CHRISTIANITY MUST DIE

Written by Chris Bloom, posted by Lora Bloom

Let me tell you what, in my experience, the average churchgoing man is like.

He's at least in his 30s, because no normal person would have time for church when he was younger. He has a wife and a couple of kids; he mostly goes for them anyway.

He's much more interested in sports than in church. He owns a Bible, but it only gets opened on Sunday mornings, or at most for a few minutes each morning for a devotional. He only reads a few verses at a time, and assumes that the Bible itself is some kind of mysterious manuscript only meant for trained professionals.

He only goes to church on Sunday mornings, and because he's expected to. Besides, it's mildly entertaining and makes no demands on him, and it's a good place to make contacts. The only time he'd even think about going any other time is when there are sports, cookouts, or motorcycles involved, preferably in some combination.

In short, his religion makes almost no impact on his life. The only thing that makes him any different from a non-Christian is where he spends less than 2% of his week.

Christianity has become a socially-expected chore. (And I live in what has been described as the most religious state in the USA. In a lot of places it's not even expected.) And for that, Christianity must die.

At least the way it's usually practiced in America. Actual Christianity, the worship of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, is very rare, as it always has been. It's much easier to substitute a weak, insipid version of it and follow that instead of devoting ourselves to the real thing.

Of course, I could be wrong. Maybe my experience has not been typical,or maybe I'm just being too hard on the average man in the pews (or chairs or whatever). But I don't think so. I just don't think Christianity is that important to most men.

I've said many times that I've never been asked if I was a Christian, but I was asked several times a day whether I was an Alabama or an Auburn fan. (In addition being apparently religious, this state is literally insane about college football.)

I once heard the explosion "playing church". And that's exactly what we've been doing. We've been pretending to be the Body of Christ, when in reality a good many of us don't even know what that means. For our hearts to break for what breaks God's heart, real Christianity must live, and our pale imitation Christianity must die.

[LC Bloom also must die, but for a completely different reason. That's just what people do. He's from Birmingham, Alabama, and can be reached at lechroom@icoud.com. He also writes for Built for Glory, and has written for COBRASAURUS!!!!!.]