innocent until proven guilty

When I was a teenager there was a poster in the room at church where we met on a Sunday monring. The poster depicted some hapless soul (you and me) in front of a stern looking judge (God?). The caption read something like ‘if you were arrested for being a christian, how much evidence would there be to convict you?’.

I struggle with this on so many levels when I think about it now but at the time it just made me feel guilty that I wasn’t being christian enough. In fact it has probably affected a number of decisions and choices I have made over the years for that reason. The problem was (and is) what constitutes ‘evidence’. For years I had no idea what it meant but thought it was somehow tied up with church and what went on there.

I don’t think that now and I refuse to buy into the guilt that, to me, surrounds so much of my experience of ‘traditional’ christian thinking.

I think I would probably enter a plea of insanity or something, anything with diminished responsibilities.

wwjd

I have always been a bit mildly suspicious of people that wear the wrist bands that ask ‘what would jesus do?’. I have the same feeling about people with fish symbols on their car, what are we supposed to do with that information? If they cut me up when I am cycling or if they nick a parking space that wasn’t entirely theirs (by the unwritten code of the car park) how do we (or more pertinantly they) reconcile their apparent christian faith with their selfish acts?

Going back to the wwjd types, do they apply the wrist band entreaty to all aspects of their lives I wonder?… Christian walks into a pub, ‘Yes sir, what can I get you?’ enquires the barman. Christian thinks….. quite fancy a glass of wine but it’s always such a rip off buying it by the glass in a pub…. hmmmm what would jesus do?…. ‘just give me a glass of water’, quick prayer and bang a nice glass of Pinot Grigio, amen.

Perhaps they only apply it to the big decisions or what they regard as the moral decisions. Or perhaps they don’t really do it at all and they are only wearing the band, like the car driver and their fish, to make something of a statement about themselves. Well it works on that level with me but I had better not say what it says for risk of offending ‘folk’.

Having said that if you actually tried to do things like Jesus did them then you would just end up offending people’s sensibilities. Dangerous ground I can assure you.