Moral police

Are Christians the moral police of the world?

Ok, I'll admit I was going to simply post that sentence and let anyone answer in whatever way they wanted. I still want anyone to answer it, if anyone wants to, but I'm going to go ahead and add my own thoughts here.

My question comes from a place of frustration. Well, perhaps not frustration. I guess I've seen so much of the Christian moral police brigade in my lifetime that it doesn't surprise me or frustrate me anymore.

If a Christian thinks his or her duty is to reward those who do good and to boycott all those who do evil in this world, then I think they've missed the point, just a little, perhaps?

In the past I've already shared my thoughts about how the last half of Romans chapter 1 is not meant as a "list of sins Christians should avoid." Indeed, they're all sins and we don't want to participate in any of them, but that's not the reason Paul listed them! He listed them in the midst of making an overall point that the whole world, apart from Christ, is guilty of sin. If a self-righteous person were to think they were righteous before God because of their own works, they could take a look at the list and hopefully be humbled to the point of realizing they were guilty just like everyone else. Paul builds up to a very telling "therefore" at the beginning of chapter 2:

"Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself..."

Anyway, even though Romans 1 isn't meant (according to how I understand it) as a list of sins for Christians to look at and be convicted of sin, if a Christian does indeed go around with a mindset that they need to police the world, or judge the sin of others, or boycott and avoid people and companies because of their sinful practices or because of the sinful things they support, then according to their own mindset I'd like them to take a look at Romans 1 and see where THEY stand, if they're really going to begin pointing fingers at the actions of others!

Do we really take care of the problems of the world by boycotting or avoiding people who sin?

"Permisson to be Human" - Darin Hufford

On his blog, as a preface to a blog post called "Permission to be Human," Darin Hufford writes, "Taking a big chance posting this. We'll see what happens...."

What is his post about, in which he's taking such a chance? To me, it's a raw look at the contradictory ways in which Christians live their lives, written in the first person from Darin's own perspective. Now... before I post the link to it, I want to affirm adamantly my belief that focusing on all of this inconsistent, contradictory behavior in the life of the Christian (and believe me, Darin doesn't hold back when sharing his own self-observances in his post!) is NOT what our life in Christ is about! In fact, focusing on it can be very detrimental to the living out of our daily lives in Christ. We can understand the reality that, for example, we think pure thoughts one moment and then the next moment we're all caught up in lustful thinking... without letting the truth of those contradictions steal from us the truth of our identity in Christ that is based not upon how we behave but upon the fact that by faith God has given us an identity that is righteous, holy, blameless and pure. We walk by faith in Christ, not by self-observance!

But I'm linking to this because I know that I know that I know that I know that sometimes an individual can feel as if they're the only Christian on the planet who deals with behavior that isn't always consistent (an understatement, of course), and I think that Darin simply comes out and says candidly what many Christians deal with daily, but are hesitant to speak about. Some of my blogging friends have posted similar blog posts in the past, and I always appreciate the honesty!

What is left out of the post, in my opinion (or at least it's what I would have gone on to say had I said the same things myself) is the truth about victory being a gift from God that He has already given us and that we walk in by faith, and by His grace - and that we don't need to stay locked into a mindset that the daily Christian life is simply a matter of putting up with fluctuating behavior.

That said, that obviously wasn't the point Darin was trying to make. So... I invite you to follow one of the links below and allow Darin to say all the things you've always wanted to say as a Christian, but were too afraid... and know that you're not alone. :) And I just want to add - Thank you, Father, for the victory that we have in Jesus! Thank you that we follow you and love you and obey you... not based upon our own abilities or efforts to do any of these things, but based upon Your faithfulness and Your love and Your own working that you work in us as we rest in You.

"Permission to be Human"
Darin's Myspace post
Darin's website blog post