Christianity today

There is something pretty interesting about noticing the variety of Christianity today. Christianity has almost become like Baskin Robbins ice cream. There are so many different versions of it. I am not necessarily talking about denominations (Baptist, Methodists, etc), though that is part of it. You have your very traditional, straight laced Christianity. You have the very contemporary, very exploratory, probably more emotional Christianity. You have a blend of the two. There is the Christianity that only matters on Sunday's, Wednesday evenings, and the occasional mission trip, retreat, etc. There is the non-tolerant, dogmatic, ridgid type. Then at the other end of the spectrum is the very tolerant, almost universal Christianity.

We wonder why non-believers are so confused about what it means to be a follower of Christ. It's because we aren't exactly sure what it means or looks like to be a Christian. Now, I am certainly not saying that this variety is bad. I just think that we have put Christianity in so many different things of wrapping paper, that we aren't even sure what it means to be a believer. I think that is a good reason why this word hypocrisy comes up so much when speaking of a Christian. We don't know what to believe or what exactly a Christian lifestyle is so we do our own thing and throw God in there from time to time. On top of that, we typically criticize one another when we don't see eye to eye on something. What makes that so bad is that the world looks at that and sees us bickering and wonders why they would ever want to be apart of that.

I think there is a little bit of a need to get back to a more uniform Christianity, at least when it comes to what are the core values of every believer. I think variety is okay, and even good when it comes to things that are more preference than principle (i.e. worship style, preaching style, carpet color, programs, etc). That includes certain issues that maybe the Bible isn't black and white on. But, when it comes to the foundation of the universal church, there is no need for a plethera of opinions. That will only crack the foundation and hurt the cause of Christ. And, we need to be dogmatic about what those core values are. We must stick to what God has said is true in His Word. You can be dogmatic and be loving and compassionate about it. I think that's another turn off to non-believers and why a more, almost too tolerant form of Christianity has risen up over the years. People have been turned off by a turn or burn form of church, and so they respond a little more to these churches and teachings that can be dangerously close to teaching against the Bible. We need the staunchness of those turn or burn churches with the compassion and nurturing personalities of the latter. Regardless though, we must build ourselves upon a foundation or we will crumble and fall. That's not good for us. That's not good for the church.