Sometimes we think that calling Christianity a relationship rather than a religion makes it more attractive. I am not so sure. It is perhaps why Islam is becoming so attractive to some with its five pillars of practice. It is doable and is not so interminably self-searching. The relational component of Christ-following is intimidating and makes it personal in a way that bends some out of shape. A lot of people don’t do relationships – this is a point of failure and disappointment. I think we underestimate this in communicating Christ. When the psalmist says search me and know me that doesn’t sound like good news to a lot of people who have been violated and left with brokenness. While it may be intellectually clear that God is not like that, the demands for self-disclosure and vulnerability to another’s presence is not a “gimme.” It’s the one thing some people don’t do, don’t want to do and have long ago lost the skills to do. To them Christianity can seem excessively hard and hurtful at the very point where they have experienced so much disappointment. What to do about that is another subject.
Sometimes we think that calling Christianity a relationship rather than a religion makes it more attractive. I am not so sure. It is perhaps why Islam is becoming so attractive to some with its five pillars of practice. It is doable and is not so interminably self-searching. The relational component of Christ-following is intimidating and makes it personal in a way that bends some out of shape. A lot of people don’t do relationships – this is a point of failure and disappointment. I think we underestimate this in communicating Christ. When the psalmist says search me and know me that doesn’t sound like good news to a lot of people who have been violated and left with brokenness. While it may be intellectually clear that God is not like that, the demands for self-disclosure and vulnerability to another’s presence is not a “gimme.” It’s the one thing some people don’t do, don’t want to do and have long ago lost the skills to do. To them Christianity can seem excessively hard and hurtful at the very point where they have experienced so much disappointment. What to do about that is another subject.