Christianity Is a Straitjacket

I find this quite the funny statement. I believe that non-believers would like Christians more if Christianity WAS a straitjacket. So you become a Christian and upon your baptism or confirmation or testimony, you are bound, be it invisibly, to the Law of Moses and the Gospel of Jesus. A Christian loves everyone unconditionally regardless of their imperfections. And we become the last; uplifting everyone else we come into contact with first. Then we couldn’t be called hypocrites, huh?

But it’s not a straitjacket, is it. We still have freewill. We can do what is right and we can do what is wrong. Sometimes without thinking and sometimes intentionally.

No, I think the statement for this chapter would be more aptly called – “Christians want to put everyone else in a straitjacket”. It is our way or the highway. Christianity would seem to put a hamper on individuality. (The author takes the time to address the fact that individualism is a Western idea and is not a problem in other cultures.)

It is true, ideally, being a Christian requires that you put everyone else first. That you submit yourself to the service of others. God first, others second, you last. Being a Christian sometimes means that you cannot do what you want to do. But in a humanitarian point-of-view, is that such a bad thing?

I really want a Starbucks coffee. My drink of choice rings up at a whopping $5.05. It will give me that burst of caffeine to finish my errands, chauffeur my daughters, muddle through 6^th grade math, all with a smile on my face. I am happy for the 15 minutes it takes me to savor my drink. Meanwhile, that $5.05 could feed one starving child three meals a day for a little over a week through Feed My Starving Children. My little sacrifice of a luxury would mean the extended life of a child.

More importantly, I don’t think anyone really wants everyone else to individually determine truth for himself. We would have anarchy. A criminal’s best defense would be, “I was merely expressing my individualism”.

I don’t want to continue following that logic… It is a dark road with grey lines.

I rather share that I find ample opportunity to express my individual talents and skills through volunteering at my church, children’s school and in my community. My Spiritual gifts are Knowledge, Creative Communication and Craftsmanship. And there is no end to the possibilities to put them to good use – sometimes sacrificially and other times for my own joy. And I am blessed to be able to serve the children for they keep me childlike in my faith.

But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke 18:16-17 (esv)

I loved my daughter’s memory verse for this morning. (Definitely a Christian using the Bible to support my beliefs.)

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20