The New You

Galatians 2:19-21

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)

MUCH OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD thinks it hates Christianity. It hates the narrow-mindedness and bigotries of people who call themselves Christians. It hates the corruption it has seen in churches past and present. It hates the militant attitude evident in crusading pilgrims, colonial expansion, and even suburban cliques. It is weary of religious conflicts, intellectual misrepresentations, political manipulations, and hypocritical behaviors. Of course, none of this is the essence of Christianity. What the world really hates is the distortions of the real thing.

Those distortions are numerous. History is full of “Christian” kingdoms, societies, organizations, and individuals who did not exactly behave in Christian ways. In fact, we are all distortions of the real thing to some degree; none of us has conformed to the template of Jesus perfectly. So when people throw up superficial arguments against Christianity—like “What about the Crusades?” or “What about all the religious wars that have been fought?” or “Haven’t you seen the corruption in the church?”—we have only two legitimate responses: “Yes, Christians both true and false have done a lot of bad things” and “Jesus didn’t.”

The counterpoint to our admission that Christians have failed is that we claim to be born of and filled with his Spirit, yet we look very little like him at times. But the real issue is that Jesus’ words, miracles, and sacrifice are not undone by our flaws. Rather, our flaws are why he came to save us. We are forgiven of them once and for all, and we are being cleansed of them as we live now. In the meantime, we are new creations. We have a genuinely different quality of life than we once had, a transformation that has begun in seed even if it is not yet in full flourish. As believers, we are rooted in the Kingdom.

Don’t get distracted by accusations of unchristian behavior, from this age or ages past. Confess your own faults in humility, but then point to Jesus. He has not failed and never will. He came to save this world from the things it hates.

{Jesus, you made me new in the Spirit. Continue to make me new in experience. Let my transformation be evident to all and honor your name. Amen.