Putting Christ in Christianity

By Dr. Gene Edward Veith

I was recently assigned the task of reviewing a whole raft of Christian children’s videos. There was a lot of gratuitous cutesiness as well as explicit lessons in life. Most of them were heavy on how to be a good little boy or girl. A few of them, such as the ones about vegetables, were actually funny and entertaining. But none of these videos for kids, despite their label of “Christian,”said anything about Jesus Christ.

I travel about through the whole range of American Christendom. Many, maybe most, of the sermons being preached today have to do with self-help, politics, pop psychology, problem solving, and biblical tips for successful living. (If you don’t believe me, check out some of the sermon Web sites.) But Christ is often not mentioned, or if He is, He is tacked on at the end with the altar call. Browse through your local Christian bookstore, look at some Sunday School curricula, or just talk with Christians.One would assume from that evidence that Christianity has mainly to do with being good (rather than being forgiven for being bad), finding a way to be successful and happy (rather than bearing a cross), getting power (rather than coming to terms with our weakness), and having a relationship with a deity who resides either far above us looking down or in our hearts (rather than the God who came in the flesh).

The Lutheran blogger Bunnie Diehl used to have a weekly feature that attracted a lot of evangelicals and gave them fits. She would print the lyrics of the top Contemporary Christian Music hit. She would then ask, “What is Christian about this song?” Often the songs never mentioned Christ at all, sometimes just hinting at Him in words that could just as easily apply to one’s boyfriend or even girlfriend. Often the songs do refer to a generic deity, but they could just as easily be sung by a Muslim.

I also notice the phenomenon of ignoring the specific ally Christian God—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in discussions of the problem of evil, occasioned by all of the hurricanes, tsunamis, tragic accidents, and horrific crimes that plague our world. Learned theologians go on about why God permits such things to happen, but they tend to stick with the generic God looking down upon His world. They do not talk about the Christian triune God, and how the Second Person of the Trinity came down from heaven precisely to suffer and to die. That the Christian God is Jesus Christ, who “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4 ESV), and more than that, who has borne in His body all the evil in all of history and who has atoned for it on the cross, never so much as gets mentioned.

Why does so much Christian discourse leave Jesus out of the picture? Sometimes there is a commercial reason. “Christian” products that don’t mention Christ can appeal to a bigger market. After all, Muslim, Jewish, and humanist parents all want their kids to be moral. Morality indeed is universal. There is no such thing as a distinctly Christian morality. The basis of our faith is not morality but Christ and the forgiveness He offers for our immorality. Even Bible stories—whether told with vegetables or insects—can appeal to all religions, as long as we stick to the Old Testament.

Besides,the Law (as opposed to the Gospel) and a generic deity (as opposed to the triune God) are more ecumenical and inclusive. Christ always has a way of being a “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” (1 Peter 2:8 ESV).

Christians themselves often relegate Christ and His work to the time of a person’s conversion. After that, they think they don’t really need Him. After they have been forgiven, they can concentrate on their good works. These Christians do not realize that Christ is for every moment of our lives, that we have continual access to His forgiveness and His life-changing power, that He is actually present with us in His Word and Sacraments.

I once had a student who wrote an essay about how Lutherans are not really Christians. She thought Lutherans had idolatrous views of the Sacraments. She also thought Lutherans put too much stock in faith in Christ. To be saved, she insisted, you had to abide by the full counsel of God, which included, she wrote, God’s desire that women not cut their hair. This misguided young woman was trusting for her salvation in the length of her hair. She did not believe the Gospel. This young woman, so devout and religious and moralistic, said that we Lutherans are not Christians, but she was not a Christian herself. She was trying to be a Christian without needing Christ.

But it is neither doctrine nor works that makes Christians, nor is it Christians who judge Christians. It is Christ. May God ever keep Him and His work before our eyes.

Dr. Gene Edward Veith is the cultural editor for WORLD magazine, the D irector of the Cranach Institute, and a contributing editor for Higher Things.