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What good is Christianity?  What value does Christianity have on the whole of humanity?  By looking at the current incarnation of the church and the faith I would have to conclude that it has very little value.  Let me share with you a punk monkey’s point of view of it all:

First, the modern evangelical church is only concerned with money, building and programs.  I’m sorry, but you can’t tell me otherwise.  6 out of 10 sermons in modern evangelical churches have to do more with money, building and program then they do with how we are to live as Christians.

Second, Christianity in the modern evangelical church is seen as a conservative republican – if you do not hold to the republican line, you cannot be Christian.  For example, if you oppose the death penalty you must not be a true Christian because, as they like to say, scripture teaches “an eye for an eye.”  In the NIV (Zonervan’s Life Application Bible) if you look in the index under the word “eye” all you are directed to is the Exodus (21:24-25) account and not the account in Matthew (5:38) which repealed the “eye for an eye” concept.  But you see, if we take Jesus’ words for what they are, it would violate the conservative understanding of justice.

Third, there seems to be a twisted understanding of “love” in the church.  To paraphrase the words to the theme of Spiderman, they say that love will save us, but I don’t think that’s possible, look what love gave us.  The idea of a “tough love” is not a scriptural love.  If you look at 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter) you get a list of all that love is – now, the traditional church uses this scripture for the love between a man and a woman.  In fact, it is read during most weddings.  But it is not a love between “man and women” that Paul is talking about – he is talking about the love between all peoples.  But humans do not want to love people that deeply, because it would require that they give up themselves, and become selfless – not exactly the “USAmerican way.”

Forth, Christianity is a faith that puts others in the front.  It is a faith that requires that you risk all emotions, all positions for the sake of another.  This is not a popular idea, but it is what we are called to do – selfless. 

For Christianity to have value; for it to be something more then what is filling our churches today it must be a counter-cultural faith.  Now, I do not mean we need to stand against tattoos, piercing and weird haircuts; what I mean is that we must stand against greed and self-centeredness.  It must “go against the flow” of all that the world tells us we must be – success is not measured in money, power or position.  All we are is based on a transforming faith, not a “joining faith.”

PuNk mOnKEy -