Christians aren’t called to be ‘nice’!

Christians aren’t called to be ‘nice’!

In my early years as a Christian I was teased by my friends about my faith. Some parts of it were easily dismissed like, “Christianity is just a crutch for the weak”. I readily acknowledged the weaknesses within as I saw Jesus not as a crutch but as a healer.

But one criticism used to get to me. Sometimes people would describe Jesus as “the bearded lady”. What did that mean and why did it get to me. Somehow I knew it had something to do with the fact that churches were 60% female and 40% male, and that the males who did attend were usually ‘SNAGs’ (sensitive new age guys). John Smith of the Christian biker gang God Squad stood out as the exception to the rule.

Over time I began to realise that the image of Jesus that the wider public were picking up from the church was a distorted image of an ‘all round nice guy’ who was everybody’s friend, never quarrelled, was nice, never stood up to anyone, and was nice. Did I mention how nice and inoffensive they thought Jesus was? And furthermore, you and I were meant to be like him; “nice people”. For the males I knew they thought this meant that all men have to become ‘SNAGs’. No wonder they thought that becoming a Christian meant you had to give up your masculinity.

This surprised me because my reading of Jesus life showed me a gutsy courageous man who stood up for the poor, the sick, the outcast, and the condemned sinner. And it was his compassion that gave him his backbone! On top of this he expected his follows to also have a backbone in the face of opposition …

49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother” Luke 12

When I see Jesus’ life, I see someone prepared to face murder for what he believed in while having the courage of his peace loving convictions to forgive his attackers and not give violence for violence. The verses above make it plain that Jesus expected the same opposition to be given to his followers.

The ‘nice’ person gives in at the first sign of opposition because they want to avoid all conflict. Conflict is not nice. But Christians are not called to be ‘nice’ in this way. Cowardice disguised as niceness causes Christians to remain silent when we really should be speaking up.

Jesus is not asking us to create conflict by aggressively picking fights. Rather he is asking us to have the strength of character to love the outcast despite all opposition (even from one’s family) and to stand up for Jesus and his teachings when people in our community go bashing the Christian faith. This is something we admire in Christ and is a great quality for all Christians- both male and female.

Graeme