Mainstream

This is a letter written to Mainstream Christianity.

I suppose most letters like this are a form of public ranting, so you may be instantly on your guard, anticipating that I’m going to say something negative about mainstream Christianity.
I’m not.
It isn’t that kind of letter.

This is just a few thoughts from a simple Christian that remains on the fringe of Christian society. At times I’ve declared myself to be a “free range” Christian, usually with a grin on my face.
But I like it. I prefer it. I’ll tell you why…

When I was a teenager, I saw a movie called “Jesus Christ Superstar”. It planted a seed in me that’s grown into whatever I am today. If it weren’t for that movie, I may have already been dead and lost. I know the truth of what I’m saying. You may be too young to remember it, but even so, would you care to speculate how it was received by mainstream Christianity? They rejected it. It wasn’t rigidly scriptural, and there wasn’t even a mention of the resurrection. at all. The script was incomplete, and I agree with them. Any mature Christian would question a work like that.
Mainstream Christianity is obligated to defend the faith, to point out discrepancies, and to be alert for misinterpretations.

But my hope is that they would also see the opposite side of the coin. That movie taught me something about Jesus. And He saved me. Think about it; that movie wasn’t MADE for Christians. That movie wasn’t made to please the majority of already saved Christians. They don’t need a movie. at all. It was made for me.

And I’m grateful for it.

For a more modern example, I treated a friend of mine and her husband to some tickets for a local traveling one-man show called “A Cotton Patch Gospel”. I was impressed with how the gospel was presented in a fresh way. It was a fun and interesting way to break the ice, in my opinion, and I thought it was a good way to get people talking. It was a new way to present the gospel to people who might not be receptive to the more traditional approach. My friend and her husband were more interested in comparing the script to the actual gospels. They were concerned about how the play presented Jesus’ motivations. And that’s good, too. We’re taught to test everything against what is given to us in scripture.

But you know what I realized?

I wasted those tickets!

“A Cotton Patch Gospel” wasn’t written for Christians. We don’t need that. I should have given those tickets to a non-Christian. Someone close to the border between the world and the church, who might have needed just a tiny nudge in the right direction.

Oh, I wasted those tickets! I really think He wants me working on the fringe. close to the border. There’s work to be done.

I like to write, and sometimes the topics I choose to write about sound a little crazy. For example, the essay I was working on until I got distracted writing THIS letter, is an article called “Why God Created Electricity”. I can’t imagine THAT being the topic of a sermon in any mainstream church.
Why God Created Electricity?

But I’m not writing it for Christians. I’m writing it to reach a very small segment of rationally thinking scientific minds. I’m attempting to show how what we know about the structure of the physical universe can co-exist with faith in God and the concept of eternal life.  I imagine that a large percentage of mainstream Christianity would criticize me for trying to blend science and religion, but that’s not my concern. I have a seed to plant in a particular kind of person, and I’m being led to cast it out to them.

As for the rest, they can be content with singing “Give Me That Old Time Religion” with their like-minded companions and it won’t bother me in the least.
I’m not writing it for them.
I’m not working for their benefit.
I’m following Christ.
I’m aiming for non-Christians and marginal Christians who aren’t really sure where they stand.

Let’s look at a more controversial topic. What about a church that publicly welcomes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people? It would be an ominous sign if the mainstream church didn’t discuss that. Even argue about it. strongly. And make determinations about it. But the fact remains that it might be just the tool that Christ is using to reach someone on the fringe. A sinner. and we’re all sinners. If that leads even one Prodigal Son home (without leading anyone else astray), it’s worth it!

Don’t risk bringing something down on your own head by criticizing what the Holy Spirit is doing out there in the wild.

The Spirit blows wherever it will.

The fruit of the Spirit is wherever you find it. You may be uncomfortable with it, and choose to direct your energy in a different direction, and that’s a good thing. You should focus on what the Spirit is presenting to YOU. Concentrate on doing something that YOU were designed for. The Spirit can lead you towards that work, and if you’re receptive to where He leads, you’ll find work that BOTH of you are passionate about.

There’s work to be done!

There are so many examples of Christ working in non-traditional ways I could never count them all, but I think the point is made. We’re all one body, but that doesn’t mean we’re all doing the same thing. In the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (and this is in chapter 12), he says:

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.  If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.  If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”  On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

1 Corinthians 12:12-22

That was Paul, talking about the church. 
The Body of Christ, of Which He is the Head.

My reason for writing this letter is to let you know that although I prefer roaming the free-range fringe of Christian society, I’m grateful to the mainstream core of Christianity for protecting and defending the foundations of our faith, and for their efforts to establish and maintain safe environments for vulnerable souls.

Free of stumbling blocks, preferably.

I applaud mainstream Christianity for being conservative. You are conserving. You are protecting the fundamentals, and are properly defending the truth.
We pray “Your Kingdom Come on Earth, as it is in Heaven”.

You are the temple of Lord.
But I’m the temple, too.
Be careful that you aren’t discouraging to those who are working outside the comfort zone, creating and sharing in ways that aren’t traditional; planting seeds in marginal areas, on rocky soil and among the weeds.

In the parable of The Sower, the sower wasn’t careful with the seeds! Some fell by the wayside, on rocky ground, and in the weeds. He cast them everywhere…

I may not be with you physically every Sunday morning, but I’m with you in spirit. Personally, I’m not one to spend a lot of time sitting in the pews worshipping, and my prayers are usually rather short. I pray that I’m able to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit, and for the will and courage to follow, wherever that takes me.

There’s work to be done.
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