Christianity Today

Editor's note: Jay Bakker, son of former Praise The Lord leaders Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner, is minister of Revolution Church and subject of a new documentary series, "One Punk Under God," on Sundance Channel. Marc Brown is a Revolution staff member.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity.

While the current state of Christianity might seem normal and business-as-usual to some, most see through the judgment and hypocrisy that has permeated the church for so long. People witness this and say to themselves, "Why would I want to be a part of that?" They are turned off by Christians and eventually, to Christianity altogether. We can't even count the number of times someone has given us a weird stare or completely brushed us off when they discover we work for a church. (Watch how self-proclaimed punk preacher Jay Bakker has found his own niche in the Christian community )

So when did the focus of Christianity shift from the unconditional love and acceptance preached by Christ to the hate and condemnation spewed forth by certain groups today? Some say it was during the rise of Conservative Christianity in the early 1980s with political action groups like the Moral Majority. Others say it goes way back to the 300s, when Rome's Christian Emperor Constantine initiated a set of laws limiting the rights of Roman non-Christians. Regardless of the origin, one thing is crystal clear: It's not what Jesus stood for.

His parables and lessons were focused on love and forgiveness, a message of "come as you are, not as you should be." The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.

This brings us to the big issues of American Christianity: Abortion and gay marriage. These two highly debatable topics will not be going away anytime soon. Obviously, the discussion centers around whether they are right or wrong, but is the screaming really necessary? After years of witnessing the dark side of religion, Marc and I think not.

Christians should be able to look past their differences and agree to disagree. This allows people to discuss issues with respect for one another. Christians are called to love others just as they are, without an agenda. Only then will Christianity see a return to its roots: Loving God with all of your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Apostle Paul describes this idea of love beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

But don't take our word for it; look at what Jesus and his followers stood for in his time and what Christianity stands for today. Then come to your own conclusion.

So. . .while i agree with a few points of this article, mostly i just disagree with it.

1. The author of this article begins with some rhetorical questions and ends his first paragraph by saying that the answers to those questions are integral to the survival of Christianity. BUZZZZZ! wrong answer. The God I serve is bigger than some stupid people. Christianity has gone through some rough times but amazingly, it always comes through. Hmm. i wonder why that is? I mean, if I'm serving a God who can be done away with because i screw up sometimes, I think I want out.

2. I don't think that people giving them a "weird stare or completely brushing them off" when they find out they are affiliated with a church should be a sign of the ultimate demise of Christianity. Darkness hates light. We are to be aliens of this world. If I saw an alien walking down the street, i might give it a weird stare too because it's different than me. However, if it was exactly like me and I could tell no difference. . .it'd be a different story.

3. Here's the thing about Christ teaching love and acceptance that I believe the authors are misleading us about. Christ does NOT teach us to accept the sin and degredation around us. He does come to "us as we are and not as we should be" but he certainly does not expect us to stay "as we are". We are to be NEW creatures in Him. There are many passages that talk about people wanting to follow Christ but aren't quite ready to give up their old life yet. Christ does not tell them, "sure you can hang on to that a bit and I'll just continue to accept you that way". No, he tells them to leave it all behind and follow him and when they say they can't, he moves on without them. I hope that what these authors are trying to say is that we should love people as they are, not judge them for their current state that they are in and show them Christ's love. That doesn't mean we say we think it's ok that they are homosexual or that they are having an affair or any other sin, but that we do let them know there is love and forgiveness if they are willing to turn away from those past behaviors.

4. I completely agree that we should be able to discuss these issues without calling names, tearing others down, all the while showing love. But i don't believe that means overlooking the sin because we don't want to hurt someone's feelings. Just because a few people have gone overboard at times, we shouldn't be afraid to call sinful behavior what it is. . .sin.

5. I think it's interesting that they support their article with the 1 Corinthians passage on love. I don't think it is loving at all to continue to allow people to live a life separated from God because we don't want to "push them away from the church". If you had a child and they were continuously placing their hand closer and closer to a hot stove, would you let them continue to get closer and closer, never telling them NO or that it was wrong? What happens if you choose not to ever tell your kid when he is doing wrong because you "don't want to hurt his feelings" or "don't want to ruin his self-esteem" and then your child continues to do bad things, continues not to listen to you and then potentially gets into a life threatening situation, such as running out in the street where you NEED him to listen to you. But because you chose not to teach him right from wrong, he refuses to listen. Same way with us and God. God shows us right from wrong, he expects us to be obedient to Him, and there are consequences when we are not obedient. life threatening and even eternal consequences. Somehow i just don't feel like that's worth risking someone's life to allow them to feel better while they're on this earth.

I am all about building relationships and sharing God's love through that. I think that the Church it's faults and needs some re-evaluation in many areas. I think that as a Christian, I need some re-evaluation in many areas. However, I do not think the way society is going, Christianity needs to follow. God did not place us here to make us help others feel good about themselves. He did not place us here to blend in and be like everyone else. We are here to serve Him, to glorify Him. We are here to stand apart and stand up for something so much greater than anything this world has to offer. I fear that even as Christians we get swept into this thinking that there are no absolutes, that everything is gray. I think if we all read our Bibles a little more, we would see that there ARE absolutes, there ARE things that are black and white, there IS right and wrong. Sure, not everything is crystal clear but I think there's a lot more clarity than we give God credit for. I think sometimes we don't want to see clearly because it is the road less traveled.