Critique One - Part Six - Take Me to Your Leader

Christians have made many mistakes. Churches have made many mistakes. These are points on which Mr. Russell hammers away, and to which we as believers must stand up and face. Churches and Christians have fought the wrong battles, been on the wrong side of important issues and have missed the mark on many doctrinal points in which we should never waiver. It's interesting as I write this that an article in the local paper just this morning announced an astronomy exhibit opening at the Vatican. The article stated, "The ruling (of the Catholic Church against Galileo) helped fuel accusations that the church was hostile to science - a reputation teh Vatican has been trying to shed ever since." I am not a Catholic and am not here promoting or denouncing Catholicism, just reinforcing the point that some mistakes are not quickly forgotten.

These facts are black marks on Churches and Christians alike, and many, like Mr. Russell, have capitalized on it to build a case against Christ. Many times believers lash out in the face of such criticism fearing that their faith is somehow being compromised. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I for one thank Mr. Russell for being true to his worldview and bringing these shortcoming to light. Why would any Christian say something like that? What is the central message of the Christian faith, if not that man is fallen, broken and sinful; incapable of curing the disease of sin in his/her own life; and lives with a desire for forgiveness and a need for salvation. Jesus offers this forgiveness and salvation through faith in His condescention to become human, suffer and die on the cross, and to raise Himself to defeat sin, death and Hell. What has Mr. Russell done here but prove our point? Pointing out the mistakes of the Church only highlights the fact that man is fallen and actually stipulates the sinful nature of all humankind. Mr. Russell has not reached the end of the Christian faith, he has just found the beginning. Paul reminds the church in Rome of Psalm 14 which states, in part,

"The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one." (emphasis mine).

Churches will continue to make mistakes so long as it consists of humans. Christians will continue to make mistakes because Christians are first people. Thankfully we are not presenting the Church or ourselves as the answer. As believers, we should be constantly pointing to Jesus as the solution to the sin problem, not people we know, actions we can take, or groups we can join that will 'save us from ourselves'.

Finally, I must point out what should already be obvious, that Christians have not cornered the market on bad behavior. Churches do not have a monopoly on atrocities. Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Bin-Laden - surely these names cannot be ignored. Further, if each and every person looks into their own heart, what explanation do they have for the evil they find lurking there. We can never judge a worldview by its abuses. I discount Atheism because of what I see as untenable core priniciples, not because Stalin was an Atheist and he oversaw the killing of millions of his own people. When discussing the efficacy of Christianity, we must always be cognizant of this principle and look not to what people who call themselves Christians do, or what churches do, rather we need to investiagate the claims of Jesus and decide if they correspond to reality and are coherent and consistant. I believe that they are, I believe in Jesus, and that is why I am a Christian and why I try to persuade people to walk with me in following Christ.