DiRTY CHRiSTiANiTY

The church and modern Christianity has lost its authenticity! No one wants to tell their “dirty” stories of redemption anymore. We live in a broken world, full of fallen people who act as if they have no flaws once they have come to Jesus. There is not one perfect human being but Jesus Christ. Yet, Christians have hid behind the religious fallacy that we have to mask the past and act like we have been spotless since birth. People need to know that History changed our story. We hide behind church attire, church jargon, multi-site church campuses, social cliques in the church, and brag about being in the ministry for so many odd years. While all this looks good externally, it is intimidating at times to the common unbeliever or sinner. We have focused so much on the edifice and external extremities of the church in American Christianity that we lose focus that our hearts are the very thing Jesus came to change. Most “unchurched” or “unbelievers” as we call them, feel unworthy to even come to God because of how Christians have portrayed Jesus. Why is this? It is not that God’s loving arms are not open; it’s that a vast majority of Christian’s arms are folded and their eyes are crossed, looking down upon people that don’t fit into our Christian norm. As Christians we are afraid to get “dirty." We are afraid of people's brokenness. We are afraid to deal with pain. We are afraid to deal with the issues Jesus came to comfort. We are afraid to really be like Jesus! We have prejudice for who we think is worthy of the love and grace of God. We judge, not racially but spiritually who should be at “our” church or not. And in my estimation some churches still do judge racially. Were we not that “dirty” sinner before we found grace? Were we not the one who was in desperate need of saving? Were we not the one who felt unworthy to be loved by the God of the universe? Are we still not one who struggles with sin every now and then after coming to Jesus? So why have we forgotten our redemption story? Why are we afraid to reflect on where God brought us from? I challenge you to examine your life and find that one common factor that sinners, the unchurched, unbelievers or whatever we want to label them will want to discover. The gospel of Jesus Christ is real and relevant because they will hear how our lives were changed forever because of an encounter with the heavenly Father who adopted us as sons and daughters. There is one particular story in the Bible that the church rarely pauses to reflect on in preaching the gospel. And for many years I have wrestled with why we neglected such an important message, which Jesus said we should include in the gospel. It is the story of Mary of Bethany who anointed Jesus for His burial. However, Jesus is not just one-dimensional, only pointing out the significant anointing. I was pricked in my heart to discover that this woman’s story of brokenness and boldness all in one scene recorded in every gospel account. I see another page of her story that we have overlooked biblically and practically in our personal lives when sharing the gospel. True biblical interpretation is effective only after application. So if we are not applying the gospel message intertwined with our stories of redemption, has it truly gripped our hearts? In my opinion, the modern church and “American Christianity” is far from preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ as Jesus commissioned His Disciples. What I see is pretext preaching, topical teaching, and inspiring intellectual messages that are causing people to feel good, but where is the power of the gospel to change lives in truth and love? Christians are too apathetic and are focused on me and mine and not the lost and broken. There is a shallow selfish seeking of God for material satisfaction rather than for souls that need saving and then equating the amounts we are blessed with to authentic faith. This is not a universal gospel. When someone was “dirty” in the religious culture in Jesus’ time, they were never afraid to come to Jesus, nor was He afraid to become “dirty” because of their sin. They did not and were not allowed to go to the temple or synagogue because they were labeled outcasts by the laws and extra religious practices of the Pharisees, Sadducees and religious authorities. But they came to Jesus! Do sinners feel that you are approachable? If Jesus could stoop down to sinners, eat with sinners, and talk to sinners, then why have we not followed the Master Teacher? There is a dying world of people who need this Jesus that we claim to believe in, but don’t fully display in character. So who is the true unbeliever? Those in the church or outside of the church? This is a book of redemptive power to be like Jesus Christ, without the boundaries of religion that keep people stiff-necked and selective with the gospel. This book is to wake Christians up and make sinners aware that they have a right to search for authentic Christianity. This book is a voice crying out for those who are weeping in shame, guilt, regret and brokenness and pointing them to a God who desperately loves them and wants to make them whole through His grace, but using our arms as the first contact of the love of God. As a purposed illustration, even the white book cover and pages will get “dirty,” but the content will remain pure. This is the story of our lives. We may be in these earthen broken vessels, but our treasure resides in our Relationship with our Redeemer who has purified us with His Word. The “i” dotted with the blood splatter signifies that Christ has dotted every “i” and crossed the “t” on Calvary’s cross despising the shame covering us and giving us the confidence to share our redemption stories because of His work to save us and not of ourselves. So we can’t judge a “dirty” book by its cover until we read and discover the content on the inside. We will be going through many Scriptural texts and references because the Word of God is our source of authority for living as Believers. The reason for many Scriptures being quoted in full or what would seem lengthy is to forego any assumption that any Christian or non-Christian will open their Bible while reading this book. It is my prayer that someone who may not own a Bible or who hasn’t read Scripture lately may be transformed because God’s Word is infused throughout this literary text (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Dirty Christianity will challenge you on a prescriptive scriptural journey of transparency and authenticity to tell your redemption story and make the gospel relevant to those who desperately need the loving embrace of God the Father, the amazing grace through Jesus Christ and the refreshing filling of the Holy Spirit. In turn, this gospel that has changed your life just may grip you again.