Getting Away with Christianity
By Gus Succop, Pastor
At a recent end-of-the-year event at a
local high school, I found myself sitting next to a fellow
parent. As one graduating senior was recognized for excellence
in a couple of academic disciplines, the parent turned to me and
said, “I just hope he’s as educated as they have made him out to
be.” I knew what the parent meant.
Being “educated” does not always guarantee
knowledge, at least not “common sense” kind of knowledge. Many a
high school graduate walks away with a diploma but not with an
education, not with an understanding of what it means to be a
human being and what it means to treat others accordingly. That
kind of education takes time and not a few years of experience.
I know people who know a lot of “stuff,” but I don’t consider
them very well educated. I know people who have never had a
formal education, but they are some of the smartest people I
know.
How do I define being “educated”? Well, I
would begin with what St. Paul says in Romans 12, especially
when he urges the Christian community in Rome to “outdo one
another in showing honor” (verse 10; NRSV) or put another way,
“Be good friends who love deeply” (The Message). Maybe
I’m running with an ignorant crowd these days, but recently I
have been witness to rudeness, unkindness, or maybe it was all
just meanness of heart. I know it wasn’t simply bad manners.
Anyway, take your pick. The point is that I have been witness
to behavior that makes me wonder if some Christians are getting
away with Christianity.
Pastors hear it all, eventually. When
feelings are hurt, pastors are sought out as one might seek out
a parent in order for justice to be fairly administered to a
sibling. One Sunday before worship (not here but at another
church!) I overheard someone tell someone else that they really
were inept (at what, changing a tire?). I was shocked by the
tone of voice. I was even more surprised that the one who had
been called down was so crestfallen she couldn’t say a word in
her own defense. If I had been on my toes I would have laid
into the one who had just verbally chewed up and spit out the
church member. Later on, I was ashamed I said nothing, wanting
instead to keep the artificial truce for which we pastors are
famous.
Maybe it isn’t that hard to prove we are
NOT Christians. Some may know we are Christians by our love,
but our unkindness towards one another speaks volumes. Our
rudeness towards one another leaves no uncertainty whose kingdom
we are serving. And the way we seek to put people in their
place (because of our own inferiority complex?) reveals the
content of our hearts better than any soup label could detail.
I know that there are some Christians who
think they are getting away with Christianity. I know some have
perfected the routine for years, which is why I am so grateful
for the Christians (here at Quail Hollow!) who make it
hard for the rest of us to live so pleasantly in our spiritual
disguise. I suspect that was at work in the life-changing
experience of Luke’s Zacchaeus (whose Hebrew name, by the way,
means “pure”; Luke 19). One day he just gave up the disguise.
One day something or someone convinced him it was time to live
right and to be right (if not pure) with God and his neighbor.
That marked the day Zacchaeus stopped being a short man and
started to grow into the genuine love of Jesus Christ.
fe
Betsy
Williamson Gus Succop
Associate Pastor Pastor
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