What Does Christianity Really Teach About Social Issues?

Let's sit down together and discuss things...

I’m writing to share a link that I believe clarifies a sizable aspect of the confusion currently in our world. 

Specifically, there is a fair bit said about Christianity, and under the guise of Christianity, that is simply wrong. When people speak stridently they often speak superlatively as well—and they often try to align themselves with people more powerful than they to make themselves more powerful than they feel. It’s human nature.

What does Christianity truly teach about social questions?

If you think about it, what could be more powerful than having God on your side—whether you know anything about him or not?

Everyone from terrorists, to the KKK, to kneeling football players, to Black Lives Matter, to politicians of every stripe, and more pastors than God created are invoking the name of God to fortify their position. Consequently, Christianity is taking quite the beating in our society.

My intent is to establish what Christianity is, not how it is being practiced.

It's true that those of us who name the name of Christ have brought a lot of society's disdain on ourselves because of the way in which we have represented our faith. But, that is another matter. Here, I'm interested in what Christianity actually teaches, not what Christians do in actual practice. 

So what does Christianity truly teach and believe about injustice, inequality, race, difference, and other social questions? What does Christianity really have to say about rich and poor, smart and not-so, talented and routine?

Let me be clear: I’m not asking what Nancy Pelosi believes as a Christian or what Donald Trump believes as a Christian, even though both invoke their faith to justify their positions. I’m not even asking what your pastor believes. 

I’m asking what Christianity actually teaches at a fundamental level in hopes of clearing away some of the social fog and considerable misrepresentation of Christianity. Let the disparate groups in the country speak for themselves. My intent in sharing the following link is to state what Christianity is, and perhaps by straightening this thread in the web of confusion, a few more threads in the web will untangle as well. 

In my opinion, you need to know this—just like you need to know what the Muslims truly believe, and the atheists, and the LGBT people, etc. And to be blunt, it is lazy to think any media outlet is giving you what you need to know. In today’s environment, you need to dig deeper than their agendas if you want to truly be informed.

I’m not attempting to convert you or convince you.

A number of you reading this note consider yourselves Christians. A number of you receiving this are agnostic and atheist. Several more are indifferent to matters of faith and religion. That’s all fine. I’m writing to you as my friends and fellow Westerners--and I'm writing to my friends and readers abroad who are looking on as we in the United States of America work out our issues.  

I’m not attempting to convert you or convince you. I’m offering a return to the fundamentals to remind and/or inform you. Watching the link I supply below won’t solve the problems we are experiencing, but it will certainly empower you to sort out a major aspect of what people are saying about Christianity that is skewed from the truth.

The following link is to a sermon delivered by a Christian pastor, Max Lucado. As you would expect, there are references to God, there is an opening and closing prayer, and there are a number of quotations from the Bible as a source. After all, this is a Christian sermon, not a TED Talk. I’m not asking you to judge or to agree, and if you do, you've missed the point.

I’m offering to inform you through a well-crafted message that I think might prove helpful to us all. I can tell you this: What you are currently hearing and reading is 98-99% unrepresentative of Christianity and 98-99% linked to persuasion and agenda. You deserve better than that--you need better than that.

Either you know the truth or you live in a delusion.

One more thing before I supply the link: Not all who name themselves Christian behave as such. That is not surprising. We are all hypocritical when it comes to lining up our behaviors and beliefs—whatever they are. But what Christians do and what Christianity is are two different things. 

I’m not offering judgment regarding whether or not someone claiming Christianity is doing a good or poor job of implementing their religious belief. I’m just hoping to help set the record straight on what the baseline belief is.

And let me speak bluntly again: If you snarl your lip or dismiss the teaching of Christianity because you disapprove of how a Christian behaves, you are demonstrating a bias and lack of understanding that is part of the impasse in our society. Either you know the truth or you live in a delusion. 

Here you go, and thanks for caring enough about our world to listen and help clarify. Perhaps if we advocate together from a place of understanding, some of the love we are supposed to demonstrate will manifest itself (smile). Here's the link to Max Lucado.

After watching the message from Max, feel free to pass along a link to this blog or his message if you think it worthy of your endorsement.