Do you "qualify"?

I get TONS of magazines each week. Most of them I throw away as I stand at the office mailbox. Very few actually make it back to my office and desk.  I generally keep only two kinds of magazines: 1. the read-able kind (like those written for people in ministry, usually specifically children's ministry) or 2. those that sell books and curriculum (so that I can better myself and the experiences of the kids in our ministry).

I was looking through one such "book order" magazine the other day. I like to see what new books are out there and to see what is being offered as "cutting edge" or a "must read".  Imagine my utter amazement when I ran across the title of the following book:

"What's the least I can believe and still be a Christian?"

A guide to what matters most

I thought "maybe I read that wrong". So I read the title again, and nope it was just as I feared.  Are we really that lazy and pathetic in our American belief system that we now have books to tell us the least we can believe and still be a Christian?!  Don't get me wrong, I am very well aware of how we as American Christians have watered down and excused ourselves from the difficulties of our faith. I think that America will continue to pay the price of the church becoming lax in their confrontation of sin. I think our culture will continue to deteriorate and become more immoral if the church does not take a good and hard look at what the Bible says is truth, where we are actually at and then actively pursues Biblical Christ-likeness.

After I stared at the title some more, I then began to read the little paragraph to the side. Oh my!!

"...(the author) presents ten things Christians need to believe--and ten things they don't--to "qualify" as Christians."  The quotations around the word qualify are theirs not mine.

"...while we must always take the Bible seriously, we don't always have to take it literally."

Since I only had a title and a few sentences to go on, I decided to see what I could find online about the author and the book. Let me just say that this gentlemen and I would strongly disagree on many points in this book as well as in general. He has very liberal views on some culturally divisive topics and I feel that his views do not line up with the truth of God's Word. I found a contents page for the book and was able to see what the ten do believe and ten don't believe topics were as well as a one sentence description for each.  It was interesting that on the surface many seemed "OK" and even agreeable. In fact the ten things Christians do need to believe dealt with the person of Jesus Christ. (Good, right?)

Then I found a radio interview that the author had given regarding the book and I became even more uncomfortable with his beliefs.  He seems to have decided that the Bible does not have to be believed in it's entirety. There are mainstream issues that he seems to feel most churches are too judgemental about such as evolution, homosexuality, end times/afterlife of sinners, etc... In essence he says that while we do have to have a relationship with Jesus and that relationship is foundational to our faith, we can pick and choose to believe with certainty anything else in scripture that might make us uncomfortable or different than the world around us.  

I guess I am "old school" in my beliefs, but I will die on the "hill" of my belief that the WHOLE Bible is truth and that it can be taken seriously and legitimately as a source of direction and instruction. You can not pick and choose what you want to believe out of it.  I also believe that we are called to be like Christ. To me, He represented a life that said "all or nothing" (a lifestyle of faith that the author rejects).  Either you believe (and live like you believe) the Bible is God's Word and that Jesus is the only way to the Father or you don't.  There isn't a middle ground. You don't do a few things and then you "qualify" to be a Christian, either you are or you are not. I realize that this isn't the most popular form of religion out there, but then again, I don't belong to a religion. I have a real, living and active relationship with God through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus. And I am "in progress" as the Holy Spirit works in me and through me to bring about glory to and for  God. I believe that the entire Bible is God-breathed and that we must take it at face value, not adding to it or taking from it. I believe that there certain things God clearly calls sin. I believe that Jesus, while on Earth, showed love and grace to sinful people but never once backed down from calling their sin what it was, sin. I think the church has failed to follow the example of Christ. (Yes, there are those who have taken the pointing out of sins to an unhealthy, unloving and ungodly level, but that does not mean we err completely to the other side and not address it at all.) 

*Disclaimer: I have not read the book I mentioned above. I have not talked to the author. I am working off a slim knowledge regarding specifics of this book. However, I do feel that often times Christians look for the easiest and least amount of sacrifice to allow them to enjoy the comfortableness of their lives. Sin is sin. Obedience is tough. Repentance requires turning away from the pleasures of our sinful nature. Daily picking up our cross is not comfortable or easy. Sacrifice is painful. Christlike perfection is unattainable and yet it is what we are called to work toward. The Christian life is not easy. It is counter-cultural and will cause some to treat you differently. However, Christ gave His life for us. We are asked to surrender ours for His glory.

I qualify to be a Christian because I recognized that I am a sinner and was destined for an eternity of suffering in hell. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that He rose again and lives. I believe that at the moment I accepted His sacrifice for me I was given the gift of eternal life in heaven and also given the gift of the Holy Spirit who is actively at work in and through me. I take God at His word (the Bible) and I strive to live like Christ.

**Disclaimer (again): I am far from getting this right. So very far...