Defining Christianity by What it Is — Not by What We Aren’t

I’m aware of Buzzfeed although I’ve never visited it. It’s a media hotbed of progressive, bright young things who are enamored by the latest technology.

It’s been accused of being anti-Christian. I wouldn’t necessarily go that far — it doesn’t exist as a militant atheist property. It is however not exactly faith-friendly.

In an effort to prove that it is Christian-cool after all, Buzzfeed uploaded a video that was supposed to demonstrate how cool progressive Christians are. It was entitled “I’m Christian, But I’m Not…” The interviewees all talked about how they’re Christian but they’re not [insert any number of socially unprogressive stances and you’ve got it].

I’m sure that they meant well. And I’m not politically conservative myself, so I get that too. But when did we start defining our Christianity by what we’re not? We define Christianity by Christ, and our response to Him — Jesus Christ crucified, and grace to those who believe.

Mollie Hemingway of The Federalist put this argument far better than I ever could have. As she put it in her well-reasoned response:

When you build your faith around what type of Christian you’re not, your faith is not built around Christ.

I see the same unfortunate trend on Facebook: Christians identifying themselves as what they’re not — prejudiced, conservative, mean-spirited, whatever… and not by who we are, sinners saved solely by the sacrifice and atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ.