RIGHT OF CENTER: A LESSON FROM THE UNCHURCHED

An evangelistic crusade has been the topic of many conversations this week among the coffee-shop crowd. It isn't often that our city is host to a nationally known evangelist like Lowell Lundstrom, drawing thousands to his nightly meetings at the Show Me Center.

Lundstrom's visit prompts some observations about what the crusade has to offer the unchurched, and what the unchurched can teach the churched.

I use those terms because I can think of none better to describe the status of many in America today. The freest nation ever in world, founded upon Christian principals, few are those who haven't heard the gospel, or good news, of Christ. Thus it isn't really appropriate to refer to people as Christian, Jewish or heathen.

The saved and unsaved would work, but too many people get immediately defensive when you question their salvation, and for good reason. No one truly knows the heart of his neighbor, and those who are quick to judge only invite harsher judgment on themselves. I reject completely the more common terms: religious and secular. Such language implies you can somehow separate out the spiritual part of man from some other part -- the part that goes to work each day, pays his bills, plays with his kids, and goes to the ballpark or the golf course on weekends. The spiritual part of man doesn't go away just because the host decides to tie one on at a local drinking establishment, get into a fight and end up in jail.

Assuming most people in Cape Girardeau know the story of God's new covenant with man through the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross, there remain those who actively pursue a relationship with the resurrected Christ -- essentially the churched -- and those who don't -- the unchurched.

The most common criticism of Lundstrom's crusade, and of any Christianity that makes mankind accountable to God, is "those kind of people are so intolerant and rigid. They're idiots if they think there's only one way to get to heaven -- their way." Ironically, such critics of Christianity never hear the intolerance in their own opinions.

An objective observation: The unchurched tend to have great tolerance and compassion for people in general, while often treating their neighbor like dirt. The churched, on the other hand, don't hesitate to condemn sin in general but welcome those with checkered pasts who come to God hungry for redemption. This I believe is the proper response if the church is to remain the light of the world to the lost and the salt of the world, preserving morality in our culture.

The unchurched often look with scorn upon people who unabashedly worship God. They scoff at the supernatural, and think such displays of emotion are contrived. The same critics, though, scream and cheer as they support their favorite athletic team when they win a state championship. Why shouldn't a Christian adore Christ, champion of world, A.D. 33? Why is it that the unchurched are threatened by a gathering of men and women who tend to live clean, upright lives, who don't break the law, who stay married and do their best to raise good kids, while at the same time idolizing Hollywood celebrities whose public lives are an illusion and private lives are in shambles? I've also noticed that many who scoff at the supernatural in Christianity are the same people who spend $4.90 a minute talking with strangers at the Psychic Friends Network. Still others put Christian faith to shame by believing that the awesomely complex and orderly world around us somehow happened by pure chance, evolving from nothingness.

So what can the churched learn from the unchurched? For one, loyalty. My fellow rugby players understand loyalty, and they're quick to support a friend in need without regard to his shortcomings. The unchurched know that there is no more loyal friend than a drinking buddy. But many in the church are quick to kill their wounded, condemning the faithful who fall into sin. What if God treated mankind as Christians treat each other in failure?

There is a lot of dishonesty in the church. Isn't it enough that God rescued man from sin and death and that he yet intervenes in the existential world through miracles? And yet many evangelicals, particularly charismatics, seem unable to tell of God's goodness without embellishing his mercies. Honesty and integrity must be the most visible characteristics of Christians, who, as the body of Christ, hold the keys to the world's salvation. When Christians can't be trusted, the unchurched have difficulty trusting Christianity.

Many in the church also must get over their persecution complex. The Christian church in America knows little of such things. Sure there are many who are bigoted toward religious people, but when is the last time an American Christian was sent to the gulag? The unchurched often face the same difficulties of the churched, but with less whining about persecution for righteousness' sake.

Finally, the churched must be humble. Nothing is more repulsive to the unchurched than someone who takes pride in his Christianity, thinking himself more than a wretch who merely was fortunate to receive God's unmerited favor.

If this week's crusade impels people to think of such things, with both the churched and unchurched examining their hearts and lives, it will have been a momentous success.

~Jay Eastlick is the news editor of the Southeast Missourian.