Watered down Christianty

Sometimes I get the feeling that the practice of Christianity is started to get watered down.

We've gotten to the point where we've placed the title of "Christian" on way too much stuff. It's become some sort of a label that we freely tag onto things, without those things actually reflecting Christ. Somehow we've managed to turned Christianity into a tool for segregation, exclusion, and -- sometimes -- even persecution. I mean, there's Christian television, Christian music, Christian schools, Christian dating services, Christian night clubs, Christian physicians, Christian dentists, Christian presidents (I guess...), Christian-owned companies, Christian bumper stickers, Christian car decals (someone pul-lease explain to me the whole fish thing...), Christian dieters, Christian vegetarians, and so on. Even the KKK operates under the Christian banner (news flash: their national director, Thomas Robb, is a pastor).

Baptists claim to be Christians. Catholics claim to be Christian. Methodists claim to be Christian. Mormons claim to be Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses claim to be Christian, Buddhists claim to be Christian. But, wait. There's more...

People who brake for animals are Christians. People who recycle are Christians. People who help little old ladies cross the street are Christians. People who read to children are Christians. People who launch preemptive attacks on sovereign nations are Christians. It's only a matter of time will we consider pets as Christians. Wait a second...I think they already are. Apparently, some churches worship St. Francis, the patron saint of animals. They have what's called the "Blessing of the Pets; where they use some special kind of sanctifed water to bless animals. I wish I was making this up.

At any rate, everything seems to be Christian these days. It's like a bad fashion trend that refuses to die. My problem is: since everything is starting to become Christian, everything is starting to become Christian...including the ungodly stuff. When is the last time you've seen greed, gluttony, lust, theft, denial, exclusion, persecution, etc. done in the church?!

I wonder if we'll ever stop being "Christians" in the traditional, exclusive, and oppressive way and start being disciples of Christ...

- ACL