I had an interesting conversation with a great friend of mine the other night. She said she went to this church once, and the people there were really creepy, "almost cultish." I asked her what she meant, and she said they were just too happy and smiley, kind of fake and Stepford-like. I knew exactly what she meant. I think that as Christians, we think the world (and other Christians!) expects us to be perfect, happy, cheerful. We put our game face on, thinking that this is what real Christians do. I think the world would prefer us to be real and honest, and sometimes, that doesn’t involve smiles and happy voices gushing about how glad we are to see a new face at our church. This conversation has made me really think about how we do church here in America, about the human face we are showing the world as Christ’s representatives here. Are we showing who He really is? Or are we showing how "good" we are? Are we proclaiming the love of God, or are we pushing our agenda and trying to "sell" Him to the masses?
Thoughts?
On the whole, I think American Christianity is overflowing with shiny, happy people who give the impression of hucksters trying to sell something. But then, I’ve never been good with church or organized groupings of any kind. It would be unfair of me to paint all American Christians with this brush, but the mainstream does seem to lean in that direction. At the same time, I know Christians who are real and whose words ring true when they speak. There’s a marked difference between people who are happy and optimistic because they think they *should* be, and those who have a deeper joy and hope that transcends fluff. Other people respond to and connect with the latter kind.
We often put on our “church Face” like athlete’s put on their game face or card player’s their poker face- to hide the pain and uncertainty- the vulnerability that would lay us bare before others. Thank God that Jesus wept and got angry and questioned his mother and spent so many hours in prayer for us all! Christians are people and some people hide themselves behind masks-I’m thankful that there are brave souls who live life out loud and give us and example of what Grace and Mercy look like with skin on.