How They See Us

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but Christians aren’t always portrayed in the best light, especially in the media. Think about your favourite TV shows, the Christian characters are often highly hyperbolised and misrepresented. They’re constantly made the butt of bad jokes and depicted as intolerant, harsh, excessively conservative, pretentiously pious and high-strung in the name of satire and comedy. Angela Martin from The Office and Mrs Kim from Gilmore Girls are perfect examples. They are made out to be unapproachable, even abrasive people who no one really likes and whose faith is mostly just a justification for their bad behaviour. While I can acknowledge that these are comedies and, yes, the whole point is to laugh at these over-exaggerated caricatures and parodies, sometimes we need to think more deeply about the stereotypes that the media imposes on us.

Growing up in Uganda, this didn’t affect me much, in fact, I didn't even think about it until about a year ago. I have always been shown positive examples of what it looks like to be saved and have a relationship with God. My views about God which I formed through reading the Bible and praying - that He is loving, patient and kind - were corroborated by the people around me in the way they carried themselves and the love with which they interacted with me. I’m so grateful that I had such good influences in my life when I was more impressionable because otherwise I too might harbour certain prejudices against God and believers.

John 15:18-19 (NIV) says, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” This made me realise that the world will always inherently hate us simply by virtue of the fact that we believe in God. It’s up to us to either give them a reason to hate us or to prove them wrong. Yes, it’s a struggle that’s much larger than you or me, it’s a fight between principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12) but I find it hard to believe that there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. Didn’t God give us the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19)? In that case, why must we allow our reputations and, more importantly, God’s reputation, to be falsified online, on television, in books and just about everywhere?

We can affect how people see us. If we act like the world, if we’re vengeful, retaliatory, and unforgiving, then all we do is reinforce their biases against us and show them that believers are, indeed, pretentious people who use their “religion” as a kind of moral high ground. On the contrary, if we show them love and form relationships based on genuine care for them, they’ll have no choice but to rethink their preconceived opinions about us and our faith. As believers, I think we have a responsibility to show the world the truth about God. We need to be unified in our approach and behave in a way that’s so understanding, so considerate, so generous, that they can’t help but see God in us.

The only way to achieve this is to pray for wisdom and guidance. We’re imperfect ourselves, we make the same mistakes over and over and we’re perennially tempted by lusts of the flesh. What right do we have to proselytise others by forcing God down their throats? Coming humbly and from a place of love is the best way to affect change in others. Paul talks extensively about this in Corinthians 9:19-23 (NIV) where he says, “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

I believe this is the right approach. Less of me, more of God. Paul was by no means perfect, but his zeal for reaching the hearts of each person and his candour in respecting their customs and culture moved them. Imagine if we were all like that, if we all made a sincere and wholehearted effort to help others, instead of judging them for not being like us and trying to change them. Imagine how much more receptive they would be and the impact that would have on their perception of us, not to mention our representation in the media. We represent God in everything we do and as much as we might not believe it, people are watching us. They want to see how we carry ourselves so they can gauge what’s different about God. Don’t prove the world right, show them what they aren’t expecting: unwavering compassion, excellence in the face of adversity and, above all, love.