A letter to The Current

I caught an interesting discussion on CBC Radio One's The Current last week and after hearing the comments of the guest I found myself thinking about a particular observation that he shared. Below is a letter that I wrote with regards to that particular comment:

This morning I was pleased to be able to hear your conversation with Reverend Kapya Kaoma. It was a fascinating discussion providing much food for thought. After hearing his thoughtful observations and opinions there was one comment to which I felt compelled to respond. In one of his comments, your guest made the suggestion that religion leads people to “look down their noses” at others in a judgmental and self righteous manner. If one follows this logic, then one can easily see that religion could be very divisive, confrontational and be a cause of conflict. Unfortunately, far too often this has been a reality and history bears evidence of Reverend Kaoma’s observation. It is here, however, that I felt compelled to add the thought that when this is or has been the case with those who would call themselves “Christian,” it represents a gross misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the Christian faith. At the heart of it, faith in Jesus begins with accepting the fact I am not perfect but sinful. It is followed by the recognition that I cannot fix the problem on my own but that I need a Saviour. Salvation in Jesus has nothing to do with what I can do for myself but rather what Jesus did for me and thus is no premise for self righteousness. When admitting that I am not perfect and cannot fix the problem on my own somehow leads me to be self righteous and judgmental then it can only be seen as a gross perversion of faith in Jesus. A true understanding of grace will lead to humility. This does not mean, of course, that followers of Jesus can never disagree with others or have convictions about what is right or wrong but it will be done so with respect and humility. There is no room for self righteousness if one is truly following Jesus.
Jesus offered this invitation: “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) We are invited to come and learn about who Jesus is, what he has done for us and offers us and what he wants to do through us. One might then live in imitation of him, who by his very own admission, was gentle and humble. When and if the actions and attitude of one who claims to follow Jesus are not similarly gentle and humble then they cannot truly claim to be following him well.
Of course those in the church are not perfect and thus we have and will continue to make mistakes and only represent Jesus imperfectly. But even so, as one strives for an honest faith in Jesus, it will not lead one to “look down their nose” at others and thus I would humbly suggest that the Reverend’s observation about religion in general could be qualified.

Well, those were my thoughts. I would love to hear some of your thoughts.