I hope the title to this blog is not too offensive to anyone. Or maybe I hope it is. That’s kind of why I am writing I guess, because I was bothered by it myself.

Good Christian Bitches is the title of a book, written by Kim Gatlin. This spring ABC debuted a a comedy-drama series with the same name. There was outrage from the Christian community. The title of the series was later simply renamed “GCB,” but the content was the same – a satire of the women and families who claim to be Christians and live in a wealthy Dallas suburb.

Honestly, I had never heard about the show or the controversy until about two weeks ago when my wife, Brenda, and I were having dinner with some of our friends who told us how much they loved the show.

The friends we were having dinner with are gay and they both grew up in Christian homes. Both had experienced persecution from the church over the years. During their years in the church they also witnessed a great deal of hypocrisy. That’s why they enjoyed watching GCB so much.  They loved the show and told us how disappointed they were that the series had been cancelled (though it may get picked up by another network).

I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation that night and about the show, GCB. I thought I’d share a few thoughts.

The Hypocrisy Card

Yes, the church is full of hypocrisy because it is filled with people like you and me.  We’re all hypocrites to some degree. That’s why you’re welcome in the church. That’s why I am welcomed in the church.

This does not excuse any behavior my friends may have witnessed. As my friends shared about their experiences in the church, I simply listened and apologized for the ways they saw Christians claiming to believe one thing and then living differently.

After listening I asked, “Have you ever had a positive experience with a Christian – one where the person was not perfect but genuinely respected you, treated you well, walked out their convictions, and confessed when they failed to live out their faith?” I asked this because, in my limited experience, some people who play the “hypocrisy card” focus only on the few instances that are egregious, not the many positive friendships they have had with Christians.

At the University of Texas, we recently interviewed 1100 students and 89% said they had positive or very positive relationships with Christians. We believe this is, in part, due to the great work done by our missional community leaders who are building positive friendships with those outside the Christian community.

The guys we ate with that night, however, said they had never had a positive experience with Christians. I hope, by God’s grace, that they may answer that question differently as we continue to get to know them.

Reverse Discrimination

The thing that stood out most during our conversation about GCB was the tone of their voices. I could tell they had animosity toward Christians and loved to see them portrayed this way on TV. I could see how the years of persecution and awful ways they were treated by the church left them bitter and angry. After hearing their stories, I don’t blame them for their anger. Their stories made me angry too. What alarmed me though, was the fact that GCB was making them even more angry.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in healthy satire. I think shows that poke fun at Christians can be quite hilarious. I have plenty of stories and jokes in my own repertoire! I even think there are a few funny South Park episodes that make fun of Christians. Talking to my friends that night, however, I started to think about reverse discrimination.

After listening for quite awhile I said this following: “While I think there is great hypocrisy in the church and some of it can be playfully joked about, I wonder if sometimes a show like GCB reenforces negative stereotypes in a harmful way. What if, for instance, there was a show out there that went over the top stereotyping gay men, but did so in a way that people tuned in to make fun of them and reenforce negative feelings toward gay men. Have you ever felt like something on TV or in film stirred up animosity toward homosexuals?”

They agreed that GCB could stir up hatred of Christians but then quickly moved back to talking about funny scenes from GCB again. I decided not to push it any further but just to get to know them better and see what I can learn from them.

This post records at least two things I learned from the conversation. Hopefully there is more learning to come – for them and for us.

Justin Christopher is the director of Campus Renewal Ministries at the University of Texas and author of Campus Renewal: A Practical Plan for Uniting Campus Ministries in Prayer and Mission. He gives leadership to the Campus House of Prayer and the missional community movement at the University of Texas.