Jesus may be cool but he was never a wimp
+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
19 Sep 2004
Formalised religious practices were unpopular and churches and hierarchies produced negative associations. Talk of hell, opposition to homosexual practices and no women priests were also negatives.
Jesus himself escaped much of these censures, because many believed Jesus would reject the rule-bound, prescriptive, rigid and doctrinaire behaviours and attitudes of formalised religion.
How much truth is in all this?
It is easy to admire Christ without being a Christian or a religious person. Just as we can enjoy watching tennis, although we never played tennis or any sport.
To be a Christian should mean that we believe Christ to be the Son of God. Certainly no one can be Christian in any recognisable sense without some belief and practice, without valuing the Bible and nobody can be a good Christian without some Christian community.
Deeper insight is achieved when we try to discover whether people are critical of the Churches because their members are “bad” Christians, who do not follow Christian teaching by hypocrisy, violence, lying, injustice, refusing to pray. Paedophilia is an obvious example today, although this vice runs across all society.
There is another possibility. People might object to core Christian teachings and believe these have been made up by popes or bishops or preachers and not by Jesus. Jesus escapes condemnation, because they have never examined the Bible or the catechism to find out what He taught!
This last group has invented Christ the wimp; soft, sensitive, undemanding and above all tolerant of every adult sexual weakness. Compassion is at the core of Christ’s teaching, but Christ called everyone to repent and believe and believed in sin and sinners. He didn’t pretend they were non-existent.
It is pointless to be someone who votes for the Prime Minister, but doesn’t know his policies, would disapprove of them if he did and follows Green policies. Some ex-Christians want to have their cake and eat it.
There is much useful information in the survey about young adults, despite the sensationalist press release.
Christian practice is decreasing and the survey charts the resulting confusion and emptiness. They are concerned about selfishness and the decline of community standards, believe strongly in tolerance, and support the Golden Rule, loving one another.
Many confessed to being unhappy, believing they had not moved far enough along their secular path, rather than wondering whether they were on the wrong track.
Many believe that to become Christian would be to forgo independence, free thought and individual responsibility.
Christians therefore have the task, through good actions and sound instruction, to show that accepting the truth of Christ and coming to repent and believe is the supreme act of individual responsibility. And it brings meaning and peace.
