Charles Barkley and the Fake Christians
Monday, March 10th, 2008If you're new here, and you're into sports and/or the Christian faith, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
I got an email from MCBias the other day asking me if I had seen the Charles Barkley video yet (click over and watch it if you haven’t yet - it’s a political interview Barkley is doing on TV in which he rails against conservatives and has harsh words for Christians). I told MCBias I hadn’t seen it yet, and after watching it I asked him what he had thought of it. This is the exchange that followed:
PFB: I’m watching the video now. What were your thoughts on it?
MCB: My initial reaction to the video was disinterest. I read its description as Barkley calling conservatives “fake Christians”, and to me personally, that didn’t seem to be that inflammatory. At times, it does seem like conservative politicians wave the flag and Bible around election time, and then desert those constituencies later on. I thought that was all Barkley meant by that statement. But then, I watched the entire video when I had more time, and I was a little angry. Sure, Chuck looks awkward and somewhat pitiable on that broadcast. But I’m sure it would come as a shock to historical saints if “not judging” is the pinnacle of morality! All Christians should vote Libertarian by Chuck’s logic. What did you think about what Barkley said when you watched the video? Was it truly offensive, or do you think he just spoke without thinking?
PFB: Maybe I was just really confused, but it seemed to me like he was calling out two separate groups. Was he calling out non-Christian conservatives for pretending to be Christians or was he calling out Christian conservatives for being hypocrites? Or both? I guess that’s why I wasn’t very offended by it, because I was more confused than anything else.
As far as Christians being hypocrites, yes they are. We all are. I don’t think any of us live up to the standard of morality, ethics, and holiness that we’d like to. The problem has always been that Christians (and most folks, for that matter) find it easier to point the finger at someone else than at themselves. Personally, I’m trying to get better at that.
On the other hand, if Charles is ticked off at the way some conservatives and Christians have tried to marry the Republican party with Jesus, then I’ll join in with him on that. I think it’s an affront to Jesus to say that He would have voted along Republican party lines, or any party lines, for that matter.
I don’t think Charles spoke without thinking, I’m just not sure what, exactly, he was thinking. Do you think it will hurt his public perception (and eventually his chances of running for office) or will people just chalk it up to Charles being Charles?
MCB: I have to agree with you that I too was confused at first as to what he really was saying. I believe he was calling out Christian conservatives for being hypocrites. At first, I agreed with his statements; certainly Christians should not be both “judge and jury”, and Christians can’t be hypocrites the way we have been at times. I agree!
But the end of his comments ruined for me. Saying that Christians are the most hypocritical people in this country? That we’re not forgiving at all? And he certainly doesn’t understand the full meaning of that judging verse. Christians can say that the actions of another person are sinful; there are some common standards of sin that we can agree on. Without that, we can have no law in society or religion, because there are no common standards that we can agree on. Now, of course, it’s a matter of vigorous debate if those standards exist in reproductive processes or sexuality, and if so what those standards are. But he sounded too much like he resisted any common standards whatsoever. Plus, I thought that the “they can’t do anything to me, I don’t work for them” line showed that Charles’ brand of “not judging” is not based on a concern for the feelings of others, but more out of a desire for independence from outside interference.
I think it will hurt his political chances, because it’s too easy to lift the “conservatives are fake Christians” soundbite and use it in negative attack ads. I think that Charles does have some good things to say, but that he unfortunately doesn’t have an “off” button once he has said those good things. Then he keeps on speaking and reveals himself to be just as biased as those he is trying to correct. What do you think the proper Christian response is to this type of critique from outsiders?
PFB: Whatever our response is to something like this, it has to be in love. If we put up a blog post about it, let’s not rip Chaz a new one and call him names. Let’s argue our points with humility and sincerity. Let’s see if there is any truth to what he said, and see if we can apply it to ourselves.
Same goes for conversations you might have with friends or co-workers over the comments. It’s a great opportunity to show that following Jesus is about admitting our inadequacies, which reinforces our need for Jesus. Yes, we should defend ourselves when other people speak things that aren’t true, but truth without love is just a lot of noise. There is some truth in what Charles was saying, but i think he took it way too far.
If you were offended by it, forgive him and move on. If you want to counter his points, do so with the right attitude.
What about you, and final thoughts?
MCB: I think that Christians need to take criticism well, because you never know if God can be using someone else to speak to you. Before Charles went too far, he had good points about avoiding hypocrisy and not being judge and jury. Also, it’s not loving your neighbor if you ignore him. However, sometimes Christians can be a little too eager to absorb criticism from people whose only goal is to stir up trouble. The tough part is identifying the motives of the person challenging us; the words themselves mean little in some ways compared to the heart attitude.
In the end, watching other blogs cover this story, I think I learned a little about the hearts and beliefs of my fellow bloggers, ha. That teasing aside, this was good practice in our constant need to filter the good out of our encounters with those who don’t agree with us, while ignoring/forgiving the evil or offensive part of the interaction.
You can check out the MCBias Blog here, but be aware that he is moving to a yet-to-be-disclosed new blogdome very soon.
Tags: Charles Barkley, Fake Christians
