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I was listening to a talk show the other night on the radio. If I understood it correctly, the guest was a Christian woman whose job it is to lobby the state legislature in the name of Christian businesses. She is beginning an organization by which she will encourage Christians to do business with Christian-owned businesses, and those businesses in turn would support a Christian ministry with a part of their proceeds (on a totally voluntary basis). She likened this to an aspirin company donating a portion of proceeds to arthritis research. Why can’t Christians do the same thing? she asked. We can ask Christian businesses to donate to a worthy cause, generating good revenue for Christian charities and more income for tithing. It sounded like a good idea on the surface. But something inside gave me an uneasy feeling. A number of questions arise when one considers starting our own reclusive little community within the greater family of humanity, regardless of the reasons given for doing so. It’s just the excuse the world needs to reject our message: Just look at those Christians! They huddle up in their little communes, buying and selling from one another! What must they be doing in there? (Can you say “Waco”?) I don’t believe that God intends for the body of Christ to isolate themselves from the world. I don’t believe that He intends for Christians to trade only with other Christians. And I certainly don’t believe that Christian businesses always provide the best products or services; to pay for poor quality from a substandard business, or to pay uncompetetively high prices - regardless of ownership of the business - is not wise stewardship of one's money. One of the biggest problems with isolationism is that it is antithetical to Christ’s command to be the salt of the earth, and a lamp in the darkness. The marketplace is an ideal place to spread Christ’s love to others, whether overtly or by simple lifestyle evangelism. To separate ourselves from this vital mission field is to disobey God in a Babel-style rebellion. We must be continuously interfacing with people, and the best places for this activity are in retail, in manufacturing, in our schools, on the streets. Only there can our light can be seen by men. Jesus drew crowds on the street, beside the lake, in people’s homes. We ought to do the same. I fear that many Christians believe that if you succeed in the marketplace, you are somehow not in Gods favor (after all, I Timothy 6:6-10 preaches the evils of money, right?). Or to be popular in society is somehow sacrilegious. Just look at all the ridiculous hoopla surrounding such events as Amy Grant “going secular” with her music. I thought us Christians had bigger and more important issues to deal with than debating whether Christian musicians have the right to sell their products in a “non-Christian” (whatever that means) marketplace. Those who condemn Ms. Grant for her actions ought to boycott all Christian grocers, plumbers and artists - how dare they sell their wares in the “non-Christian” marketplace! But if we look to our ultimate role model, we find that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52). It wasn’t just believers that followed him through town. In fact, most of those crowding around him hoping for a glimpse had no idea who he was other than by the rumors they had heard circulating through the streets. The Pharisees hated him, but there is not much evidence that the general public felt the same way. We must get out there where the action is. How can we possibly share the truth of Christ with others if the only people we hang out with are other Christians? Christianity has become a religion, which necessitates adhering to a particular dogmatic set of beliefs. By definition, this immediately implies exclusivity. We must not be exclusive in our relationships, in our financial dealings, in the events that define “everyday life.” We must kill the religion called Christianity. We must obliterate it, and beg God’s forgiveness for promulgating the myth that Christianity is the only “true religion.” People today who are searching don’t need another religion to choose from. They need something different, something meaningful. Something real. They need a relationship with the only person in the universe (and beyond) who can heal their pain. They need someone who can show them true love, even if all the world should hate them. They need someone who can accept them as they are, even when they can’t love themselves. They need someone who won’t freak out about their pierced nipples, or their deformities, or their obesity, or their horrendous past sins. They need someone who will listen when they are contemplating suicide or abortion or murder. They need Jesus Christ, who can enter into their hearts, make them into whole persons, give them a purpose in their lives, show them what it feels like to be truly loved for the first time. How can we, who know Jesus Christ and what he is capable of, have any affect on those who are hurting and lost if we only do business with each other, if we only attend Christian schools, if we only get diplomas from Christian colleges, if we only work in Christian ministries? Yes, there is a place for those who have been called to perform in these arenas, but we must all strive, whatever our platform to “be in the world, but not of it.” We must show Jesus Christ through our actions, our words, by the love in our eyes, by our ability to accept others as Christ would accept them were he to go to school or work with us tomorrow. No, Christianity is not a religion, we ought not to be exclusive in our relationships and business dealings, we must not create fictitious methods of proving to each other that us Christians have something that others don’t. If we truly have the mind of Christ, he will show through in our ordinary lives. We can only obtain the mind of Christ through his Spirit, who lives and actively works within us. And his Spirit will only actively work through those who are sold out to him; who pray regularly, seeking his will and his truth; and who are intimately familiar with his word and can use it in all the various situations we find ourselves in day by day. Pray that God will kill the religion of Christianity, and replace it with the pure working of his Church, the body of Christ on earth.
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