June 2008 - Volume 30, Issue No. 6

THE REVEREND STEVE OSMAN WRITES

Have you ever felt misunderstood? I have a vivid memory from my school days when I was made to feel even smaller than I was then. In an English lesson we came across a letter that, to me, looked like a very big number 2. I had never seen it before, so when the teacher asked me what it was I didn’t know. She thought I was being stubborn, I just hadn’t a clue. (It was a capital Q – anyone else seen that?)

It seems to me that the church and Christianity in particular suffer from being misunderstood. It’s been said that most people who reject Christianity are rejecting a misunderstanding of Christianity. There are all sorts of (to me) strange ideas going around about church and faith. Like church is just for children and old ladies. Like faith is just a crutch to get you through life. Like a church isn’t a church without pews. Like faith is a private matter. Like you don’t need to go to church to be a Christian. All these betray a misunderstanding of what church and faith are about.

The question is, if these are misunderstandings, how do you find out what is real? The starting point has to be the Bible – that’s the foundational document. But even there we have misunderstanding. “The Bible’s full of contradictions.” The Bible’s totally out of date.” The Bible has changed with all the different translations.” None of these statements are actually true, but folk are happy to accept them rather than check out the truth. The Bible is still a bestseller but still the least read book.

To be fair, the church hasn’t helped all these misunderstandings. Poor teaching, vagueness about belief and ethics, divisions within the church and hypocrisy, all help push people towards misunderstanding. The church has not made faith accessible, which is why it’s best to start with the Bible. But for anyone serious about finding out about faith and life, you have sooner or later to get to grips with the church. There you’ll find other folk trying to sort out truth from fiction, trying to make sense of life through the lens of faith in Christ.

So if it’s all misunderstood, what’s the truth? Try starting with John 3:16 - supposedly the best known verse in the Bible. If you’re not sure what it means, check out your local church and ask!

Steve Osman