There was yet another story in the UK press yesterday about a Christian bashing exercise that took place in a government department. There was a memo circulating with some comments (I guess they were put intended as a joke) where it was suggested the Pope on his visit to the UK should do various un-Catholic things. This didn’t come from the Government but from Civil Servants.
Now – I like a good joke as much as the next person and we all know how these things sometimes get out of hand at work but I think this does highlight a couple of problems.
1) Does this mean that the church is just seen as a bit of a joke by those who run the country?
2) Does this show that there is a general bias against the church among the UK’s civil servants?
I think the answer is probably yes to both, but that is just a feeling I get.
But then I wonder if the in fact the church has played it’s part in all this as much as anyone?
Christians haven’t always been good at practicing what they preach or at defending themselves when it was needed. The Catholic church has had a major issue with child abuse and it is hard to ask for moral respect in such circumstances. I’ve also recently heard of death threats made against a comedian who made jokes about Jesus Christ. I find such jokes very offensive but as far as I understand the teachings of Christ we should respond to this kind of thing by turning the other cheek.
Christians also are often very bad at explaining what they believe and end up resorting to churchy language that just sounds like Christians are creatures who have had their head in the sand for the last 200 years. There are very good defenses for the Christian faith that can be presented in a caring way and I am thankful for those who take the time to offer them. Sadly, when people are responded to with archaic Christian language they tend to see it as another reason for laughing at Christians rather than acknowledging a good response.
I also often hear Christians moaning about how people of other faiths get treated better – for instance if someone said the kinds of things about a Muslim leader that they did about the Pope there would be a public outcry – and I think that they are probably right in making this observation.
However, I wonder if Christians aren’t supposed to be treated differently. When we are insulted for what we believe we should be thankful for suffering like Jesus did, shouldn’t we? When we are struck on the cheek aren’t we supposed to offer the other one? When people make angry attacks at us aren’t we supposed to respond with love and forgiveness.
This isn’t the soft, easy option. This is the hard option. This doesn’t mean that we should just go around being happy that everyone is against us but that we don’t respond to things in the same way that everyone else does.
We are supposed to be different – aren’t we?
Thoughts christians, church, Jesus
I was at an event the other day where I met a man with an interesting story. He told me how Jesus had saved his life. I won’t mention any names here or even where I met the man because I wouldn’t want to embarrass him if he reads this.