Persecuted? Or just a jerk?

Haters gonna hate. 

Have you ever had a conversation that goes something like the one below?

You: “I was listening to a great podcast by (some christian author) the other day—“

Friend: “Whoa..(some christian author)?  Careful, man, (some christian author) has some pretty iffy beliefs”

You: “Yea, I’ve heard, but this podcast really was quite good.  They were talking about (insert compelling topic here) and had some really interesting perspectives.”

Friend: “Hm.  I don’t know.  I heard (some christrian author)’s not even a pastor.”

Or perhaps you’ve had a conversation that has gone more like this one:

Friend: “I just have no patience for talking to non-christians about faith.”

You: “Why’s that?”

Friend: “Every time I’ve tried to talk to someone about being a Christian they’ve just called me judgemental”

You: “Why do you think that is?”

Friend: “They’re just ignorant and need Jesus.”

These are pretty dumbed down examples, but you get the idea. 

Living in Christian circles has forced me to have these types of conversations all my life.  Lately it has been bothering me more and more, and I think I may have finally figured out why.

There seems to be an incessant need amongst the Christian community to point out what is and isn’t worth believing or subscribing to, as well as a need to dictate what is and isn’t good theology, and who does or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  I could write plenty about this being the result of an insecurity in our personal faith, but instead I’ll do this:

In his lifetime, Jesus is recorded as confronting and challenging many things about the Jewish faith of his day.  As a result, combined with his persecution/crucifixion and resurrection, we have modern Christianity. 

At first glance, this makes it seem that when we challenge, confront, or disagree with people or organizations who appear to sway from ‘the truth’ we are living like Jesus.  We think we are following Christ’s example when we confront others and are treated poorly for our faith. 

But let’s take another look. 

When Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his day, was he calling them out for being too forward thinking, or too religious?  When Jesus was persecuted, was it for being too religious, or too heretical? 

One of the most common words that gets thrown around when I hear my Christian friends criticizing well-known thinkers is exactly that: heretic.

I am by no means suggesting that every single author or speaker to come out with some new and challenging idea about God and Christianity is following after God’s heart, but what I am absolutely suggesting is that perhaps we have it backwards. 

Perhaps we are calling ourselves persecuted when we are actually just being a jerk and being treated as such.  Perhaps we are calling public figures heretics when they are in fact being persecuted for challenging us to stretch our religious bubbles.

Perhaps we think we are being like Christ, when in fact we are being much more like Pharisees.

“You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?  When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News.”

- 1 Corinthians 3:3-5 (NLT)