I was reading the article in 'Charisma' about the allegations and I came across a quote - the quote captured perfectly one of the most disappointing responses that I can think of to these types of circumstances. The quote was this, "She says she struggles with "what it means to be Christian after being so disgustingly let down by a role model I considered a man of God."" One the one hand, I can see the disappointment, and can understand how being let down by someone who you look up to could impact a person negatively. That isn't lost on me. On the other hand however, the quote indicates a complete lack of understanding from this person on what "being a Christian" means. If this was the first time I had seen something like this said, I wouldn't think twice, but the fact is, so many people have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to be Christian and incidents like this only serve to highlight this fact.
Later on in the article, there was this quote:
"I haven't been to church in years," Lindsey says. "It's hard. It's hard to go into a place where you know that people know things that are going on, and they never do anything about it, because they just list it as 'bad behavior' or something that someone can just be forgiven of and then it's fine. It's not fine. Even when you forgive someone, it's important to go back and make restitution and to change your ways and change your behavior. It's really hard to even consider participating in a community, in a body of believers, that would allow such behavior to unfold unchecked, and give it a platform. No, I don't consider myself a Christian anymore. ... I have no ill will toward the church. I don't have bitterness there. I think a lot of people are really earnest in what they believe, and I respect that. But I want to be able to respect it more."My response would be, "why is our concept of God so small in comparison to our concept of man?" The church has been and always will be FULL of broken people. And besides that, the purpose of The Church is not to make morally flawless people, it's about becoming a disciple and, as Jesus put it, "denying yourself, taking up your cross and following Jesus (paraphrase)" (Matthew 16-24-26) The purpose of "being a Christian" is to lay down one's life, to pour out our lives in service to God. If you are a Christian and you're not willing to admit that you're a sinner in need of saving, then there is probably reason for concern.
I say none of this to let John Crist off the hook, he is no-doubt feeling the weight of his sin right now - but for someone to look at him and think that just because he is a Christian means that he would somehow be unwilling, or incapable, or making mistakes...that just boggles the mind. Look at how many "titans of the faith" have had a very public falling out, even within the past few years: Bill Hybels, Andy Savage, Fred Herron, Joshua Harris...any person you see who identifies as a Christian, is no different than any other person you see when it comes to their propensity for sin. In fact, the higher their profile, the more vulnerable that person is to giving into their sinful desires.
I applaud Crist for putting a halt to everything, the shows, the Netflix special, everything - to focus on dealing with this area of his life. That is exactly what he should be doing - nothing in this life is as important as getting right with God and following Him. 1 Peter 4:5-6 says, "But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. That is why the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead [that is, dead in their sins], so that they might be judged as men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." and in 2 Corinthians 5:10, "For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad."
The truth of all history is that a Day is coming, referred to by the Bible as the "Day of the Lord" or "The Day of Wrath" - it is the day when man will be humbled and Jesus will be exalted - where Jesus will sit in judgement of all mankind and where we will all give an account of our lives before him. Those who have put their trust in Jesus, who are relying on His shed blood to cover their sins and who are found ready and waiting will go on to Eternal Life and those found living for themselves or this World, apart from God, will go on to Eternal Death. Eternal Death is "gehanna" in the Bible, or "The Lake of Fire" where there will be eternal punishment.
In other words, nothing will matter as you stand before Jesus on That Day, except whether you are found in Him. Nothing you did in this life, not your job, not how many friends you had, not the number in your bank account, NOTHING else will matter in terms of your salvation. Imagine being in front of a judge and there was some serious charge brought against you, for which you were guilty. You're standing there and the judge asks you to answer the charge and you say, "well, look at all of these good things I did!" That is what it will be like for those who stand before Jesus on That Day and say, "well, I was a good person, I did ____ and ____ and____." Just as an earthly judge would throw you into prison with that kind of defense, so will a person be thrown into the lake of fire if that is their defense on That Day. If, however, you say to Jesus, "Lord, I am trusting in your sacrifice for me on the cross, I have no righteousness of my own." That person will be invited into Eternal Life and, not only that, but the good things they did in this life will be accounted to them. In other words, they will stand acquitted and if one is not guilty, then the good things that they did DO matter.
Friends - Jesus is calling us to continual repentance and humility. Micah 6:8 sums it up well, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." Things like what have happened here with John Crist are warnings to us all. Warnings to stay vigilant and ready - to keep our lamps burning and our eyes fixed on Jesus. In God's lovingkindness, he has delayed The Day of Wrath (2 Peter 3:9) so that we might turn our hearts toward Him and be saved on That Day. Take advantage of this period of amnesty while today is still today!
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