What's Christianity about anyway?

Christianity is Not about Morality.
Christianity is about God.
Christianity is about Living as a Revolutionary
in a Broken World.

If I hear another person say, when speaking of Christianity, “Well, as long as I’m a good person, that’s the most important thing,” I think I will scream! There is a vision of the church out there that our role is to create good citizens: dutiful, responsible, doesn’t question authority, is thoughtful, cheerful, and loving. Bah Humbug I say! Not that many of these aren’t good qualities to possess, but these are not the purpose of church.

Such a milquetoast, tired, boring understanding of Christianity is what leads to a decline in church membership. Why bother going to church if you can be a good person on your own? As a rejection of that, some have come to believe that they need to focus only on a particular morality and believe it with passion. For instance oppose homosexuality, abortion, and liberals, and you have a clear shot to heaven. This is yet another distortion of the gospel. I am not taking a position on these issues, merely pointing out that any position on them by itself is insufficient for being a Christian. Christianity is much bigger and more meaningful than our morality.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about being a good citizen. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about having a particular morality. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about turning your world upside down and orienting it towards God in Christ. It is about living as a revolutionary in a broken world. It’s not about milquetoast. It’s about red meat. It’s about loving your neighbor, even the ones who aren’t lovable; even the ones who are sinful. Both the ones in the cubicles next to you as well as the ones who live on the other side of the globe and aren’t Christian. It’s about striving for justice for the oppressed. It’s about voting for candidates who will help the poor. It’s about opposing racism, ageism, sexism, and anything that distorts the dignity of another human being. It’s about confronting lies and evil. It’s about saving God’s good earth. It’s about standing up to do and say the right thing even at personal cost.

Most importantly Christianity is about loving and worshiping God. The Holy Trinity is the source of all and deserving of our daily prayers, praise, and thanks. We are not the center of our lives. Money is not the center of our lives. Good morality is not the center of our lives. Not even the Bible is the center of our lives.

God in Christ is the center. All else should point towards God.

As a Christian we do the moral thing not because it’s “nice,” and not because it’s how we get to heaven, but because our love for God is so passionate that it overwhelms us and we cannot do otherwise.

In Christ,
Stephanie+