“I’m a Christian, but…” I’m guilty of saying this phrase, probably too much, and it is one of the most commonly heard phrases when people explain their Christian identity to others. I’m a Christian, but I’m not like x, y, or z. This has been extra important for me in helping to proclaim that our congregation is a safe place for people like me, but it also directly compares us to other Christians in the world. I think that is it today’s version of “thank you God that I’m not like those other people.” (paraphrased from Luke 18: 11). But, it also creates a large division between us and other Christians and leads to instant judgement of both them and their faith, when we make it clear that we are not like the others, and thank God for that!
This past week, we watched the movie The Eyes of Tammy Faye[1], about the life of Tammy Faye and Jim Baker. Whether you know a lot or very little about them, it was a wonderfully done movie that I found informative to understanding the early world of televangelism. It was not a movie I probably would have picked for myself, but I was glad I watched it. And, while we were watching this, I found myself noting two things: 1) I’m really glad I’m not a televangelist (even though we all joke that’s what pandemic worship trained us for…after all, every sermon I have ever preached exists forever on the internet) and 2) I couldn’t stop thinking about the Gospel reading for this week. As the movie progressed through their life, the building of their Praise the Lord Network, and then into their financial and legal hardships, the movie sets viewers up to hear the message “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, while those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 18: 14b).
At least in the movie version, what really stood out to me were the apologies that we made after the news of the family’s financial and personal scandals broke. It felt like when I was a kid and my sibling would apologize for something, but didn’t really mean it, and then expected me to be fine again after a few minutes. The apologies seem to come with the expectation that all would be forgiven, and that after a short hiatus, life would return to normal for them. Until the movie comes to the end and we see what really happened with Jim and Tammy Faye.
I use this example today because it felt like a helpful, real-world example of what this Gospel looks like, especially coming from people who claim the identity of Christian. But, I also chose it today because I want to highlight the danger of us too becoming like the Pharisee, saying, “Thank you God that I’m not like those other people” (paraphrased from Luke 18: 11). When we think of people who act holier than thou, there are often certain groups of religious people, at least to me, that come to mind, like the people on the street corner that I saw just yesterday. Yet, I don’t think we can claim to be any better Christians than them if we sit there and thank God we aren’t like those other Christians.
I will add some nuance here because I think we are allowed to critique one another and hold one another accountable to sharing the love of God, not the love of money or power, etc. And, I think we have a responsibility as Christians to help put a stop to God’s name being used to cause harm to communities that Jesus would have loved and welcomed with open arms. But, I think it can be a slippery slope when we compare how we believe with the way that other people believe. So, I use the example of Tammy Faye and Jim because they are real people that experienced real life consequences to their actions. They aren’t just another parable told by Jesus, but they are also children of God, whether we want to claim them as our siblings or not.
Because, one of the beautiful things that we have in Christ is the freedom to explore and live out our faith in different ways. We do not have a laundry list of things that we need to check-off in order to obtain salvation. We do not have to show up before God and say, “hey God, here’s the list of all the good and religious things I have done this week,” because I don’t think God is sitting somewhere with a tally book of all the things that we have done in our lives. Yet, it can be hard to swallow that this means that other Christians who engage in my harmful practices also receive the same grace that we do. But, this is why God is God and we are not. Thank goodness for that.
Instead, this parable encourages humility because it is a way of showing that we are continually in need of God’s grace, instead of approaching God and saying, look at the things I’ve done, now I can receive your grace. Thank you that I am like those other people because I am so great! Do we approach God like the grace that we receive is a gift that we are wholly undeserving of, or do we approach God like the grace we receive is an expectation? When we remain humble before God, it is not just for the sake of our neighbors, but also for the sake of our relationship with God. We acknowledge, in our humility, that God is the creator and we are one of the created. It gives us a new perspective through which we can approach the world, including seeing others as God’s loved and created too, no matter how unpleasant or difficult that is.
“I’m a Christian, but…” After listening to Tammy Faye’s story, I want to try to be better about not saying that phrase. Instead, I think a good shift for me is to “I’m a Christian, and…” It allows us to explain our faith and how that impacts our worldview, without pitting us against other Christians. Our identity as Christians is based on who we are and what we believe, instead of what we do not. Because, whether we like it or not, their reception of grace is not for us to decide. Instead, we get to show up and love the world and love God in the ways that we are uniquely equipped to do so. To share with the world that there is more than one way to be a Christian, without putting down our siblings in the process. So, “I’m a Christian, and…” You get to decide how the rest of that sentence goes for you.
[1] The Eyes of Tammy Faye, directed by Michael Showalter (Searchlight Pictures, 2021), 2:06, www.hbomax.com.