How Christian is Christian?

Well, I apologize in advance. This post has a lot of questions in it, without very many answers. It’s really just me thinking out loud—and I don’t know all the answers (surprise, surprise – or not). And another note: You will probably wonder why I blank out a letter in “cr-p” throughout this post. I don’t consider it a dastardly swear word or anything like that...I’m just writing it that way because I want to respect anyone who might be offended by the word. So that’s the reasoning behind that.

Anyway, let’s begin:

As a homeschooler, I have been raised as a very “Christian” Christian. I’ve mainly associated with the people whose iPods are loaded entirely with Chris Tomlin, who think “heck” is a swear word, who turn the lights off and sing praise songs on Halloween night, who get Vision Forum catalogues in the mail, who have never seen R-rated movies, and who unconsciously categorize smoking among the mortal sins. And I am right there with them (minus the heck, Halloween, and Tomlin parts). So please, please don't get offended and think I'm trying to insult anyone with those comments--it's just a illustration which I would lay upon myself as well. Anyway, until relatively recently, I had no idea that I—or we, or whatever—was rather a “foreign species”. Even (and this is the oddest part) to other Christians.

This all became rather more interesting when I first realized that there are “other” Christians out there. First, I met some in person. They never listen to Chris Tomlin. They say “cr-p”. They watch horror movies on Halloween. They have drunk alcoholic beverages before in their lives (as adults). They are also some of the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever met. And they are Christians.

Next, I read about Don Miller. He is writing about spiritual revolutions and revelations—inspiring others in their spiritual lives. None of the singers he listened to while writing the book were Christian. He writes about being selfish and sinful. About doing drugs and getting drunk. About having relational issues. About feeling like Hitler. He also says “cr-p”. His book has spiritually impacted me.

I don’t like reading Christian living books. I’ve worked through three “godly young woman” books by chipper, perfect Christian Elizabeth George. I’ve gotten nothing out of them. Half a book by Don Miller has revolutionized my thinking—not to go out and get drunk or something, but to have a better relationship with God.

So where does that put us? As I said in my title, how Christian is Christian? Which behavioral standards are necessary to being a good Christian? Obviously, Biblical standards...but what about the “extra” stuff that the Bible doesn’t really go in to? Is it possible to be too Christian? Is it possible to be not Christian enough? And how do you tell? I mean, is it superficial behaviors that matter? Is it heart attitudes? Is it both? I’m not trying to say that someone like Elizabeth George or Vision Forum is a bad Christian. I’m also not trying to say that Don Miller or the other people I know are bad Christians. I’m just observing that the behavioral standards I took for granted are not universal among Christians. Which is interesting and hard but not all bad. My saying all this will probably also make people think “uh-oh, she’s going to rebel. She’s going to start behaving all badly and say it’s ok...” No worries, friends. I have taken about 95% or more of the behavioral standards I was raised with, and personalized them, so that they have gone from rules to obey to my own convictions and standards for myself. I’m not going to drink, smoke, say bad words, etc. Those are things that I could not and will not do out of personal conviction. However, I’m also not going to judge someone else’s spirituality on whether or not they do those things. If someone is directly disobeying one of God’s explicit commands and doesn’t care, then that’s an issue. But it’s important to remember which are God’s commands and which are “extra” commands which may be important to us but must not be used as the basis for judging others. And this works the other way. Others who don’t share my standards shouldn’t judge me for sticking to them.

So there are my thoughts for the day. For being such a long ride, I don’t really feel like we got anywhere. But it’s just something I’ve been thinking about—and if you choose to read this blog, then that’s what you get to be subjected to =)...