Pagan Christianity

While out following up on some business leads, a couple of years ago, I stopped into a store to speak with the owner to whom I had made a sales presentation. I wanted to check in with her to see if she had come to a decision with regard to a purchase and field any questions that might have arisen. We talked about business, we talked about family, and our conversation turned to religious themes.
It was not a surprising turn, as I have served for over 32 years as a minister and missionary, and the store owner is into all things spiritual. She was sharing that she had just recently learned that Passover was a Jewish celebration, while she had believed it to be Christian. As we talked, she began sharing some of her experiences with people who call themselves Christians. She told me of issues with a landlord who has been harassing her in what would seem like an attempt to force her into Christianity. She told me of others who had entered her store with the express purpose of condemning her and pointing out how she needs to change into a category that will meet with their approval.
She knew many aspects of the gospel message and content from the Bible. She knew that many Wiccan rites actually use Old Testament passages in them. She also knew that what Jesus lived and preached was very different from what she saw in so many who label themselves as Christians. She knew that Jesus did not walk around pointing condemnatory fingers at people. She was aware of many positions taken by groups like Liberty University, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and also that there were others who had been kicked out of the SBC on account of not following the condemnation line but being willing to accept any and all.
Before I left the store, she was trying to find a ministry position for me, suggesting that I was needed as a chaplain at the local hospital. I tried to assure her that chaplaincy training is supposed to teach ministers to respect all faith traditions and offer spiritual support that would be appropriate to the individual in question. Her response was that the local chaplains did not know that.
I left the store and went on my way, but not without some concerns to consider. Why would a practicing Wiccan or Pagan be encouraging me to find ministerial employment at the local hospital? Why would she be concerned to tell me about a local church I might be interested in getting to know? Why would she see Jesus more clearly than so many who actively participate in Christian churches? Why is it that this pagan woman could see that the condemnatory attitude of Christians around her is antithetical to the very gospel they claim?
Could it be that as Christians we are so focused on being right that we miss the point of the gospel, even as we claim the Jews missed the point of Messiah 2000 years ago? I'm not so sure that we are really focused sincerely on following Christ, but in protecting our traditions, heritage, and sense of superiority. After all, if we actually found ourselves forced to evaluate our living in terms of Jesus' teaching and example, our sense of superiority might suddenly seem groundless.
Before I left, she told me of many young people who are coming in to see her, not in order to leave Christianity, but to find a more responsible direction in their spiritual walk, one that does not offer so much conflict with the Jesus they have heard of and the patterns of religious life they have experienced. We wonder why our youth are leaving the church. Perhaps it is that too many of us have allowed the church to leave its foundation, the one we claim as Lord, and then ignore him amid our traditions about him.
I find I must ask myself who the real pagans are. The true Christians are those who actually live the grace, mercy, and love of Jesus. Handing out condemnation left and right was never the hallmark of Jesus' ministry. It should not be ours, either


—©Copyright 2017, Christopher B. Harbin  http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/ 

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