Total Nudity

I'm currently reading a great book. It is by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons called unChristian. It is a challenging book to those of us in leadership and those who have been in church all of our lives. It takes a painfully honest look at how those outside the church walls see us Christians. At first glance I had a tendency to get a bit defensive, but when I stop and think about my actions and thoughts, the book has really challenged me to think about myself and how I react to those outside the church.

The current chapter I'm reading is talking about "total nudity." They (16-29 year old unChristian) say that they have a number of issues that turn them off about the churh and the "inside" people. They see massive hypocrisy. We've been hearing that for years about the church, but it seems to be growing with greater intensity. As I thought through people I have seen or been with, it is too often true. There's something about us when we become followers of Christ and we seem to take on this "Holier than thou" type attitude. We look at everyone else on the outside as if they are not as good as us. Sometimes we may do it by accident, but many times I think it is done on purpose.

So what do we need to do?

First, we need to strive to be more like Jesus Christ. Did you hear what I said--like Him, not someone else. Jesus never possessed a "me verses them" type mindset. He was always part of the "outsider's" world. Through His life on this earth He shared His life. In fact, when He walked this earth, more people who were unlike Him loved being around Him. Today, unfortunatley, very few outsiders care about being around any Christian people.

Second, let's be real with our lives. Let's let people see we don't have it all together; we're not perfect. But as we go through our lives let's strive to be honest, transparent, and more like Christ. If we do these simple things, we could make a huge step toward building incredible relationships. People might be drawn to the Jesus coming through your life.

Philip Thurman