To begin with, I was shocked when I read, “…the polling data point to widespread, blatant disobedience of clear biblical moral demands on the part of people who allegedly are evangelical, born again Christians” (Sider, 17). However, the further I got in the chapter, my astonishment subsided due to the familiarity of the statements and statistics I read. For instance, I am acquainted with just as many Christians who have been divorced as non-Christians. I feel that this is closely related to all of the other sub-points that Sider has throughout the chapter. The fact that more women of the evangelical denomination are abused than other areas of the population could contribute to higher divorce rates. Many women I know that are divorce have done so due to physical abuse. Similarly, the percentages of evangelicals, both traditional and non-traditional, that think adultery is fine could contribute to the higher divorce rate. Also, almost as many Christian males engage in some sort of pornographic activity than their counter parts. Other divorced friends I know have complained that their exes have either cheated on them, or were more interested in internet porn than in them. I also feel that adultery, pornography, and other sexual indiscretions in parents may lead to sexual indiscretions of children. Because of this, I was not surprised to read “…evangelical youth are only about 10 percent less likely to engage in premarital sex then non-evangelicals” (Sider, 23). After all, most people model what they deem to be appropriate behavior. Children look to their parents for appropriate behavior; likewise, evangelicals look to their leaders for appropriate behavior. Therefore, evangelical communities are often lead astray by their leaders. If their leaders model greed, then they model greed. If the leaders were to live more simply, perhaps they would live more simply. If their leaders are racist, they tend to be racist. Why so many non-Christians have such a negative view of Christianity makes much more sense to me after reading the chapter.
I have seen many Christians turn away from those in poverty. My homeless experience humbled me as a Christian, but also opened my eyes to the church of which I was a member. There was a great deal of hypocrisy in this church. How can people claim to be Christian, but turn a blind eye to those in need? I can personally see why this would cause non-believers to despise Christians. The actions of this particular church caused me to loose faith in that church. Had it not been for one fellow, non-church going Christian, I may have lost faith in God. Their Christian act helped my family when we needed it most. With my eyes wide open, I looked at the world anew. I, myself, had been obsessed with material possessions just before we lost it all. I was at one time no different than the other members of my church. We hung out together and drank together just the night before we all attended service together. Many of my “friends” in the church were no different than Sider’s pagans. I know not all Christians are like that, and not all pastors lower the standards to accommodate the congregation. Unfortunately, this seems to be a trend across the United States. No longer are parishioners asked to leave for deviant behavior. The message, “God forgives,” is belted out on every church sign. However, many Christians forget that Jesus may have saved sinners, but he also said, “Go and sin no more.” Wow! That is a tough one. As Christians, we need to remember that our life after Christ is a time of transformation. We are not perfect and we all sin, but we should all model the life of Christ. We should abstain from sin, be compassionate to our brethren, and not repay evil for evil.
I completely agree with what Sider has to say about sin. There is both personal and social sin. You can live out your life and avoid all of the temptations that are put before you; but if you look at the social injustices and sit idly by without even trying to change them, then you are still sinful. Many people enjoy the freedoms and material possessions that they have without realizing what the actual costs. People look for the cheapest prices on clothing and do not think twice about where the clothing was made, who it was made by, or what the human cost of such clothing is. Almost everything that Americans enjoy today comes with great cost to humanity. I believe that social sin is when many benefit for the sacrifices of few. In inner city schools, teachers tend to be too “afraid” to teach, so those who are affected the most are the children that attend the schools. This is a social sin; it is bigotry, and I am not talking just about racism. In this country, many people equate poverty with sinfulness. That is not rightly true. This too is a social injustice. A very wealthy, dear friend of mine proclaims that she is a Christian, but she also has stated to me, “I do not see how you can stand being around all of those poor people. All poor people are criminals.” After getting to know her dad, I found that he feels the same way. This is socioeconomic injustice. If you look at the world around you and think, “I do not sin, so all is right with the world;” then you are absolutely jaded about the world around you.
I fear that some churches these days are moving further and further away from Sider’s six crucial points. I feel that each point is equally important than each. Several of them, it seemed Sider did not spend enough time, while I feel he went on and on with others.
Jesus is the center – In churches today, the happiness of the individual seems to be the core of everything that drives it. This point needed more clarification and supporting evidence.
The church is called to be Holy – Once an individual commits to the church, they should not revert to their former lifestyle. This is a point that seems to be looked over throughout today’s churches.
The church as a community – Because God is a community of three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the church must also be a community in order to be successful.
A countercultural community – Today many churches seem to have conformed to mainstream society. It is acceptable to commit sin after sin from petty lying on to gross misconduct in today’s churches.
Mutual accountability and availability – This point seems to be ignored in today’s churches. According to Sider, we are to be economically and spiritually accountable to our brothers and sisters in Christ. If we commit a sin, we must be held accountable for that sin. If we see a brother and sister in need, we must surrender our possessions to end their suffering.
In the power of the spirit – I wish Sider would have expanded more on this point. As scripture states, “when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10); therefore, it is important to remember that God’s grace is what we need in our time of weakness. Many Christians have forgotten that God is here for us and believe that we should work through our problems on our own.
Overall, I agree with the point that Sider made about starting in more personal, smaller groups, which are accountable to larger groups; it is important in bringing the church back to the way it was intended. Many churches today have gotten so large that the members have become disassociated with one another. They are not capable of knowing whether another member has a need or not.
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