Novelist Anne Rice recently said, “I leave Christianity in the name of Christ.” Is it possible to remain faithful to Christ while leaving Christianity?
Rice’s proclamation generated tremendous buzz, partially because of her notoriety and partially because such a statement is attractive to most of us at one time or another. Whether it involves leaving an entire faith community or simply the local congregation, droves of people today find reasons to abandon their relationship with other believers. Rice’s position sounds all too familiar.
Abandoners, for lack of a better term, tend to define the group they are leaving only by things they perceive as negative. Rice wants no part of a group she defines as being, among other things, anti-gay, anti-feminist and constantly quarrelsome. She neglects to recognize that she also wants no part of a group that feeds the hungry, shares the gospel, ministers to the sick and worships the Lord. Not ev-erything is negative.
Rice also represents the abandoners’ tendency to “throw the baby out with the bath water.” She seems to believe no other Christians hold her same views. Several churches and denominations have attempted to attract her back, noting their compatible positions. All of Christianity, or every member of a specific congregation, does not believe or accept all the same things.
Abandoners often criticize the righteous arro-gance of the group they leave and then promptly snub those with whom they disagree. Rice disdains the intolerance of those who fail to accept what she accepts, and then she clearly expresses her own intolerance of those she sees as spiritually inferior. She has become what she says she cannot abide.
Ultimately, abandoners like Rice reject the image of the Christ of whom they claim a superior relation-ship. In deeming Christianity unworthy of her association, Rice represents those who succumb to the temptation to come down off the cross and save themselves. There is no prayer of “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” When his disciples disappointed him in almost every possible way, Jesus still forgave them and died for them. Followers of Christ choose the better way.
Thus, while Rice’s decision may appeal to us in our times of great frustration, it cannot stand up to scrutiny. You cannot leave Christianity to follow Christ.
Equally important, however, is that Christianity cannot leave abandoners either. Luke 15 clearly describes the situation of the abandoner we call the prodigal son. The frustrated may make the decision to leave, but God’s way is never to stop looking for their return and to embrace and rejoice in their home-coming. Christianity must respond to Anne Rice, and other prodigals, with love that proves we know more of Christ than they may have originally thought.
Van Christian is pastor of First Baptist Church in Comanche Texas. Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Contributors include writers in Virginia, Texas, Missouri and other states. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to [email protected].