Sometimes I hear a Christian song on the radio, or listen to a Christian broadcast and a part of me just shudders.
I wonder, why is that? Why I, though I believe in the same message, simply find myself wanting to change the channel?
I think because there is an image of Christianity that seeks to set itself apart from the world so much, that it actually works to hide the truth of our lives in light of being a "good witness". Some of what I hear seems to sugar-coat life, offer cliche answers and lyrics that cannot reach into the lives of real people. They appeal to an ideal, but they do not speak of real life.
I understand the motive, we want to put our best foot forward, but in doing so we create a false image that says, "We never struggle, we never fail, we are always cheerful and our children are well behaved...."
Yet King David, a man after God's own heart, in the Psalms wrote from the whole spectrum of his very human experience with God. All the joy, yes, but the sorrow too, the feelings of abandonment, the frustration... And his life was spread out in scripture, the victories as well as the moral defeats. As an artist, he covered it all in his songs, he hid nothing.
And we are still blessed by his life and his work.
We cannot treat our faith like it must be marketed in a certain squeaky clean way. This way of thinking creates an image that does not appear genuine simply because it isn't. And the world sees right through it.
We have struggles, failures and frustrations. But as Christians, we continue to try, we continue to press on, because we have that hope.
Perhaps if the world saw more of that, they would see more of Jesus in our lives.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9 (NIV)
