To Ricky Gervais, in response to your (Atheist) Easter message (article here).

First off, thanks for The Office. I’m a fan.

Second, thank you. I appreciated hearing why you believe you’re a better Christian than most Christians. No sarcasm. I really did appreciate it. Too often I can disconnect and fail to listen to others’ opinions and beliefs, especially if they differ from mine. That’s something I hope will keep changing in me, and that I’ll be more willing to engage in honest dialogue with others.

Why am I writing a response to your article, 5 years after you wrote it? Well, I’m a Christian. 5 years late to the party, I read it a couple days before Easter this year. After reading your article, I was deeply moved. Not deeply moved in the sense that I agree with your entire perspective and interpretations, but I was deeply moved to hear you express what you believe to be true of Christians and why you, as an atheist, are a better one. I was also troubled, because I saw some major gaps in what you describe and what I believe as a Christian. I acknowledge we don’t know each other, and the chance of us sitting down to a frank discussion about our beliefs is almost nonexistent. Nevertheless, I want to put this out there so perhaps you, or someone who thinks similarly to you, may benefit from a different perspective on Christianity. My greatest hope is, of course, that you come to understand how much the God who made you loves you, but I’m sure you’re giggling at this point, and I don’t think me trying to persuade you of that is the best use of our time 🙂

So here it is from my perspective as a Christian.

You are so right on many of your observations. The main ones I remember nodding my head at while reading your article were:

• Terrible, atrocious things have been done in the name of Christianity. You put it as cruelty and prejudice. Yes. This is profoundly wrong and disturbing. I totally agree with you.
• You said one thing you would want to change in this world would be for all mankind to follow Jesus’ words: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Wow. I agree. Wouldn’t that be an amazing world to live in.
• Gandhi’s quote. He said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Yes! Big head nod. I think your observation is spot on. Christians are so unlike their Christ. And this is where I’m going to camp out. Even if you take the “best”, most mature believer in Jesus Christ (however you qualify that), you’ll find they do an imperfect, if not sometimes terrible job representing him. You might get small glimpses of Christlike-ness, but glimpses only.

…And that’s kind of the point of Christianity. That’s the beginning of the “gospel”, or good news Jesus brings. This is where I think you have a gap in your understanding of the Christian faith. Honestly, this is where a lot of Christians have a gap in their understanding of the Christian faith. I did, for at least 19 years of my Christian life. I would hear that quote by Gandhi and feel terribly guilty because I knew he was right and I felt he shouldn’t be. “Darn it all, I should be more like Christ!” I would think, and I would try even harder, which would lead to me being even less like Christ. Then some lights came on. Jesus Christ did not come to this earth (by the way, I believe he was FULLY man and FULLY God) to primarily make people look and act like him, although that happens over time to a degree during a Christian’s life. We call it sanctification: a process where God is constantly making his children more like Jesus. We never reach perfection here on earth, just so you know. Christ came primarily to save sinners. At the end of John 12:47, Jesus says, “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” He came primarily to rescue. To heal. To restore. To bind up. To forgive.

The climax of his coming was his death and resurrection from death. His death and resurrection was the rescue. You know those 10 commandments you rated yourself by? In Deuteronomy, there’s a summation of them. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Later in Matthew 22:37-40, the religious leaders ask Jesus which is the greatest commandment, and Jesus replies by referencing Deuteronomy, saying, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, Ricky Gervais, let me ask you. Whom do you love the most? What do you love the most?

From your article, you sound like a fairly nice guy to share the planet with. I know you’re certainly gifted to make people laugh. You don’t kill people, or steal, or commit adultery, or lie. I have a hard time believing you have never done anything wrong according to God’s law, but let’s just roll with it and assume that you’ve done all the good and right things you believe God has told Christians to do.

Here’s the true “quiz”: Do you love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might, with everything you have? Is he your top priority? Is he the one who captivates your heart more than anything or anyone? Is he the one you live for?

I don’t know you from Adam, but I don’t think so.

I don’t love God like that, either.

I don’t believe anyone does. Or ever has. Except one.

One person has done it.

Jesus.

There’s our rescue. There’s our only hope. Only Jesus could stand before God and say, “I’m good.” We are not. I am not. As you observed, in the Bible, the penalty for sin is death. By God’s standard of perfection, we all miss the mark and deserve death.

In the greatest act of love and kindness I could ever imagine, God doesn’t just kill us, consign us to death, write us off, or abandon us. As we run from him, he runs to us. As we hate him, he loves us. Instead of judging us, which Jesus would have a perfect right to do as God’s Son, he comes to save us. God gives of himself, giving us his perfect Son, Jesus, to pay that penalty we owe, for our sake. Takes the punishment we deserve. He’s killed on a Roman cross. Willingly. For us. A perfect sacrifice, once for all. Then, rising from the dead that Sunday morning, he proves his deity and ultimate victory. Everyone who believes in what Jesus has done for them is now considered good by God, even though they still miss the mark. Christians don’t stop sinning when they become Christians. Heaven help us! Most of us don’t immediately become better people, either. You walk in to a Jesus-believing, Bible-preaching church, and it will probably be more of a hospital than a museum. A collection of judgmental, hypocritical, struggling, messed-up people. No, when we become a Christian, we gain a Redeemer and his perfect reputation, and lose our crappy reputation forever.

I don’t know, Mr. Gervais, the Christians you’ve come in contact with. I don’t know your story. It’s not worth me trying to guess, either. Just let me say this. A true Christian clings to Jesus’ death and resurrection as his or her only hope of goodness in this life. Not their own actions. As you so rightly observe, our actions condemn us. We fail often. We judge. We quickly forget how loved we are. We fail to keep Jesus’ words as we should. We hurt others. We break those 10 commandments like nobody’s business. No, we are not good images of Christ. And striving to be a better image through our own efforts only leads to less Christlike-ness.

I’m not a Christian because I’m betting that I have a 50/50 chance of life with God after death. Jesus’ resurrection is all the proof I need that I’m going to rise with him. My life is tied with his now. I’m certainly not a Christian because I’m good. I’m a Christian because I’m bad and I have a great Savior who gave me his goodness. My actions, now that I believe and trust in Jesus’ work for me, no longer condemn me or make me good. Follow me around for day, and you’ll see me do many things that God says are wrong for a Christian to do. I hate it, Mr. Gervais. I hate it when I do those things. Don’t get me wrong. It grieves my heart that I fail to keep Jesus’ words. But just like when I met Jesus and admitted I couldn’t be good on my own, 25 years later, when I covet my friend’s more comfortable life, I run to Jesus because I still can’t be good on my own. I remember he took my punishment. I remember he gave me his goodness. I remember he loves me enough to die for me. No matter what I do or don’t do. Nothing can change that. Ever.

That’s what I cling to every time I fail. That’s what I humbly need to remember when I think I’m good enough on my own. Jesus is my life. He’s my sustaining power. He’s my comfort. He’s my perfect friend. He’s my ever-present help. His love is the kind that can’t be captured in mere words. There aren’t enough to express who he is and what he has done.

No, the Bible isn’t inconsistent. The more I read it, the more amazed I am at how consistent and connected it is. It’s only open for interpretation when you decide you have the right to edit it. I assume we differ here because you don’t believe in God, and I do. I shiver even considering putting myself in the editing chair of God’s words. No thanks! I think He did it much much better than I could. And intolerant? Well, yes, in a way. God in the Bible is incredibly intolerant of sin. He hates it. It mucked up the perfect world he created for us to enjoy. But God in the Bible is incredibly tolerant of people. He’s the most forgiving, patient, loving, giving Being I could ever imagine. Well beyond my human capacity to understand.  The tiny peek I’ve gotten of God, the miniscule amount I understand of him, brings me to my knees in grateful worship of him.