Richard Stearns: Living as an Authentic Christian in a Non-Christian World

After the election, I published an article in this space that struck a chord with many Christians. I suggested that engaging in a bitter 'culture war' in order to preserve America's formerly dominant Christian culture has been largely a failed strategy. We cannot win in the courts and at the ballot box that which we have lost in the court of public opinion. Instead, I argued, we should embrace the strategy that has successfully attracted people to Jesus for two thousand years - authentic Christianity.

What if we simply stuck to what Jesus commanded us to do: love our neighbors as ourselves, care for the poor and the sick and the brokenhearted, stand up for the oppressed, be generous with our time and our money, and live winsome lives filled with grace and gentleness?

Christians have always lived, and often thrived, in cultures where they are minorities. Christianity began in a Jewish culture and thrived in a pagan Roman one. The apostle Paul, writer of nearly half the New Testament, actually offers advice to the church in Corinth which lived in the midst of a very pagan society. His words should guide us today.

In I Corinthians 5:9, Paul encourages the Christians to clean up their own affairs. The church was in a mess with sexual shenanigans, internal bickering, and a deep division between rich and poor. Paul gives them some advice, but he also says Christians shouldn't worry about whether others follow Christian moral teaching.

"I wrote you in my earlier letter that you shouldn't make yourselves at home among the sexually promiscuous. I didn't mean that you should have nothing at all to do with outsiders of that sort. Or with crooks, whether blue- or white-collar. Or with spiritual phonies, for that matter. You'd have to leave the world entirely to do that! ... I'm not responsible for what the outsiders do, but don't we have some responsibility for those within our community of believers? God decides on the outsiders, but we need to decide when our brothers and sisters are out of line and, if necessary, clean house. (I Cor. 5:9-13, The Message)

Paul's point is this: Be strict with yourselves, expecting fellow Christians to obey the demands of Jesus. But don't hold others to the same rules.

I think these verses can show Christians the way forward in today's America. We need to find a way to live in a pluralistic society without engaging in an arms race with those who are not Christians.

I recently saw a beautiful example of how Christians can love their neighbors, offering a compelling invitation to the kingdom of God at a banquet for a Christian homeless ministry, the Bread of Life Mission in Seattle.

A man spoke to those present that night about his life of the streets and the addiction that cost him his job, his family, and his self respect. "I was on drugs, sleeping under the bridge," he said. Just eight months ago, he visited the mission in order to get a free wool hat. He decided to accept the offer to help him get off the streets. Next he wheeled in the shopping cart that once carried all of his belongings, and he held up a cardboard sign. On it, he had written, "I don't live here anymore." He was about to graduate from the Bread of Life discipleship program and would soon be living on his own with his own roof over his head. He showed us a picture of himself while he lived on the street. "I gave my life to Christ," he said. "The man you see here tonight is a different person altogether."

What I witnessed at the Bread of Life Mission is a perfect example of Jesus' calling for Christians today. In Matthew 25, Jesus says that those who enter his kingdom will be people who feed the hungry, welcome strangers, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and visit the prisoners.

In his book, UnChristian, David Kinnaman cites a Barna Research study that asked non-Christians whether they viewed the role of Christians in American society in a favorable or unfavorable way. In 1996, 85% viewed Christians favorably. Ten years later, that approval rating had dropped to just 15%. When people were asked to describe Christians, adjectives like, judgmental, hypocritical, close-minded, insensitive, too critical and too political were most often cited. We might contrast this list with what the Apostle Paul in Galatians listed as the 'fruits of the Spirit': "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

"Against such things," Paul exhorted, "there is no law."

There isn't any question that American culture is in a transition from a dominantly Christian culture to a dominantly secular culture. We can no longer expect America society to uniformly embrace Christian values or morality. How the Christian community chooses to respond to this will be critical. Angry rhetoric, and bitterly contested lawsuits and elections create adversaries, but no one ever made an enemy by offering the hand of friendship, helping the down and out, mentoring kids, giving generously to others or helping people after a hurricane get their lives back together. Paul was right - "against such things, there is no law".

Click through the slideshow to see most and least Christian states in the United States:

• Utah

  78,438 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Parowan_Utah_Church.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• North Dakota

  66,950 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catholic_Church_in_Warsaw,_North_Dakota.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Alabama

  62,467 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:16th_Street_Baptist_Church.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Louisiana

  59,598 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St._Stephens_Episcopal_Church_(Innis,_Louisiana).jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Oklahoma

  58,598 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catesby_Oklahoma_Church.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Mississippi

  58,342 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mississippi_Church.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• South Dakota

  58,212 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Methodist_Episcopal_Church_Pierre_South_Dakota.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Minnesota

  55,280 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_near_Flom,_Minnesota.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Massachusetts

  55,023 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sandwich_Church,_Massachusetts.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Arkansas

  54,985 Christian adherents per 100,000 people. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Our_Lady_of_Perpetual_Help_Church_silhouette_altus_arkansas.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Nebraska

  54,776 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Visitation_Church_%28O'Connor%2C_Nebraska%29_church_from_S.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Tennessee

  54,764 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/First_Baptist_Church_Donelson_Tennessee_04032012.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Rhode Island

  53,576 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Texas

  53,525 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Iowa

  53,403 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Wisconsin

  52,863 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Pennsylvania

  51,883 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Illinois

  51,442 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• South Carolina

  51,374 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Kentucky

  51,055 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Idaho

  50,695 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• District of Columbia

  49,903 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Kansas

  49,666 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• New Jersey

  49,575 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Georgia

  49,374 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_(Georgia)_Presbyterian_Church.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Connecticut

  49,096 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• New Mexico

  49,044 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Missouri

  48,436 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• North Carolina

  46,737 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carolina_Baptist_Church.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• New York

  44,488 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. <br> Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_in_Rye,_New_York.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Indiana

  43,788 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Ohio

  42,744 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• California

  42,430 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Virginia

  41,304 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Michigan

  40,186 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Delaware

  39,575 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Church,_Dover,_Delaware.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Wyoming

  39,341 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Maryland

  39,214 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Montana

  37,824 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Florida

  37,104 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Colorado

  36,461 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Hawaii

  36,103 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Arizona

  35,842 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• West Virginia

  35,211 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• New Hampshire

  34,617 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Nevada

  33,395 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/StJoanofArcCatholicChurch_in_Las_Vegas_founded_1910.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Washington

  33,065 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Methodist_Church_at_Historic_Washington_State_Park_IMG_1467.JPG" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Vermont

  32,954 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Alaska

  32,810 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. Original photo <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Orthodox_church_in_Seldovia%2C_Alaska.jpg" target="_hplink">here</a>.

• Oregon

  30,101 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

• Maine

  27,098 Christian adherents per 100,000 persons.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-stearns/living-as-an-authentic-christian-in-a-non-christian-world_b_2171648.html

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