Can we start with the premise that Christians are not held in high regard in society?  According to my purely anecdotal research, Christians have managed to slide down the societal acceptability chart to a position that is slightly below telephone solicitors and personal injury lawyers.  For each notch that they move lower on the chart, Christians raise the respectability of some other annoying segment of society.  So, by contrast, they keep looking progressively worse.

I’m sure that I won’t get an argument over this assertion from those who identify themselves as existing outside the circle of Christianity.  But it may surprise you to know that Christians don’t argue with this premise either.   

I frequently have the opportunity to speak before Christian groups.   The audiences usually range in size from 200 to 2,000 people in attendance.  As often as possible, I use these forums to conduct an informal survey.  I don’t have any formal polling methodology; I just ask this simple question:  “What one word best describes the reputation that Christians have in our society?”  Here are the most frequent responses:

•    judgmental
•    hypocritical
•    self-righteous
•    ignorant
•    pushy
•    dangerous
•    irrelevant
•    obnoxious

When I review the responses to my question with the members of the Christian audience, there is almost universal agreement that they have this reputation in our society.  (Duh!  Apparently Christians aren’t as clueless as you might expect.  Despite their flaws, at least they can manage to get a blinding glimpse of the obvious.)  But here is what I continually find to be amazing:  These Christian groups always agree that this unflattering reputation of their own constituency is deserved and accurate.  They readily admit that their group is not being falsely accused.  

Apparently a lot of Christians somewhere have been working very hard to earn their unflattering reputation.  Maybe the rest of us need to concede that as a group Christians are now the most annoying segment of society.  Tell them they’ve won.  Maybe then they’ll give it a rest.

Unfortunately, their annoyance is so multi-faceted that it won’t be easy for them to cease and desist.  Even if we assume that they desire to improve their social standing, the one-word character descriptors only identify the symptoms that are painfully obvious.  There remains a much more sinister underlying cause of these symptoms.  Treating the symptoms will require dealing with that cause, and the lunatic fringe of Christianity may not be willing to go there.  It would require radical surgery.  More than amputation (because the ailment is too pervasive).  More than a lobotomy (which simply may be a redundancy).  We’re talking about a drastic measure:  Removing Christians from their self-appointed role as society’s morality police.