Those "Half-Baked" Christians
by Eric Hogue
(Radio Talk Show Host & Syndicate Columnits)
I'm constantly told, "You're only a half-baked Christian, you focus way too much on grace and love".
It's true, I'm a lightening rod for controversial thought. I'm not trying to be such, it just comes out when you're a genetic extrovert with numerous opinions.
I fully admit, I'm a cultural Christian. I know the word starts with the letter "c", but don't be so quick to judge (as we have been trained), I didn't say that I am a compromising or casual Christian. I'm simply convinced that we need to change the community one heart at a time.
I'm determined to touch today's marketplace with a "know, love, reach" embrace, and this type of touch is not accomplished from a distance. If we are Abba's redeemed, then we reside inside of some expensive real estate called Graceland. Folks, it's all about "location, location and location".
We've had it wrong, I don't believe we need to separate ourselves from the culture, we need to apply ourselves. Jesus isn't mad at the culture, He's reaching for it with grace at the ready - and if Jesus is reaching with grace, so should we.
It's the grace of a perfect God that 'fuels' me in my daily walk with Jesus, His righteousness living in and through me. Each morning I'm looking for the 'filling station' pump (prayer), filling up my tank with grace then put the pedal down on knowing the culture, reaching the culture, and loving the culture.
Why have we forgotten this 'cleansing rain' of grace?
Have we lost sight of ourselves, forgetting the amount that we have been forgiven? His mercies are new every morning for a reason. He visits me, in my culture - my failures; why are we so reluctant to do the same for our neighbors in this real estate called Graceland? Say what you will , it is 'location, location and location', a right-standing, 'close' relationship with Jesus. Take the right-standing, and stand right in the middle of today's culture.
Calling someone a 'half-baked' Christian because they offer 'too much grace' is an oxymoron.
Luke, the Gentile author, reminded us of the politically astute, religious Pharisee that invited Jesus over to his house for brunch. This Pharisee wasn't a bad guy, he was a "seeker" for the true essence of all things Jesus. To 'religiously concerned' about his public position, he offered his house for a private time of transparency. Yet, as soon as Jesus entered the dwelling, so did the culture.
The story tells us that the community prostitute crashed the brunch, and took over the scene. She greeted Jesus, washed his feet with her tears and hair, kissed his feet and poured the best aroma-therapy that money could by all over the Savior. Culture walked in and related immediately with Jesus, greeting Him because He was in the neighborhood, kissed Him with great affection and showered Him with perfume. Jesus loved the close proximity, even if the Pharisee did all he could to make it private and distant.
The Pharisee was "put-off" with the 'half-baked' prophet.
Under his breath, the host said, "If this man was the prophet I thought he was, he would have known what kind of woman this is who is falling all over him." Here was a harlot who recognized the giver of grace, and a religious man who recognized her over grace. Yes, He surely knew sin, maybe all to well. Isn't it interesting how the Pharisee knew her without inquiring her name. Was he a frequent client of this culture's daughter, now kneeing and crying at the Savior's feet? She desired grace, and he was ignorant of it.
How quickly we can become forgetful performers, forgetting depths of Abba Father's great grace that chose to travel and relate to all of us in our culture, in the person of our Savior.
Jesus over heard the pharisees attitude. He asked, "Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker canceled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?" The Pharisee responded with common sense, 'of course the one forgive the most'. But the kingdom we live in doesn't redeem itself by common sense, rather by grace. We have invited ourselves to an under-appreciation of the grace of God. We forget it, work it away, then label it as a simple characteristic of a 'baby Christian's walk'.
Jesus answered, "Do you see this woman? I came to your house Pharisee; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn't quit kissing my my feet. You provided nothing of refreshing, but she has soothed my feet with perfume.
Impressive isn't it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal."
Do we still have 'tears for grace'?
Like the harlot, we too are prostitutes to every level and depth of sin's perversion. Have we lost sight of grace because we believe we have been forgiven a 'lesser amount'? Say it isn't' so; I want all the grace that Jesus has to offer, for me and the community's culture that I reside.
In the end my label is correct, "I'm a half-baked Christian". Still cooking in the marinaded of heaven on earth', in the pressure cooker that resides within close proximity to those messy cultural critters who desire to crash a brunch featuring Jesus and His amazing grace.
