Are you a bumper sticker Christian?

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Know Jesus? Know peace?

God said it, I believed it, that settles it?

What WOULD Jesus do?

Are you a bumper sticker Christian? Can your faith be summed up in a sentence or less? Are you always thinking of clever and socially relevant ways in which you can reach the lost? Are you sitting there nodding your head at every question and not understanding that there is something terribly wrong with this?

Yes they do exist, the bumper sticker Christians. They listen to K-Love or other christian radio stations, own a phone directory of christian owned businesses, They have a wardrobe full of Christian themed pop culture t-shirts, they have both a cross necklace and a Jesus fish necklace, They can sing along to Veggie Tales songs(no matter how old they are) They own the entire collection of Left Behind books and their favorite actor is Kirk Cameron.

Oh and they have bumper stickers……

“It’s not a religion it’s a relationship”

“Got Jesus? It’s hell without him”

“God helps those who help themselves“

“Christians aren’t perfect, they’re just forgiven”

“Denial won’t help when you stand before Christ”

And my personal favorite

“In case of rapture, this car will be unmanned”

I have to admit, I am not a fan of bumper stickers anyway, my wife made me put a coexist sticker on my jeep ages ago and it is still there. It is at least an idea I can live with. I find most bumper stickers to be crass and smug. People don’t really talk like this in real life do they? Mosst folks wouldn’t have the nerve to walk up to a complete stranger and say the things that their bumper stickers say do they? And an even more important question, can you really get a good idea of who a person is by what their bumper stickers say?

By what their t-shirts say?

I know that we are not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover but, some of these folks make it very hard not to do so. I see someone wearing a t-shirt that says “Jesus: take the deal” or they drive a car that has a sticker that says ” Jesus is coming, get busy” I don’t normally want to engage in a conversation with these people.

….. and I’m a Christian!!!

If I don’t want anything to do with them, what do you think nonchristians think?

Obviously the issue is well beyond just putting a bumper sticker on your car, it’s deeper than that. The real issue is church culture. This is why I mentioned the other things above, listening to Christian radio, owning the Left Behind books, I admit I am having a bit of light hearted fun  as I poke fun at some of my brothers and sisters in Christ but I am very serious when it comes to there being a major issue with our current church culture.

Not too long ago I was not a Christian, I was a former Christian. I viewed these bumper sticker Christians as people who refused to be grounded in the present. Who felt that they were somehow better than the world that they were born into. They only cared enough to appear busy so as to impress Jesus JUST IN CASE he were coming to rapture them right now.

I certainty don’t want to turn this entry into a blog  about the rapture. I have no idea as to what to think about the rapture as it is never mentioned anywhere in scripture. I imagine that I won’t live to see the 2nd coming but who knows it could happen anyday. It could even happen right n… hold on a second

 

 

Ok I just looked outside and nope, no 2nd coming, no rapture.

 

If you identify yourself with any of the above characteristics I want to give you some gentle advice. You’re not helping anyone. You’re not doing this world any good. The world does not view you as a people that will forgive them, that will embrace them and come along side of them and help them in their walk. You come off as being judgemental, angry, uninterested in real issues and real suffering and frankly, like you just don’t give a damn.

Paul tells us, that as a people, we as Christians have been set apart and I affirm that. But he is careful in saying that we have been set apart as ministers. If K-Love is so loud in your speakers that you cannot hear someone crying out to you asking for your help, asking you to just listening than you are missing the point of being set apart.

So what WOULD Jesus Do? Well I can tell you what he woulddn;t do

He wouldn’t be wearing that damn t-shirt.

 

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