I have heard recently people talking about watered-down Christianity and I wonder what that means specifically?  If you can tell me what that means to you, please post a comment. It obviously concerns the purity of Christian faith, but which aspects of faith are being diluted? 

To some people I think it is primarily talking about how literally one reads the Bible.  The idea is that if it is not read literally, then it can be interpreted to mean anything and thus has lost all meaning.  I can understand this line of reasoning, even if I disagree with it.  Seeing the Bible as art instead of history does allow some room for interpretation, but it is not so free that it loses meaning.  God speaks to us through His word and says different things to different people.  There are multiple levels of meaning which is why it is beautiful.  The literalist approach is well-meaning, but it destroys this beauty and puts God in a box.  Even literalists disagree with each other on what the Bible says, so literalism is also ineffective.

Others may talk about watered-down Christianity because they are conservative.  They grew up with specific beliefs and practices and to deviate from them would be incorrect -- Tradition rules.  All other beliefs are simply wrong.  To these people watered-down Christianity is liberal because it seeks to change the status quo, which is bad.  I wonder if they spend more energy worrying about what other people believe than they do about what they believe themselves.  Maybe this is because spiritual growth in such a rigid system is inhibited.  Perhaps I am being a little hypocritical though, since I am also concerned about what other Christians believe.  I explore my Christian faith too; I just don’t blog about it as much.  Maybe I should.

Some people that talk about watered-down Christianity take pride in believing the incredible.  The more incredible the story, the more faith it takes to believe it.  When people say they believe in the incredible they are displaying their faith as badge of honor for all to see.  To make these stories more palatable and easier to believe would be to give heaven to the undeserving.  Watering-down Christianity to them is anything that allows people to accept it with less faith.  Making it more believable would be bad.  Making it real instead of magic would be very bad.  Without the magic, what else is there?  It wouldn’t take any faith at all to believe and everyone would be saved.  Is that bad?

I am certain that not everyone can take Christianity full-strength, so to speak.  If you grew up with it, it may be easier to do.  If you did not grow up in a Christian home going to church every week, then the incredible stories told by “pure” Christians can put people off and keep them away from Jesus.  I know this from experience.  I am a Christian now, but I had to look at it differently to get there.  I could not take it “full-strength”.  I did not have a dramatic conversion experience and I don’t think that one is needed to become a Christian.

Please tell me what you think.