Has Christianity Become Too Complicated?

By William R. Cunningham
September 8, 2007

Introduction

This year my wife, son, and I vacationed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I’ve enjoyed the area since my wife stayed at a bed and breakfast suite in Intercourse, PA almost ten years ago. It was very peaceful and relaxing there, even at the outlet malls that we shopped. One interesting attraction of Lancaster is the Amish. As I learned more about the Amish beliefs, I became amazed and more aware of the many beliefs regarding Christianity.  There are many different Christian communities, e.g., the Baptists, Amish, Mennonites, Lutherans, Catholics, and Methodists. This begs the question, what is Christianity? How would one know that he is following the Christian way and indeed truly a Christian if there are so many communities claiming to be Christian and yet have widely differing beliefs about a plethora of topics?

Complicated Christianity

Consider the many different ministers that are on the radio and television. They don’t teach the same message about the same topic. Some say that we should tithe and others say that we don’t have to. What is a true Christian expected to do if the rules change depending on the community you happen to be a part of at a given time? Has Christianity become too complicated? Is it even possible to define what a Christian is?

I suppose we would love to know if we are on the right path or not with regards to our relationship with God. We want to know that our lives is pleasing to God and in order to do that we really have to know what Christianity is.
I would like to investigate these questions in this sermon.

What is Christianity?

What should a person do who really wants to please God and live her life the way that God wants her to live? Christians say that she should give her life to Christ and become a Christian. She should put her faith in Jesus Christ and be saved. Let’s suppose that she does that, and then what should she do for the rest of her life? How would she know if her life is indeed pleasing to God? You might argue that she should join a church and be taught in the Christian way? But what church should she join?  Should she join a Methodist church, Catholic Church, Baptist Church, or Non-denominational church? How would she, or anyone for that matter, know that the church she has joined is really Christian?

            Let’s consider the Bible for example. All Christians use the Holy Bible, which contains the Old and New Testaments. However, the interpretation of the Bible is very different between churches and Christian communities. So we can’t simply say that true Christians follow the Bible either. What is one to do? How would I know that a particular action or belief is Christian or not? Again, I think that the answer lies in understanding what a Christian is, so let’s talk about that now.

I looked at various sources to see how different people and organizations define Christianity. Here are some definitions of Christianity.

1. Christianity is founded on the worship of Jesus Christ as Son of God, the unique self-revelation of God to the human race. At the same time it remembers this same Jesus is a historical figure, a man of insignificant social standing who during his life was unknown outside the obscure corner of the Roman Empire where he lived and died.¹
2. Christianity is a religion based upon the teachings and miracles of Jesus.²
3. Christianity is a life and not a doctrine³
4. Christianity is a system of faith
5. Christianity is a community of believers

The list could go on since there are so many beliefs of what a Christian is? I am not suggesting that these definitions of Christianity is wrong. My point is that there are many different perspective on what Christianity is.

Not only are there diverse beliefs of what a Christian is, there are also many different beliefs about the Christian lifestyle. What does a Christian look like? Are Christians allowed to watch television or mingle with non-Christians? There are many doctrines that the various churches have with regards to the Christian lifestyle. So again we see that the field is not simple so to speak. If someone wanted to be a Christian so that he is pleasing to God then what set of doctrines should he follow, which would perhaps lead him to the “right” church?

            An article by John Gresham Machen impressed me because it gave an answer to the question of what is a Christian that I had never heard before. This essay can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/shanerosenthal/reformationink/jgmwic.htm.

John Gresham Machen ( 1881 – 1937)

• He was a theologian and apologists
• Was a professor of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary
• Machen, along with several other professors and students, left Princeton and founded the Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.
• He founded the Presbyterian Church of America

The following are the points that Machen made in his essay along with my comments.

1. Take a look at how Christianity has existed in the world to discover what Christianity is.
1. We can investigate what Christianity is today
2. We can investigate what Christianity ought to be based on some other standard
2. Christianity is a historic phenomenon like the State of Pennsylvania or the Unite States of America.
1. It is important to realize that Christianity is a historic religion in that it wasn’t founded upon mere ideas or mystical revelations of a particular individual or people.
3. Christianity must be investigated historically to see what it truly is.
1. We may find that some things that are labeled Christian may indeed be found not to be Christian at all and should be called something else.
2. If you really want to know what Christianity is then you have to see how it was defined at the beginning. If you want to know what Christianity is in the world today then you only need investigate it’s history and see how it has spread to many other doctrines and religions that call themselves Christian.
4. We must be Christians in order to tell all that Christianity is. One cannot determine what Christianity is by merely looking from the outside in.
1. We must be a Christian in order to truly know what Christianity is.  It is one thing to learn the facts about something and it is another thing altogether to be that something
   1. There is a potential problem with this, however. What if the life that I’m now living is not consistent with what Christianity really is and yet I think it is? Even though I am a member of a religion that calls itself Christian, it is still possible that I might not be a Christian at all. Therefore it is important to know the foundation of Christianity and what it truly is at its core
2. We must know what Christianity is in our own inner lives

4. Christianity has never been a reclusive religion. It has always been open to the public in what it is and what it does.
1. I mentioned earlier that I vacationed in Lancaster, PA with my family this year. Many Amish families live in Lancaster. One belief of the Amish is that they should be separate from the world. They do not seek to convert anyone to their way of life or to their church. However, I find that to be opposite to what Christianity has done throughout its history. Christians are open with their faith and they do seek to convert people.
2. There were times in the church history that the Christians met in secret, but that was to avoid persecution; it was not to conceal their faith.
5. We must turn to the beginning of Christianity within our investigation to what Christianity is.
1. What did Christianity look like when it began? The answer to that will reveal the true nature of Christianity. The purest form of something can be seen when it is first formed. Pure Christianity is seen historically at its beginning when the gospel message was first preached.
6. The founders of Christianity had a right to establish the “rules” of Christianity for all future generations.
1. The Apostles established what Christianity is because they were the ones who walked with Jesus Christ and were personally taught by him.
2. Their doctrine is established for all generations. Anything that is different from their gospel is not Christianity.
3. Christianity began shortly after the death of Jesus of Nazareth.
7. Christianity is a life and not a doctrine; it is a life or an experience that has doctrine merely as its symbolic intellectual expression.
8. The first Christians had lives that were very different from the lives of those around them.
1. We should note that the first Christians did not adhere to a set of rules in order to be confirmed as a Christian.  They submitted to a simple doctrine taught to them by the Apostles.
2. Acts 15:1-24
3. Galatians 1:6-9
9.  This Christian life was not produced by exhortation or merely by the magic of personal contacts. The earliest missionaries did not expect people to become Christians by merely submitting to the affects of their contact with Jesus Christ.
10.  Paul presented a summary of what a Christian is in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4.
1.  The things that Paul said are a statement of facts of actual events that occurred. This is consistent with the fact that Christianity is a historic phenomenon.

These are not mere facts. They also include the meaning of those facts.  Consider what Paul said.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NKJV) -- {1} Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, {2} by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. {3} For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, {4} and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

Note that Paul declares that Jesus Christ died for our sins. The fact was that Jesus died and the reason was for our sins.

12.  Christianity, then, is a life founded upon doctrine.
1. The doctrine is the reason for what Jesus did.
2. The life is the new life that comes from Jesus, and the subsequent influence on our lifestyles.
3. This life is not a mere way of life or lifestyle. This life is something that is on the inside of the Christian that is experienced. Some people say they were changed when they became a Christian. That is because they have a life—the life of God on the inside of them. They have been reborn with eternal life.
4. A Christian then is someone that has eternal life.

• Who has this eternal life? That is the question that stumps us. I don’t believe it is our duty to determine who is a Christian and who is not. We receive the life of God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. That’s it. The lifestyle, which is the affects of the reborn spirit, moves towards that which is acceptable by God.
• We mature in our faith even though we have the new life now.

5. See John 10:10, John 3:16
12. Since Christianity is founded upon facts, then it can never change.
1. What was a Christian in the first century is still what a Christian is today
2. There are many different doctrines and religious communities, however there is still one universal Christian church—the body of Christ.
3. The many “new revelations” today does not change what a Christian is.
13. Christianity is a life that is based on a doctrine that originates from historic events purposed by God. This new life has many consequences, e.g., we are reconciled to God.
1. This life only comes through Jesus Christ (See John 14:6)

Christianity is not complicated. We have made it complicated with our many beliefs. Many doctrines arose out of the necesity to defend the faith. However, those don't make Christianity more or less than what it really is. Christianity is a life and that life is the life of Christ. You become a Christian by putting your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. After that it is a matter of living that life.

All of the other doctrines that we may learn in our churches, though don't add to Christianity, are sometimes necessary to help us along the way. However, it is important to remember that Christianity is not complicated. It is simple--It is life.