Episode Fifty Eight: Christianity, I'm taking it Back.

(*Taking it back is an expression used to sometimes describe the act of reclaiming a fashion, or, for the purpose of this post, a religion)

As an active Christian I hate to admit it, but more often than not, I am embarrassed by how Christians are represented to the rest of world.  It's not just that certain people waving the banner of Christianity are depicting Christians as anti-science, irrational, and anti-progress, but more importantly that our faith is being represented as hateful and judgmental.  The problem is worse than that- the modern Christian is so consumed by politics and hot button issues that the questions of day to day living are ignored.  This is not to say that Christian shouldn't be debating the major issues- but we are forgetting to address the challenges in our daily lives. 

As someone under the age of thirty I'm distressed at the low church attendance by people in my age group.  While one could argue my generation is going to hell, I prefer to question how my generation perceives Christianity.  I've made it a point to have friends of various faiths.  I've had some Christian friends argue that this is a massive faux-pas.  However, Jesus didn't spend the majority of his time with rabbis- he befriended tax collectors and prostitutes.  This is not an excuse for any misguided Christians to start preaching at the local strip club.  Sorry.  The point is, after talking to non-Christians the majority of complaints have nothing to do with a dislike of Jesus or the core virtues of Christianity. More often than not, non-Christians dislike hypocrisy and intolerance displayed by certain Christians.

Let's face it, the crusades, the Salem witch trials, the Spanish inquisition- we do have a lot of less-than-admirable moments in our history as a major branch of religion.  We're not taking the beam out of our eye before mentioning the speck in our brother's eye, as the bible tells us to do.  Christ, it is often said, is love.  Why then are so many Christians insisting on being champions of hate?  We've forgotten how important the virtues of forgiveness and charity are. 

The problem, however, is not Christianity.  "Do onto others as you would have done onto you" is hardly the philosophy of intolerance.  There are also plenty of Christians out there in the world who still love, and who are progressive and intelligent.  There are plenty of Christians out there who are friends with agnostics, pagans, Buddhists, Muslims, and yes, even atheists.  Our task is to take back Christianity as the religion of love and forgiveness.  We must begin to live our lives by example.  Let's drive a little friendlier on the road Christians.  Let your charity not be limited to people of the same denomination or church.  Non-Christians learn about the love of Christ through our actions. 

As the title of this post implies, it's time to take back Christianity.  Let's reclaim it and make it our own again.