Newsletter Essay: September
Let’s read for a few minutes about living in denial. Living in denial is a favorite occupation of many people. Some people would simply prefer not to face reality. Reality is stressful. If we could only turn a blind eye to it, life would be so much easier.
There are many possibilities for living in denial. Let’s begin here: We are living in denial if we believe that casual Christianity is a viable choice. Casual Christianity. It’s a comfortable place to be. Eternal life with very few demands. Forgiveness without true repentance. Respectability with few responsibilities. Yes, it’s a nice lifestyle. The only problem is that it is an illusion.
As they say, one excuse is about as good as another for letting our commitment to Christ assume a low priority in our lives. Casual Christianity. Is that where you are today? Denial. It’s wonderful, isn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s an illusion.
Here’s another example: We are living in denial if we believe we can be lone ranger Christians. That is, that we can ignore our neighbors, be blind to the needs of strangers, and still say that we follow Jesus.
It’s amazing how easy that is to do. Oh, we don’t have beggars lying outside our houses, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have neighbors who have needs. If we were to survey our community, we would find people with heartbreaking needs. People grieving over a dying mother, parents struggling with a son’s or daughter’s addiction, middle-aged people with a ton of guilt. Sometimes all they need is a word of encouragement, an invitation to worship, a chance to express their grief. But we don’t even know them. We can live blissfully in our own little world and pretend that Jesus didn’t say anything about being a good neighbor, about being sensitive to people who have special needs. But he did, and because he did, we may need to take stock of our lives.
One final example: We are living in denial if we believe we have no responsibility for the least and lowest in our world.
One of the saddest occurrences of our time is how hard-hearted many Christians have become to the people at the bottom of society. I know, the poor are not easy to love. Some of them have the problems they have because they have been irresponsible. Many of them will not help themselves. Many of them have gotten to the point where they are powerless to help themselves. So we ignore them. We try to shut them out. There was once a time when a Christian would look at someone in that condition and whisper, “There, but for the Grace of God, go I,” and lend a helping hand. But like the rich man who ignored Lazarus, many of us have built up a system of rationalizations that make the poor responsible for their own redemption.
And it’s true. We would rather live in denial. We would rather believe that casual Christianity is possible, that we can be Lone Ranger Christians, that we have no responsibility for the least and the lowest in our community and in the world. Father Abraham says sadly to the rich man who pleads on behalf of his brothers: “ . . . they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” How about you? Are you convinced? Does it make any difference in how you live?