In the United Kingdom
One reason for this is that most of the prominent Christian
leaders who appear in the media here present a very distorted version of our
faith. Instead of teaching what the
Bible teaches, they teach a man-made version of the faith that fits in with
modern Western values so as to avoid offending people.
Another reason for people’s misunderstanding about Christianity is
that the media itself tends to be very selective in what it reports. It chooses to focus on aspects of the
Christian faith that mainstream Western culture is most sympathetic to, although
these things are in reality much less central to our faith than most people
think.
For these two reasons, large numbers of people in the UK
In fact, this is a caricature of our faith. And it bears little resemblance to the
Christian faith that is found in the Bible and that has been believed down
through the centuries. Of course, it is very
important for Christians to treat people well.
And the desire to follow Jesus’ example should be some of our motivation
for this. But doing good to people is only
a small part of what Christianity is all about.
The heart of the
Christian faith
In reality, the heart of the Christian faith is about being saved from
sin and hell by what Jesus accomplished on the cross:
First, we human beings have all done things that are morally
wrong, what the Bible refers to as sinning.
The seriousness of sinning cannot be overstated. It basically involves rejecting the created
order of almighty God to do things in a different way. And this is a kind of infinite insult to him.
Second, the fact that we have sinned means that we deserve punishment. This punishment will be enacted by God after
death, and it will involve everlasting torment in hell.
Third, in some mysterious way that we can’t properly understand,
God clothed himself in humanity to become the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Motivated by his great love for us, Christ
then died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. And he confirmed that he had succeeded in
doing this by rising from the dead. The
crucifixion and resurrection therefore made it possible for us to be saved from
going to hell.
Fourth, to take advantage of this salvation, people need to
personally accept it by faith in Christ.
Only a minority of people actually do this.
Fifth, those who accept salvation come immediately into a
relationship with God. This involves,
among many other things, living much more uprightly than previously and doing
good to people.
I think these five points form a reasonable summary of what the
core of the Christian faith is all about, except that the fifth point would
really need to be expanded at length in many important ways. However, many people in the UK
Biblical Christianity
and modern impressions compared
When the apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth
‘When I came to you, brothers . . . I resolved to know nothing
when I was with you except Jesus Christ, that is, Jesus Christ crucified.’ (1
Corinthians 2:1-2)
Of course, this shouldn’t be taken strictly literally. When Paul was with the Corinthians, he surely
thought and spoke about a great many issues.
But his point is clear. His
thinking and teaching were full of the cross of Jesus.
The contrast between Paul’s outlook and the impression given of
Christianity by the media in the UK
For example, every Easter Sunday news networks here spend a little
time covering what some prominent Christian leaders have said in their Easter messages. The messages of the archbishop of Canterbury
However, year after year the networks never report that either of
these men’s Easter messages said anything about what the cross of Christ
accomplished. Likewise, there is never
any reference to the need of people to be saved from hell, despite the fact
that the New Testament is full of teaching on this.
In fact, I cannot ever recall even hearing a news item say that
the archbishop or pope mentioned the crucifixion or resurrection of Jesus at
all in their Easter messages. Yet the
whole point of Easter is to celebrate these events.
The truth of the matter is that in order to fit in with modern
Western values and so as not to offend people, the archbishop and pope always
present a terribly distorted version of the Christian faith in their Easter
messages. And, even if they do say anything
about what the cross accomplished, the news networks never report this in their
summaries anyway.
The result is that the impression given of Christianity in the media
is a grossly disfigured one. And people
watching or reading the news come away with a very faulty view of what our
faith is all about. The same thing
happens at Christmas and at almost any other time that the Christian faith is
referred to by news networks.
Preferring a biblical
understanding
If you are a non-Christian reading this, I would encourage you not
to simply assume that what you see and hear about Christianity in the
mainstream media is an accurate portrait.
Read the Bible yourself. Go to
the source documents of the Christian faith so that you are not so reliant on
what other people think.
If you are a Christian reading this, make sure that you follow the
example of Paul in letting the cross of Christ fill your vision day after day. Nothing has ever happened in our universe
that was more significant than Jesus’ crucifixion.
See also:
