Sunday night before Bible study, Mary Earle (That would be Mary from “Mary’s Moments” fame) handed me a comic she had cut from the news paper. The author is Garry Trudeau and the comic is called ‘Doonesbury’ after one of the main characters. Trudeau is a New England liberal, yet he can be quite funny. I quit reading ‘Doonesbury’ years ago, and Mary reads him rarely, but she came across this one and shared it with me.

It is just a comic. Most would read it and chuckle. But the comic itself is indicative of two very odd trends in Christianity. The first has been around for a long time, the second is subtler and harder to see. Trudeau is not a religious man by any means, but here he sheds light on a dark patch of Christianity.

 A pastor stands before his congregation on Sunday morning. As I recall, this is a Presbyterian church, but it has been a long time for me. Regardless, the pastor addresses the people; One final announcement from the Board of Elders. There has been some confusion among Evangelicals as to what constitutes sin in the eyes of the church. So, to clarify, we now condone the following conduct: Lewdness, vulgarity, profanity, adultery and sexual assault. Exemptions to Christian values also include greed, bullying, conspiring, boasting, lying, cheating, sloth, envy, wrath, gluttony and pride. Others will be announced. Lastly, we’re willing to overlook Biblical illiteracy, church non-attendance and no credible sign of faith. The last panel shows the people leaving the church and thanking the pastor for the new attitude.

The first thing we see here is the relaxed attitude toward sin that is evident in Christianity today. Indeed, it has been so for a very long time and getting worse by the year. Denominations and churches have decided that if they condemn sin then people will become angry and they will cease to attend church. We must be careful not to offend. In the text of the comic we have sins that are now allowed. Sexual sins and corrupted language are OK now. If you found out that I, as a pastor, was having an affair, you would likely be upset. But, would it shatter the church as it would have thirty years ago? No. The excuse would be, “Well, he is just human.” Which is true. But Christians have a higher cause to live up to than the rest of the world, and pastors have a higher cause yet. As we move along and sin becomes less and less wrong, what is to keep us from sinning? Where is the problem? I know of a pastor who had that affair. Everyone in the church knew about it. His wife divorced him. He married his mistress and never skipped a beat as being the pastor of the church. In times past, if I lost my composure in the pulpit and went into gutter language, I would have been fired before I left the pulpit. Now……I might get talked too, but it would blow over. Some of you are reading this and saying, “We are just human……” It gives us no right to engage in sin. Not the pastor and not the parishioner.

 In addition, denominations and churches have decided that causes which do not particularly go along with traditional Christian values must now be embraced so that the church will be relevant in today’s society. Some years back, Marsha and I visited a church while we were on vacation. Morning worship. The service was taken up by a play about caring for Mother Earth. In it the phrase ‘Mother Earth gave us life’ was used several times. There is nothing wrong with being concerned about ecology. The Lord has given us the earth to take care of until He returns. But Mother Earth did not give us life, Mother Earth shouldn’t even be in a Christian’s thoughts and the morning worship service should be a time of worship, praise, adoration and focus on Father God, who is the One who gave us life. But, the argument is, we must stay relevant. If we really want to stay relevant then we need to share the Word. Sometimes sharing His Word is painful. It doesn’t mean we have to stop.

The other thing I see here is here is Garry Trudeau, this comic’s author, is a man of the world, someone who is politically a liberal and who is also probably theologically liberal in his thinking, poking fun at the spineless Christian element. In an effort to be contemporary and relevant, Christianity has lost the respect of the world. Jello is a substance that will adapt to whatever form it is poured into. That is what the spineless Christian element is. No one looks forward to Jello. It is a quick and easy dessert. There is no substance. It wiggles and quakes. It is sickly sweet. No one ever remembers the joy of Jello because there is nothing special about Jello. About the only satisfying thing about Jello is that you can play with it while appearing to eat it. Christianity, without adherence to the Word and making Christ the ruler of your life, is pointless. By trying to make Christianity pleasant to the world, it has been made the butt of jokes, something unappetizing.

Are we going to stand for Christ? Are we going to take our heritage back? Are we going to make the stand we need to make against sin? There is no time like the present to stand up and be counted. The world has no use for the wishy-washy Christian, and neither does Christ.