Who is a Christian (or a Muslim)?

Every label used to describe persons has to be defined to be accurate. For example, if we are asked whether we or others are Christians, our answer will depend on the definition of what being a Christian means.

There are at least three types of people who might be labeled as Christians.

(1) First there are those who can be called cultural Christians. These are the people born in what is generally considered a Christian country or a Christian community, so they are Christians because of where, or to whom, they were born.

Many such “Christians” were baptized as infants and were raised as part of a Christian culture. In most cases, being a cultural Christian is much like being, say, an American.

Thus, the label “Christian” is a result of birth, not choice. It has little to do with belief, although it usually involves following certain customs, traditions, and rites common in the community.

Of course, it is the same with Muslims: many people who are labeled “Muslim” are mainly cultural Muslims.

(2) Then, there are people who can be called confessional Christians. These are the ones who have made a conscious decision to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and that decision usually involves making a “profession of faith” and being baptized, or in the case of those who were baptized as infants, being confirmed after learning in a catechism class what it means to be a Christian.

Most of these people were born in Christian homes and/or in a Christian culture. But now they are more than merely Christians by birth; they are Christian believers through their choice to follow Jesus and to be identified with the church as the “body of Christ.”

Of course, there are many Muslims who are such by their deliberately choosing to follow Allah as revealed by Mohammad in the Quran (Koran).

(3) Further, there are some who can be called coerced Christians. These are the people who have been forced, usually by cultural Christians but sometimes, certainly, by confessional Christians to convert to Christianity.

Many of the “pagans” in medieval Europe were converted by the threat of the imperial sword, especially by Charlemagne. Non-Christians in Spain were forced to convert, leave the country, or face death in the Inquisition that beginning in 1492 was directed especially against the Jews and Muslims by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Those royal monarchs commissioned Columbus’s voyage. So it is no surprise that Columbus and the priests who went with him coerced “Indians” to be Christians. Later in British North America, many Protestant political and religious leaders did the same among Native Americans.

The same sort of thing has been a part of Islamic history from its beginning—and it is still occurring in Syria and Iraq, especially by those who are a part of ISIL, which is now often called the Islamic State (IS).

While many of us would like to think that the “real” Christians (or Muslims) are those who are confessional Christians (or Muslims), in reality there are far more cultural Christians (or Muslims) that those who are Christians (or Muslims) by their choice and commitment to Jesus (or Mohammad) and the Bible (or the Quran).

Accordingly, the clashes/wars between Christians and Muslims are primarily between cultural Christians and cultural Muslims, and their actions are often in serious conflict with the core teachings of their religions.

Thus, I think the President was correct when, in speaking recently of the tragic beheading of journalist Jim Foley, he stated that “ISIL speaks for no religion. . . . no faith teaches people to massacre innocents.”

An Embarrassed Christian

In my book Fed Up with Fundamentalism there is a short section titled “An Embarrassed Southern Baptist.” Since then, my embarrassment has expanded somewhat, so now in many ways I have become an embarrassed Christian.

The primary problem is that the media mainly reports on the outlandish actions of “Christians.” And there is certainly a lot of that kind of stuff to report on. I have written about some of that in my blog postings this year. For example,

** In my 2/4 blog article, I wrote about Christians seeking in the name of religious freedom to be exempt from providing insurance coverage from their employees. I am embarrassed when I think of Christians like the CEO of Hobby Lobby and those who support him.

** My 2/18 posting was about Westboro Baptist Church and about some states seeking to legislate discrimination against gays/lesbians in the name of religious freedom. Westboro’s founding pastor Fred Phelps has since died, but the hateful protests of that church continue.

** On 2/28 my blog article was about racism in Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage of religious people (mostly Christians) in the U.S. And just two days ago an anti-gay discrimination bill was passed in Mississippi—and that action was praised by the Mississippi Baptist Convention.

Then not long ago there was a segment on The Rachel Maddow Show about the anti-scientific attitudes of national politicians—such as U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.). In an address in August 2012 at a banquet organized by Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell, Ga., Broun said, “All that stuff I was taught about evolution, embryology, the Big Bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell.”

Rep. Broun, a medical doctor by training, serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. That is troubling, for a few years ago he received a round of applause from GOP colleagues when he claimed that man-made global warming is a “hoax” with “no scientific consensus.”

Of course, in many other ways I am certainly not embarrassed to be a Christian. For example, I am not embarrassed to be a part of the Christian group north of the Missouri River in greater Kansas City known as Northland Faith Voices. I was happy to be a part of that group as they planned a rally for economic justice and dignity on February 27.

Although I am not personally involved in their fine service activities, I certainly am not embarrassed by the 8,600 churches, including a number of local churches, who are an active part of Love INC (In the Name of Christ).

Similarly, there are also many Christians serving others through the In As Much Ministry, a food and clothes pantry that serves the Liberty area where I live.

I am also not at all embarrassed when I hear outstanding Christian scholars/activists such as those I have heard in the past couple of weeks: Anglican N.T. (Tom) Wright, Mennonite J. Denny Weaver, and Catholic John Dear (who is not a tractor but a detractor of the nation’s weapons of war!).

There are Christian organizations like these, and outstanding scholars/ activists like these, all across the country (and world). But they seldom make the news. The general non-Christian public rarely has a chance to hear about the kind of Christians who are lovingly serving people in need and propounding a thoughtful interpretation and implementation of Christianity.

And that’s a shame.

If there were more coverage of the positive and true things Christians do and say, I (we) wouldn’t have to be so embarrassed.

Criteria for "Top Ten Christians"

The September 15 posting on this blog was about my list of “Top Ten Christians.” I appreciate the many comments and suggestions made about that list. Because of the response received, I have, somewhat reluctantly, replaced William Stringfellow with Thomas Merton. I am considering other changes, such as replacing Clarence Jordan with Roger Williams.

Some objected to the idea of making such a list. One of my closest Facebook friends wrote, “Time magazine called Stanley Hauerwas the best theologian in the U. S.; Hauerwas replied that ‘best’ was not a theological category. I think I agree.” I responded, “Hauerwas is probably right, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to identify those who serve as the best examples of what it means to follow Christ.”

Some thought the list should be more inclusive; specifically, they thought there should be more women on the list. If I were to add another woman, at this point I am most likely to choose Catherine Mumford Booth, the co-founder of the Salvation Army, or Lottie Moon, the outstanding Baptist missionary to China. But to add another woman, which man should be eliminated?

Some wondered about the criteria used in composing my list. An old TF, old not just in the sense that she is the same age I am but also because we first met fifty-five years ago, wrote, “I’m not sure why I react negatively to the idea of a top ten Christian list. I’ve been pondering that since you posted it. But if it is a good thing, I would wonder why Clarence Jordan would outclass William Carey or Lottie Moon. Does social action trump quiet sacrificial living? There is something oddly ironic about the notion on which such a list rests. But I'll keep thinking.”

I like the closing words, “I’ll keep thinking.” That is largely why I write this blog, to think and to encourage others to think on topics of shared concerns. The above comment prompted me to think more deeply about the criteria for making a list of the top ten Christians. And after starting to work on those criteria, I received an e-mail from another perceptive TF who wrote, “I would be interested to learn what criteria are important or inconsequential.”

My starting point was St. Francis, who is often said to be the best historical example of a person who literally lived like Jesus. So, who else lived and acted the way Francis (and Jesus) did? Such a consideration should, I think, include criteria such as these:

·       observing a simple lifestyle (no personal luxuries)

·       living a life of love for others as much as self quite literally

·       working for social justice and peace as well as for salvation in the more traditional (evangelical) sense

·       experiencing opposition by political leaders and/or the religious “establishment”

The people on my “top ten” list meet these basic criteria; most other notable and noteworthy Christians do not to the same extent.

Top Ten Christians

My posting on September 5 closed with a reference to Francis of Assisi, who is called “the last Christian” by Adolf Holl. No doubt most of us “Christians” today would disagree that Francis, literally, was the last Christian. But who are the “best” Christians in history? In addition to Francis, who else could be put on a list of “top ten” Christians?

I have tried to think through this question to a degree, and I am now sharing the list I came up with. But first, a couple of qualifiers: from the beginning I excluded from consideration Christians of New Testament times or the early Christian martyrs. Also, I have weighted my list toward more recent times but haven’t included anyone still living.

Also, by “best” I certainly am not thinking in terms of greatest influence. I am focusing primarily upon those who seemed to live most consistently in the spirit of Jesus, those who followed in Jesus’ footsteps most closely and were most faithful to his teachings. And it should be recognized that these are exemplary Christians in the last part of their lives; some became “good” Christians only after a life-changing experience, such as Francis had when he was about twenty-four years old.

Here is my current list of the “top ten” Christians:

• Francis of Assisi (1181/2~1226)
• Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, and the other 16th-century “Swiss Brethren”
• Søren Kierkegaard (1813~55)
• Kagawa Toyohiko (1888~1960)
• Dorothy Day (1897~1980)
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906~45)
• Mother Teresa (1910~97)
• Clarence Jordan (1912~69)
• William Stringfellow (1928~85)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929~68)

The people on the above list deserve to be there, IMHO, but that does not mean they were perfect people. For example, MLK, Jr., was guilty of marital infidelities that I cannot excuse. Most of the others had their own foibles. Still, by how they lived, what they said (wrote), and what they did, these are the “top ten Christians” on my list at this point. (I reserve the right to change this list at any point.)

I would be very interested in having readers of this blog respond by suggesting others that they think deserve to be on this list. But for each new name added, I would like suggestions of whom to eliminate to keep the list at ten.