Archive for October, 2007

Christianity’s Image Problem

drchris October 14th, 2007

TIME
Tuesday, Oct. 02, 2007

Christianity’s Image Problem
By David Van Biema

It used to be, says David Kinnaman, that Christianity was both big and beloved in the U.S. — even among its non-adherents. Back in 1996, a poll taken by Kinnaman’s organization, the Barna Group, found that 83% of Americans identified themselves as Christians, and that fewer than 20% of non-Christians held an unfavorable view of Christianity. But, as Kinnaman puts it in his new book (co-authored with Gabe Lyons) UnChristian, “That was then.”

Barna polls conducted between 2004 and this year, sampling 440 non-Christians (and a similar number of Christians) aged 16 to 29, found that 38% had a “bad impression” of present-day Christianity. “It’s not a pretty picture” the authors write. Barna’s clientele is made up primarily of evangelical groups.

Kinnaman says non-Christians’ biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too “anti-homosexual,” and nearly as many perceived it as “hypocritical” and “judgmental.” Seventy-five percent found it “too involved in politics.”

Not only has the decline in non-Christians’ regard for Christianity been severe, but Barna results also show a rapid increase in the number of people describing themselves as non-Christian. One reason may be that the study used a stricter definition of “Christian” that applied to only 73% of Americans. Still, Kinnaman claims that however defined, the number of non-Christians is growing with each succeeding generation: His study found that 23% of Americans over 61 were non-Christians; 27% among people ages 42-60; and 40% among 16-29 year olds. Younger Christians, he concludes, are therefore likely to live in an environment where two out of every five of their peers is not a Christian.

Churchgoers of the same age share several of the non-Christians’ complaints about Christianity. For instance, 80% of the Christians polled picked “anti-homosexual” as a negative adjective describing Christianity today. And the view of 85% of non-Christians aged 16-29 that present day Christianity is “hypocritical — saying one thing doing another,” was, in fact, shared by 52% of Christians of the same age. Fifty percent found their own faith “too involved in politics.” Forty-four percent found it “confusing.”

Christians have always been aware of image problems with non-believers. Says Kinnaman: “The question is whether to care.” But given the increasing non-Christian population and the fact that many of the concerns raised by non-believers are shared by young Christians, he says, there really is no option but to address the crisis.

Lazarus and the rich man

drchris October 6th, 2007

26th. Sunday,30 September 2007

Luke 16:19-31

There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there used to lie a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with what fell from the rich man’s table. Even dogs came and licked his sores.

Now it happened that the poor man died and was carried away by the angels into Abraham’s embrace. The rich man also died and was buried.

In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his embrace. So he cried out, “Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames.”

Abraham said, “My son, remember that during your life you had your fill of good things, just as Lazarus his fill of bad. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to prevent those who want to cross from our side to yours or from your side to ours.”

So he said, “Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father’s house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too.”

Abraham said, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them.”

The rich man replied, “Ah no, father Abraham, but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Then Abraham said to him, “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead.”

Reflection

This Sunday’s readings clearly tell us what we should do to attain eternal life. In today’s world we are all striving to be like the rich man, who lived in luxury – very comfortable mansion, luxurious cars, dining in porch restaurants with famous personalities, good food, wine, music and women. To achieve all these we go all out to accumulate more and more wealth.

In our obsession with trying to make more and more, we forget the poor Lazarus just at the gates of our mansion. We pass by him several times a day but are do not, or more rightly refuseto, see him. He is in front of us, hungry, naked, sick and wounded but we do not see or hear him. We continue to enjoy and satisfy our senses least perturbed by the poverty and misery of those around us. How will God reward us if we ignore Him in the pleas of those in our midst?

In our materialistic world today, we even tend to bribe God to enter His Kingdom.We fast, abstain and diligently receive all the sacraments without fail. We build majestic churches organize mammoth feasts, banquets and mass worship sessions in His name but refuse to acknowledge Him in those in need around us.

We refuse to talk to one another, refuse to smile at those we meet and we harbour so much hatred and jealousy towards those who are better off than us. We refuse to humble ourselves to go down and share our gifts with those less fortunate than us. Is it fair of us to expect God to reward us for holding Him to ransom?

Dr.Chris Anthony

The brave monks of Myanmar

drchris October 1st, 2007

 The brave monks of Myanmar

Wednesday ,September 26 2007 was a sad day for the people of Myanmar, a day of national tragedy and mourning. It was the day when the army opened fire on unarmed civilian protestors and Buddhist monks. Soldiers and police fired tear gas, clubbed protesters and arrested up to 200 monks in an attempt to quash the uprising. A number of deaths were reported.

The ruling military junta did not hesitate to use force even against unarmed, peace promoting modestly robed Buddhist monks. They were kicked and beaten as soldiers rounded them up and shoved them onto trucks. Doors of the monasteries were broken; things were ransacked and taken away.

The cowardly and brutal acts of the ruling military junta should be condemned by the whole international community. Definitely these acts of aggression against unarmed civilians and monks are inhumane and treacherous to the human race. On the other hand the actions of the brave people of Myanmar need to be praised and supported by all.

The protests may have been brutal but in this whole incident, two important lessons came out of it.

Firstly it was the bravery of the people of Myanmar especially the Buddhist monks. The peace-loving and unarmed Buddhist monks, who lead the pro-democracy demonstrations, had shown that they can rise up against all odds to fight against oppression and injustice of fellow men. They were willing to give up the peace and tranquility of their monasteries and risk their lives to confront the mighty junta in defending the rights of fellow citizens.

Secondly the mutual love between the people and the monks was exceptionally captivating. It was touching to see the people forming a human shield around the monks who lead the procession. The people were willing to give their lives to defend their monks.

We witness a situation where two groups of people each willing to even sacrifice their lives for each other. These actions of the monks should be a lesson for not just Buddhists but for all. It puts us to shame when we compare our own clergy-laity relationship.

Injustice and oppression occurs everywhere all the time. It is there in the government, in our offices, in schools, in our families, among friends and even in our Church. Those in positions of power adopt all sorts of tactics and maneuvers to deny the ordinary people their legitimate rights. They become masters of the very people they are supposed to serve.

Dissenting voices are quickly shut up, whistleblowers are punished and freedom of expression denied. The entire government machinery, media, armed forces, police and the judiciary are abused to silence those who speak the truth. Jesus himself was a victim of the rich and the powerful.

As Christians it is our obligation to speak out against injustice and oppression wherever and whenever it occurs. We may not be a position to do great things to change the whole world but we can do little things with great passion and love to change the small world around us.

What are we doing when the government bulldozers through unfair policies that are detrimental to the people? What do we do when people in power in the organizations we are in misuse their power and funds? What do we do when our calls for moderation, accountability and reform are not heeded? Very often, under such pressures, we lose hearts and quit but is quitting the right decision?

Let’s offer special prayers for the brave people of Myanmar. Let’s ask God to grant them the peace and freedom that they yearn for over four decades. As we pray for our fellow men in Myanmar, let us also reflect on what we are doing to oppose the acts of injustice and oppression that we encounter in our own lives.

Dr.Chris Anthony

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