Transparent Christian Magazine

I’m going to write to you in all honesty and show you exactly who I am. I don’t intend to hide behind witty banter or clever analogies. I’m going to confess to you, whoever you are that is reading this, how I feel about Christianity. We may never have met, or you may know me well.

I’m Josh. I’m a 22 year old college student. I stand a hair shy of 6 feet tall and I look like every other guy from West Michigan: blue eyed, blonde haired and like to run. You probably can’t hear my northern accent unless you spend enough time around me. I smile a lot and probably spend too much time in coffee shops. My greatest fear is spiders and I definitely am a dog lover. I am the youngest of four boys and I’m a recovering procrastinator. Nice to meet you.

How about you? Maybe we have a few things in common.

Now it’s time I tell you about the real me. The me that isn’t so topical. The me that tries over and over to follow the life of Christ, but falls short on a daily basis.

I’m Josh. I’m a 22 year old that thought I’d have life more figured out than I do now. I thought that it would get easier and easier to follow Christ and grow closer to Him as I get older. My education has taught me that the more repetition I have of something, the better I know and the deeper understanding I have of that something. I’ve found it to be almost the opposite with Christ. The more I go to church, the more I don’t want to go. The more times I get up on stage and play in those places, the more I want to sell my guitar and never tell anyone I know how to play music. The more time I spend in those concrete buildings, the more I want to close my mouth. Nice to meet you.

You want honesty about Christianity?

Christianity has become an identity that people wear. It has become about the vain repetitions of going to the building, getting drown in lights and heavy delayed guitars, watching a little man try and sell us his take on the bible and then doing it all over the next week. Education has taught us the more we do something, the better we are at it. Why not apply the same rules to religion? Brilliant. Now what’s happened is we have a collective group of educated attenders that have the mindset of “the more I go, the better I will be at being a Christian.”

And now that identity has hundreds of little subdivisions because of one dangerous little question, “so what church do you go to?” Someone replies, “I go to church x.” Questioner answers, “Ohhh… you don’t believe in the lights and guitars I do and my little man and your little man don’t agree on what the bible says…”

You want honesty about Christianity?

Christianity is about one thing and one thing alone. It’s about Christ. I don’t know where it became acceptable to say happy holidays instead of merry CHRISTmas, but that’s not the only place we fall short. We fall short in our hearts. We go to those concrete little buildings week after week, greet the people next to us because the little man tells us to and then we wonder why we don’t feel different for the rest of the week. We wonder how in the world we aren’t progressing in faith. We wonder why our marriages are still falling apart. We wonder why our life still feels as unimportant as it did the week before. Education has taught us if we keep doing something, we will become better at it, we will grow, we will become successful at it. Now we have a collective group of educated attenders that are having difficulty believing and building a real relationship with Christ…

It’s the holidays right now, which means one thing. You will be spending time with people you love. This may be the only time you spend with them every year. I’m willing to bet one of those people doesn’t know God. I’m also willing to bet it’s difficult to talk about and there is a tangible barrier you’ve felt for years now… my three older brothers don’t know God and the holidays are one of the few times I get to spend with them. The only problem is that my “education” in church has never taught me how to share and explain what a real relationship with Christ means. That bothers me. A lot.

As you gather around the table, pass the gravy and laugh about your childhood, I encourage you to do one thing. Don’t talk about your church. From the outside looking in, that little concrete building is pretty dysfunctional. If you want to really reach those around you and if you want nothing more than the ones you love to know the Christ that you do, just love them… it’s really all we can do. Encourage them, listen to them, support them, ask them questions. Respond to them with kindness, patience, grace, love, forgiveness. Love them as Christ would have, did, does and always will.

My hope is in Him.

Josh