Living vs Believing

So where to begin after such a long time of absense from blogging? I am not sure. The last several months have brought many interesting things. Lessons to be learned, people who have inspired me, despair, joy, abundance, brokeness etc. I can’t really retell all the stories that I have. So coming from a long hietus of writing, I begin with this.
A very basic question, and yet very profound is what does it look like to be a Christ follower? A couple of weeks ago I read Dan Kimball’s “They Like Jesus but Not the Church”. In case it isn’t obvious from the title, the book is generally about those who are on the outside of the church and their views on Christianity. Like it or not, from most people’s perspective the church sucks. For me, it is pretty easy to judge the church and to be cynical towards her after spending most of my life within her walls. So you can imagine that throughout most of the quotations written or spoken by these outsiders, I was giving a hearty “Amen” like the old Baptist roots from whince I came. Perhaps you have heard the old saying spoken by St Augustine that states, “The church is a whore and I am her child.” I understand that Christians do a pretty bad job at representing Christ. In fact, I think that most people would say that. Take a look at the social networking sites like Facebook or Myspace and look at the religion section. I dare say that even those who are regular attenders of churches all around the US would have something like, “Christ follower” or “I love Jesus” and they would probably try to stay away from the term, “Christian”. I think we as postmoderns are finding out that our faith is less about a statement and more about a man. I am not sure if that is recognized by all who stay away from using this term, but I do think that there is some type of universal understanding by these people that they would rather identify with Jesus the man. Brian Mclaren expounds upon this in his book, “Finding Our Way Again”. The question that was posed to him by Dr Peter Senge was, “Why are books on Budhism more popular than books on Christianity?” Mclaren said that he had no idea how to answer him so he said that he just asked, “How would you answer that question?” Dr Senge went on to explain that Budhism offers a way of life rather than a system of belief.
There is a tension however within me. Although the church is not being the kind of bride she sould be, Jesus is still jealous for her love. It really doesn’t work when we are continually slandering and remaining cynical towards the church and try to pursue Jesus. The two intersect with one another. As much as we would like to start from scratch and move on beyond the Crusades, Racism, homophobia, and Christian consumerism we confess our sins and remain the church. Afterall, the church at its very definition is people.
So church, don’t despair. It is now more than ever that we apologize and life a disciplined life that honors Christ. We repent for all the injustices rendered and in that repentence we turn away from our sin and turn towards righteous living. Justin writes in the first century “Those who are not found living as Christ tought should know that they are really not Christians, even if his teachings are on their lips.” Are you more comfortable with living a life that is filled with a “System of belief” or a “Lifestyle of Worship”? How are we living?