“Are You Sure You Want to Become a Christian?”

That is among the first questions I pose to candidates preparing for baptism. The inquiry is more often directed to parents and godparents of a child not yet old enough to offer a mature answer for themselves. The purpose of the question is to help the individual, and those committing to supporting them in their faith journey, understand that being a Christian is not easy. It’s hard. Ultimately, I tell them, committing to following the teachings of Jesus requires a willingness to die for someone else. That usually gets everyone’s attention.

Jesus outlines what is expected of us who profess to be his followers. In Matthew 25-35ff, which I would describe as his manifesto, he clearly articulates that Christians are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison and welcome the stranger.

When are we preachers going to stop apologizing for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? It’s my belief that bolder and truer messaging will draw people back to the congregations from which they have fled in droves over the last decades.

That is what is demanded of Christians out of love for their neighbor. Jesus makes no exceptions. The directive seems simple and easy enough until we begin to realize that there are forces at work in the world intent on denying such care for all those who are our neighbors.

Reciting a Creed isn’t Enough

Too many preachers ascending pulpits in churches and cathedrals today are afraid to address how efforts by those ostensibly responsible for caring for the common good run counter to what Jesus commands. These preachers prefer to offer sermons that reek of safe phrases or platitudes—a new kind of political correctness—rather than be accused of preaching politics. It is not enough to simply say week after week that “Jesus loves you!” It is not enough to recite creedal statements about the Christ. So often there is little to no acknowledgment that Jesus was perhaps the most political figure ever to walk the face of the earth, perhaps the ultimate community organizer who spoke directly to the world’s everyday physical as well as spiritual well-being. 

So, why this meekness among those who don clerical stoles each week as representatives of Christ? Preachers are afraid. Not just of being accused of “preaching politics” but of people reducing or canceling their pledges and tithes if church members hear something contrary to the worldview to which they subscribe. There is fear that people will leave the congregation in search of a place where the Sunday morning message is more palatable and conforms to their personal politics. But my experience after more than two decades of preaching the Social Gospel of Jesus is that the message of Jesus’ ethical attention to a world of people wounded or forgotten attracts more individuals to a particular parish than causes people to leave.

A Deficit of Prophets

I have long argued that a primary reason for the decline of membership in mainline Protestant denominations is churchgoers and seekers alike realize that we too often do not practice what we preach. That is the case even if we have the courage to attempt periodically to proclaim the Word of Jesus Christ. People, young and old, are aware that the church today lacks prophets like those from biblical and modern times committed to standing up to rulers that demean and oppress others created in the image of G-D. 

As mentioned, being a Christian is not easy. It requires more than acknowledging each week that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Following the Christ requires a willingness to speak what can be hard for some to hear. It means being, at least metaphorically, an ally and accomplice to turning over some tables when the ethical teachings of Jesus are ignored. 

Why should anyone invest their ever-dwindling discretionary time in going to and from a place where they are not strengthened and equipped to fulfill their vows taken at baptism? The Baptismal Covenant found in the Episcopal Church outlines those commitments, among others, to include respect for the dignity of every human being and to work for justice and peace among all people. 

Spiritual Malpractice?

We preachers, as leaders of Christian communities, have been engaged I believe in a form of malpractice. We are largely responsible for allowing the gospel to be hijacked and used to advance political agendas that bear no resemblance to the faith to which we subscribe. The brand of Christianity practiced by so many today would be unrecognizable to Jesus himself.

We might do well to remind those who tell us that “politics and religion don’t mix” that when Moses confronted Pharaoh, it was about religion and politics … When the Israelites demanded a king, it was about religion and politics … When Herod ordered the murder of the infants upon learning of the birth of Jesus, it was about religion and politics … When Jesus turned over the tables in the market outside the synagogue, it was about religion and politics … When Jesus the Christ was handed over to the Romans by the chief priests and scribes and led to Golgotha to be executed, it was about religion and politics …

When are we preachers going to stop apologizing for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ? It’s my belief that bolder and truer messaging will draw people back to the congregations from which they have fled in droves over the last decades. Their faith not only in the church but in Jesus himself will be renewed.

Modern-day prophet the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was urging this point six decades ago when he warned that the ultimate tragedy was the silence of “good people” in the face of cruelty by “bad people.”[1] He also declared, “I agree with Dante that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”[2]

The World is Waiting

We Christians, people of faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, are considered to be the “good people.” At least, that is what most of us want to believe about ourselves. There are multitudes of good people in the world. More good than bad. They are waiting to be invited into communities of faith where the gospel of Jesus Christ is not just paid lip service but is applied. 

These individuals are hungry to put their faith in a gospel message that has not been co-opted, diluted, or distorted. They are willing to take a risk like that proclaimed at our baptisms that we be peacemakers, reconcilers, and disciples. They are ready to be known and to live as Christians. It is the responsibility of those of us entrusted with guarding, promoting, and teaching the faith to equip them, as the Episcopal Church’s Baptismal Covenant acknowledges, “with God’s help” to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, visit those in prison, and welcome the stranger. That is the work to which people of faith are called and are willing to do, remembering the words from James 2:12, “faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

The Rev. W. (Will) H. Mebane Jr. is rector of St. Barnabas’s Memorial Episcopal Church in Falmouth, Mass. Before his ordination, he had a long career in business, broadcasting, and racial justice advocacy, including his work managing the 50th Anniversary celebrations commemorating Jackie Robinson’s start in Major League Baseball and producing media for a Special Olympics World Games. He is a founding board member and former vice president of the nonprofit that built the Freedom Schooner Amistad. He has a B.A. in radio, television, and motion pictures from the University of North Carolina. He is a former board trustee of Berkeley Divinity School.