The Christian Bubble

In church this past Sunday the pastor spoke about the relevance of the Christian faith outside the Christian faith. He was referring to someone he knew who had grown up in a Christian home, attended Christian school her whole life and was hit with culture shock when she began attending a public university. All of a sudden the language of her faith that had seemed so relevant and so "right" became confused in the sea of new faces and ideals. It is not that it stopped being right but that she no longer knew how to share it with others without putting them off. How does one define their beliefs outside of the Christian bubble? How does a Christian represent Christ's love in society without confusing the relationship of faith with the ideals of the Christian culture, without coming across as judgemental?

I just finished reading a book called "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey which posed some of the same questions. Philip Yancey pointed out in his book that the people Jesus associated himself with in the New Testament were not the "righteous" religious people of that time, but rather the down and out; tax collectors, prostitutes, lepors... Yet somehow as Christians in the 21st century we allow our desire to follow God's laws to become a sort of self-righteous hypocricy, not much unlike the Pharisees of Jesus' day. It isn't intended. I think that the self righteousness comes from pride. It is human nature to want to compare ourselves to others, especially if we think we are the ones on the right track. It is hypocricy because of course no one can ever be always on the right track.

I want desperately to find that middle ground, to be the kind of Christian that reflects God's love without coming across as superior for knowing that love. I want desperately to be the kind of Christian who knows instinctively what to say to put others at ease, to let them know that I have no judgement, no preconcieved notions of who they are or should be. After all we were each created as unique individuals. Who am I to tell anyone how to live out their faith? How to live out their lives?

What I sometimes find myself doing instead is waffling in my faith. I sit in the uncomfortable seat of belief mired with self doubt. I find myself attempting to convince others and myself that I am not "that" kind of Christian. Whatever "that" kind of Christian is I don't know. What I wish I could do is define the difference between life in Christ (which is vital to our relationship with Him) and life in Christianity (which has become something of a middle class picture of manufactured urban bliss). I think the only way to do that is to dive into God's word and attempt to discover who He really is, rather than who people say we should be if we claim to know Him.