-bent to exclude me from your left-wing, liberal, attack club?
Peace,
Neil
Neil
August 5th, 2008
P.S. I noticed your comment at Chuck’s place. It said my post was hateful, but didn’t say why. Please feel free to visit my place and elaborate. You say you disagree that denying certain views would exclude someone from Christianity but gave no examples.
Also, please consider reading this piece where I explore how a Muslim might react if I claimed to practice Islam yet disagreed with its essentials - http://4simpsons.wordpress.com/2007/06/19/who-is-a-christian-who-is-a-muslim-2/ .
Neil
August 5th, 2008
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