The Myths About Christianity

"Brothers and sisters: You know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you. . . . In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should one eat. We hear that some are . . not keeping busy but minding the business of others. Such people we instruct and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and to eat their own food." --[ 2 Thessalonians 3: 7-12].

When St. Paul was writing and preaching to the Thessalonians, it was a time when early Christians believed that Jesus' Second Coming was imminent. Anticipating that the End would be here soon, some Christians figured that drudgery and toil would be futile. This meant that some began relying on others for food.

In this Scripture, St. Paul urges his Christian community to "work quietly and to eat their own food."

Over two thousand years of God's Word in the Bible, and we humans still have a hard time grasping what it means to be a Christian.

My own parents, who called themselves "Christian", used to whisper that the Christians in our village were relying on God's intervention, rather than relying on themselves. My family fully believed that expecting God to provide, with absolutely no effort of one's own, was a central tenet of Christianity. And so, to my family, Christians were either "moochers" or fools.

Certainly, Jesus was misunderstood in His time. But Christianity, even today, after over two thousand years of Scriptural study, is routinely misinterpreted and misconstrued.

A priest who gave a talk to a Biblical Study Group  I attended said, "If people are going to argue with us, they should at least understand what we are really about."

And so-- No, we Christians are NOT a lazy lot, expecting everything to magically come to us from God, the Great Provider. In fact, St. Paul urges us, "in toil and drudgery" [to] work, so as not to burden any of you."

And, in fact, St. Paul sees all Christians as the eyes, the ears, the hands of one body, each part or gift indispensable to the whole. -[1 Corinthians 12]. We are "apostles, prophets, teachers, healers, leaders. . ." And we are to use our gifts for the common good.

And YET, it has come to this, in this American Election year, that people have come to see Christians as judgmental, the arbiters of Christian morals and Christian law. We Christians have come to be seen as "Haters."

BUT--- this is a twisted and wholly false version of Christianity!

A Christians' first and most important commandment is to "love our neighbor as ourselves." -[Mark 12:31].

We are also taught quite clearly not to judge others:  In Matthew 7:5, Jesus teaches, "You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eyes."

And, we Christians do not believe that we can get away with any sin, just because God forgives all. God's Mercy is not a "free pass" for criminal or otherwise egregious behavior.

Nor are we called to overlook others' bad actions, just because we are called to forgive. We are called to "rebuke each other little by little", just as God does. [ Wisdom 11: 22- 12:2].

Forgiveness does not mean that what the other person did was perfectly fine. Instead, we are called to forgive others' transgressions (i.e. grant mercy to the offender ), because God forgives us, when we do wrong. But first, we must admit what we did wrong, and call our error for what it is.

In re-reading some Scriptural passages,  I see that the Pharisees confront Jesus, saying, "He eats with tax collectors and sinners" -- as if the sin of these people could somehow taint Jesus!

In contrast today, I see that Christians are accused of isolating ourselves as "too holy" to be around others. When in fact, we are called to meet people where they are, just as Jesus did.

This means, perhaps, breaking bread with a gay relative; hugging a woman who has had an abortion; ministering to a person who is addicted to drugs or who is in prison. We do not have to like what they have done.  But, our distaste cannot and does not eliminate our Love.

 For Jesus, and for us as Christians, there are no "deplorables", no "untouchables". There are no objects of Hate. As Jesus did not quarantine nor hate anyone-- nor must we.

Which is why I do not at all understand people labelling us Christians as "Conservative". Because we do NOT seek to conserve or to maintain the status quo. We Christians are radical in our Love. We can hate the Sin but love the sinner-- because we are ALL sinners.

Yes, friends, let us work together to learn what being truly Christian is all about.  Misunderstandings lead to persecution and to Hate. But what the world needs now is a whole lot more of Love.


[Related postings: "Got Faith?", 11/28/12; "LBGT and Christian", 5/31/15].

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