Recently christianitytoday.com ran an article on Barbara Curtis. She is portrayed in the article as a former “hippie” (presumably in the negative sense of the word) and other related undesirable labels. This article caught my attention because it is about a person who made a “U-turn” in life or was “transformed by the renewing of [her] mind”. It is a timely article for it helps in my own writings as regards my attempts to discuss better-than-thou and smug Christians.
If we do arithmetic, we see that Barbara’s rough years were between the ages of 18 and 38 approximately. At 38, she has a second husband, Tripp, and both find the Lord. But during those two earlier decades, she saw it all and more or less experienced all. She was living fast. After her conversion, ‘everything’ changed for her the article points out. She learned about Biblical characters as she taught them to her children. And she learned about Christian fellowship and active church life.
As regards the active church life, Barbara felt that Christians were too ‘insulated’ from the outside world. Here, read outside world as meaning non-Christians. She felt that true Christians should be out working in the community among the non-practicing members. Otherwise, how would anyone ever become convinced or get converted? She pointed out that Jesus ate and communed with the “less-desirable” souls of society at that time. Because he was strong and sure. He knew he wasn’t going to become like them. He wasn’t interested in that.
Barbara’s latest book is about ‘rubbing elbows’ with those who are different from yourself in some way. She frankly mentions that there is some risk involved, but that that is the way it has to be if it (witnessing, converting, etc.) is to be genuine. Anyway, God will help these Christian community “doers” as far as the risks are concerned.
I think the article is a very good and important one. If we look at Biblical history, we find it obvious that some of the best Jews and Christians were horrid sinners first, then later, model, die-hard servants of God and Christians. St. Paul comes to mind as just one of them.
No one is more boring than those church-going smug, better-than-thou “Christians” who think they are one of God and Christ’s right arms just because they have managed physically to live within certain conventional and socially-accepted norms expected of Christians. Some of them have hearts under that silky-smooth skin and behind that glued-on smile that are darker than midnights in central Antarctica. I know because I grew up with them. Sadly, some of them who pray loudly in tears and raise an arm toward heaven in a moving church service are the kind who wouldn’t surrender a hard-earned buck to a starving blood brother or sister, not to mention a non-relative.
I'm not saying it's better to live a life like Barbara's. I am saying that it's better to be a genuine johnny-come-lately Christian than a cradle-to-grave "Christian" who houses a stone-cold, petrified excuse for a heart.
(If you want to know more, put Barbara Curtis in google.com and read more articles, charity works, etc.)
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for sharing.