The Poster Boy of Christianity

Have you ever wondered why the world hates Christians now days? Well, upon reading Oregon States newspaper, “The Daily Barometer”, I found out why. I picked up the paper, and on the front page was an article entitled “Preaching to a Campus Full of Questions” with the following picture:

The rest of the article can be read here http://media.barometer.orst.edu/media/storage/paper854/news/2008/12/02/News/Preaching.To.A.Campus.Full.Of.Questions-3565164.shtml

Upon seeing this artcle on the front page, I was filled with disgust. This is what the world sees Christianity as today. Crazy, off whack, preachers, condemning every person to Hell. That to me, isn’t a very good example of love. I look at his sign, Evolution is a Lie, and think “Does he have anything to back the up, or is he just making a statement?” This is what has given Christianity the lable of “intolerant”. Yes, while as Christians, let me use the words followers of Christ, for Christian has no meaning to me. As followers of Christ, we do believe the consequences of sin is eternal damnation, and apart from Christ, it is inevitable. But is this really an effective way of demonstrating this point? Standing up, making yourself appear better than others, telling them they are wrong in everything they do, condemning them to Hell unless they repent right now. This may have worked in Billy Sunday’s day, but in today’s society, it only degrades “Christianity”.

I decided to venture to his website, www.salvationjunction.com, and was horrified. It isn’t a spectacular website, no gospel message what-so-ever, only a little counter that shows how many people have died while you spend time on the website, serving as a guilt trip. I think 50 people died while I was wasting time on his website. Why even have a website? Also, there was the “good” test, with the primary purpose of determining whether you were a good person or not. I venture to guess at the end was something to the effect of “You may be good, but you are still going to Hell.” What a way to show the love of Christ, no?

So my point is this, we hear about these lunatics every so often, and we read about the aftermath of their antics. People are angry, hate Christians more, and harden their hearts towards the life changing love of Christ. What if this man, this Rev. Shawn David Holes, had instead decided to set up a few tables and serve the  students lunch, and talk with them, caring about them? What if he had decided to BE the love of Christ, instead of trying to DISTRIBUTE it forcefully? What Shawn Holes did to me, was not an example of the love of Christ, but rather of legalistic Christianity. Had he rethought his strategy a little bit, maybe, just maybe, some of the students would have reconciled their lives with Christ, having experienced His love in a real way, from a realy man, not some preacher, caught up in himself and “serving” the kingdom.