For just over two years, I have worked a night job, and have therefore spent the vast majority of my driving time during the dark. I do not mind, as I am primarily nocturnal regardless of my employment status, but I believe the experience has spoiled me.
Night-time driving is considerably easier than driving during the day. Though vision may be reduced slightly due to the lack of a dominant light source, headlights work acceptably for nearly all circumstances, and the host of other benefits far outshadows the minor eye strain. For example, when driving at night:
You do not have to share the road, since you are generally alone.
Due to the lack of drivers overall, there is a lack of stupid drivers.
Due to the lack of stupid drivers, the road is a much more pleasant place.
Due to the road being a much more pleasant place, it's much easier to get into "the zone."
Due to it being much easier to get into "the zone," it is much easier to ponder all sorts of important things, pray, worship, or what-have-you.
It truly is marvelous. I would recommend that you try it, but that would ruin my zen-like driving experience.
It was during one of the aforementioned zen-like moments, however, that I realised that driving at night is a very good metaphor for a very bad walk. Allow me to elaborate.
True Christianity is inherently unpopular, particularly in today's society. Countless moral dilemnas are thrust upon each and every one of us on a regular basis, and often times the right choice in terms of the Bible is not the right choice in terms of society. Sloth, drunkenness, lust, greed... the list is massive, and in life, those who consistently choose properly often stick out like a sore thumb - much like those who actually obey all of those pesky traffic laws tend to irritate those of us who tend to fudge, blur, or ignore them.
In order to avoid the pesky rule-followers (or perhaps to avoid appearing like one), we therefore turn to night-time driving. The less people who see our driving habits and the less people who can identify either us or our vehicle, the less likely we are to stand out. After all, who cares if you go exactly the speed limit on I-35 at 3AM? It's going the speed limit at 7PM that will get you a whole range of colorful words and gestures. We tend to, for the sake of ourselves and our fragile self-images, go out of our way to make sure that our habits will not offend others, or to make sure that we are not offended by others' habits.
"It is not so bad, though! People can still see me, because my lights are on and my license plate is lit up. They can still identify me, I am still recognizable, and I am still bound by all the laws even at night, am I not?"
No! You are missing the point. Headlights are a self-serving substitute for that which we have a perfectly powerful alternative for, and they fall dreadfully short of matching the awesome power of the original. We often delude ourselves into believing that because we still have some small manner of socially visible religion, we are accomplishing just as much as we would by truly living what our stated beliefs are. Simply because our headlights can show us a few feet of the road ahead does not mean that we are better off than if we drove in the middle of the day, when the sun illuminates miles in all directions! Half-hearted shows of some semi-legitimate Christian affiliation accomplish nothing but showing those who are alert enough to catch them while you are doing the exact opposite of what you are wearing more reason to despise you (Rev 3:15-22).
"Well, the less people that are around, the better I can focus on God without all of those distractions, right? By avoiding people that I don't like to deal with, I keep myself from getting frustrated AND let myself get closer to God, and that's what it's all about, right?"
No (Mat 28:16-20)! We are not called to ignore people that we can't stand - if we were, Christianity would be just another high-school clique, with all the cool kids standing around wearing crosses and "Jesus is my homeboy" shirts. The mission field would be nonexistent, college ministries would have no purpose, public speaking by Christians would have died out entirely (since it is the number one fear of most people) - the assumption is ridiculous. "Driving at night" may be excused in clever ways, but none of them are valid. Was Stephen avoiding uncomfortable situations the moments before he was stoned to death? Did Paul avoid uncomfortable confrontations the many times he was thrown into prison? Jonah attempted to avoid an uncomfortable situation, and was placed in one even more dire. It cannot be justified that we should hide our faiths when logic and truth state that exactly the opposite must be done (Mat 5:14-16, Luke 8:16-18).
Literal driving at night, for many, is a necessity, as many jobs require or demand it. Driving at night, in terms of the walk of any Christians who legitimately believe what they claim, is inexcusable.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Irked (and a chain of thought)
I mentioned this to my roomie the other day, but it's still been running through my mind, so here we go.
"What's in a name?" is a statement that's been around for considerably longer than I have, and there's been fairly interesting research regarding the actual psychology behind it. Names can get you better jobs, names can affect your success in said jobs, names of products can vastly affect sales... names can change all sorts of things - some sensible, others not-so-much. Society is built upon names, labels, brands, and all sorts of similar constructs, and like it or not, they dictate an impossibly large amount of public perception about what they are intended to represent.
This trend is reflected in God, as well, who has an incredible amount of names, each one reflecting a different aspect of His character. For every imaginable aspect of God, there is likely a parallel name reflecting the quality or attribute in question. God has always been referred to with fear, reverence and love - a trend that is mostly continued today.
Mostly.
Given all of the above, I can't help but take issue with the fact that two fairly popular Christian bands have written and produced songs that seem to sully the image that the Bible depicts of God. Some of the lyrics that I take issue with are quoted below:
"You’re my escape
From this messed up place
‘Cause you let me forget
You numb my pain"
"You’re better than drugs
addicted for life
Feel you comin’ on so fast
Feel you comin’ on to get me high"
"I want it, I need it
I trust it, I breathe it
It fuels my aggression
It fuels all my questions
I cannot conceed it
It drives me and I feel it
It builds me and I need it
Now I believe it
I, I want it
I, I need it
I, I breathe it
You are the new drug"
Fairly recognizable lyrics if you're into the Christian rock scene - if not, don't worry too much about it.
I don't intend to sound like this is corrupting the youth of today. I don't want to write like the ultra-fundies who are convinced that everything with a bit of distortion and the use of some form of electricity in music is going to steal your soul and send you to hell just like the testimony of the unnamed youth who have left similarly-written confessions on their website. I do think it's important, however, to discuss the associations with this sort of imagery.
Addictions are not a good thing, particularly not when they're drug addictions. An addiction is a preoccupation with something to the extent that it impairs one's daily activities, generally at the expense of their physical, psychological, relational and social well-being. While some form of justification for the above analogies could be made in that an "addiction" to God does impair the societal acceptance of the Christian in question, the argument is ultimately irrelevant in the grander scheme of things.
One of the more frequent buzz-phrases in today's Christian culture is that we do not have a religion, we have a relationship with God. Despite its rapid descent into meaningless cliche, the phrase has merit and cannot be discarded. It is particularly relevant in context of this discussion - was God to truly be something "addicting" in a drug-related context, the relationship could only be described as abusive and inappropriate; something that should be severed as soon as possible for the benefit of the victims. This is clearly not the case.
A constant theme throughout the Bible is free will - humans are free to accept or reject God, free to act in whatever way they choose, free to respond to the consequences of their actions, freed from chains, freed from sin, freed from all manners of things both in this world and outside of its normal boundaries. The primary mention of a lack of freedom comes from Paul's writings about being a slave to the gospel of Christ - but even this calling was his to decide whether or not to follow.
Addictions, on the other hand, directly imply a hampering or preventing of the individuals' rights to make their own decisions. Those who are addicted to their vices feel that there is no alternative to their behavior - they are trapped in a habitual, self-destructive cycle from which there is no escape without outside intervention, and while they may be aware of their situation and regret their circumstances, they feel that they lack the ability to break free.
(I had not initially intended to write anything after this, so bear with me. Writing has clarified my mind.)
Looking at it from one point of view, this may be a valid statement. Being "addicted" to God would result in constant patterns of behavior in which God was the sole purpose for that individual's existence - at the expense of family, friends, personal well-being, and the like. This is a common theme among the New Testament, where Christians frequently suffered and were severely punished for fulfilling their calling, to which they saw no logical alternative. In this sense, they were perhaps "addicted" to God: He became absolutely everything that was in their life.
However, the analogies still bother me. Comparing the Christian's relationship with God to a junkie's need for another fix seems to completely fail to do the actual concept of Christianity justice. Where is the love in a drunk's connection with the bottle? Where is the provision in the needle in the arm of a heroin addict? Where is the benevolence in a dimebag? Other analogies may fall short in some areas - parents are flawed, shepherds lose sheep on occasion, coins devalue with the economy and increase once aged to a certain point - but the comparison to an addiction is a dangerous one, and one that requires far too much rationalization and explanation in order for it to truly be relevant and useful.
Perhaps I have over-analyzed the whole thing, and have made a mountain out of a molehill. However, I believe that the arguments presented above have merit, and that this can serve as a valid example of why we should use caution in our writing, speech, and presentation of both ourselves and of our God.
(Note: I do not intend to belittle or demean the bands whose lyrics I quoted above, as I quite enjoy their music - I simply disagree with the message contained in these songs.)
"What's in a name?" is a statement that's been around for considerably longer than I have, and there's been fairly interesting research regarding the actual psychology behind it. Names can get you better jobs, names can affect your success in said jobs, names of products can vastly affect sales... names can change all sorts of things - some sensible, others not-so-much. Society is built upon names, labels, brands, and all sorts of similar constructs, and like it or not, they dictate an impossibly large amount of public perception about what they are intended to represent.
This trend is reflected in God, as well, who has an incredible amount of names, each one reflecting a different aspect of His character. For every imaginable aspect of God, there is likely a parallel name reflecting the quality or attribute in question. God has always been referred to with fear, reverence and love - a trend that is mostly continued today.
Mostly.
Given all of the above, I can't help but take issue with the fact that two fairly popular Christian bands have written and produced songs that seem to sully the image that the Bible depicts of God. Some of the lyrics that I take issue with are quoted below:
"You’re my escape
From this messed up place
‘Cause you let me forget
You numb my pain"
"You’re better than drugs
addicted for life
Feel you comin’ on so fast
Feel you comin’ on to get me high"
"I want it, I need it
I trust it, I breathe it
It fuels my aggression
It fuels all my questions
I cannot conceed it
It drives me and I feel it
It builds me and I need it
Now I believe it
I, I want it
I, I need it
I, I breathe it
You are the new drug"
Fairly recognizable lyrics if you're into the Christian rock scene - if not, don't worry too much about it.
I don't intend to sound like this is corrupting the youth of today. I don't want to write like the ultra-fundies who are convinced that everything with a bit of distortion and the use of some form of electricity in music is going to steal your soul and send you to hell just like the testimony of the unnamed youth who have left similarly-written confessions on their website. I do think it's important, however, to discuss the associations with this sort of imagery.
Addictions are not a good thing, particularly not when they're drug addictions. An addiction is a preoccupation with something to the extent that it impairs one's daily activities, generally at the expense of their physical, psychological, relational and social well-being. While some form of justification for the above analogies could be made in that an "addiction" to God does impair the societal acceptance of the Christian in question, the argument is ultimately irrelevant in the grander scheme of things.
One of the more frequent buzz-phrases in today's Christian culture is that we do not have a religion, we have a relationship with God. Despite its rapid descent into meaningless cliche, the phrase has merit and cannot be discarded. It is particularly relevant in context of this discussion - was God to truly be something "addicting" in a drug-related context, the relationship could only be described as abusive and inappropriate; something that should be severed as soon as possible for the benefit of the victims. This is clearly not the case.
A constant theme throughout the Bible is free will - humans are free to accept or reject God, free to act in whatever way they choose, free to respond to the consequences of their actions, freed from chains, freed from sin, freed from all manners of things both in this world and outside of its normal boundaries. The primary mention of a lack of freedom comes from Paul's writings about being a slave to the gospel of Christ - but even this calling was his to decide whether or not to follow.
Addictions, on the other hand, directly imply a hampering or preventing of the individuals' rights to make their own decisions. Those who are addicted to their vices feel that there is no alternative to their behavior - they are trapped in a habitual, self-destructive cycle from which there is no escape without outside intervention, and while they may be aware of their situation and regret their circumstances, they feel that they lack the ability to break free.
(I had not initially intended to write anything after this, so bear with me. Writing has clarified my mind.)
Looking at it from one point of view, this may be a valid statement. Being "addicted" to God would result in constant patterns of behavior in which God was the sole purpose for that individual's existence - at the expense of family, friends, personal well-being, and the like. This is a common theme among the New Testament, where Christians frequently suffered and were severely punished for fulfilling their calling, to which they saw no logical alternative. In this sense, they were perhaps "addicted" to God: He became absolutely everything that was in their life.
However, the analogies still bother me. Comparing the Christian's relationship with God to a junkie's need for another fix seems to completely fail to do the actual concept of Christianity justice. Where is the love in a drunk's connection with the bottle? Where is the provision in the needle in the arm of a heroin addict? Where is the benevolence in a dimebag? Other analogies may fall short in some areas - parents are flawed, shepherds lose sheep on occasion, coins devalue with the economy and increase once aged to a certain point - but the comparison to an addiction is a dangerous one, and one that requires far too much rationalization and explanation in order for it to truly be relevant and useful.
Perhaps I have over-analyzed the whole thing, and have made a mountain out of a molehill. However, I believe that the arguments presented above have merit, and that this can serve as a valid example of why we should use caution in our writing, speech, and presentation of both ourselves and of our God.
(Note: I do not intend to belittle or demean the bands whose lyrics I quoted above, as I quite enjoy their music - I simply disagree with the message contained in these songs.)
Monday, April 21, 2008
Change
While showering, I realized something that I'd written about briefly a while back and had never bothered to apply, and it has to deal with change.
I'm not sure that this really qualifies as an update, since it's so impossibly short, but I'm writing it anyway as part of change (yay!).
I enjoy writing on here. I love getting things off my chest, talking to people about them, and basically the entire creative process - so from now on, rather than waiting for a 4-page-long inspired epic post, I'll just add whatever I feel needs to be added whenever it seems appropriate, and we'll see how it goes.
God can use everything we have to offer - I don't have to write an epic to get what's been placed on my heart out for others to review and comment on. So I won't.
That's all.
- Matt
I'm not sure that this really qualifies as an update, since it's so impossibly short, but I'm writing it anyway as part of change (yay!).
I enjoy writing on here. I love getting things off my chest, talking to people about them, and basically the entire creative process - so from now on, rather than waiting for a 4-page-long inspired epic post, I'll just add whatever I feel needs to be added whenever it seems appropriate, and we'll see how it goes.
God can use everything we have to offer - I don't have to write an epic to get what's been placed on my heart out for others to review and comment on. So I won't.
That's all.
- Matt
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Rambling
Hey.
Sorry for the lack of updates - I don't like writing unless I feel inspired, and I haven't felt inspired for a while. I still don't, honestly, but I'm going to write about stuff anyway, since something has to come out eventually. I can't promise any deep Biblical truths since I don't have my Bible next to me, but I'll just adopt the machine-gun approach (the more you shoot, the more likely you are to hit something) and see if it works.
I really hate getting older.
Don't get me wrong, I like the extra abilities and rights, and don't mind the added responsibilities, and I don't think I'm old at all, but I hate the whole "process of time" thing. The longer I stay alive, the more and more people I see abandoning what they have always held to be true, valuable, and worthy in favor of activities which are clearly the opposite. Men and women alike who I used to consider strong Christians are sleeping with their significant others (or just sleeping with people in general), getting drunk on a regular basis, and finding countless other ways to spit in the face of God. Out of everyone that I know, there are very few people who have "stayed the course" (so to speak), and quite a few people who have decided that a much more liberal lifestyle is appropriate.
Some people don't consider themselves Christians anymore, and don't label themselves as such. I don't mind those people nearly as much as the others.
To claim that you are a Christian and to act the exact opposite is the same thing as spitting in your parents' faces before asking them for money, or flipping off a cop when they pull you over and asking for a warning. Actions, words, etc - these are not concepts that are new, or illogical, or even difficult - except when it comes to this one thing.
Before I go on, I'd like to note that I am far from perfect, and I am writing this about myself just as much as I am writing about anyone else. I am not targeting anyone with this blog.
Consider a house. Average house, average foundation, average construction - absolutely nothing fancy about this house. Let's assume that it's been cloned, so there are several identical houses lining this street.
Some people, through the passage of time, will keep the house exactly the same. When a massive thunderstorm rips shingles off of the roof, they will put the same type of shingles back. When the paint fades, they will repaint it exactly the same. When plants die, they will replant the exact same plants. There isn't much good in this, but not much bad, either. Nothing changes. This is not ideal, but will suffice.
Some people, through the passage of time, will improve their House. Additions will be made, landscaping will be done, paint will be improved, and the like. When storms come and rip things up, they will fix them better than they were fixed before. This is a very good thing.
Some people, however, will stop doing anything to their house. After all, it'll always be there, right? When storms harm it, they leave the damage. When weeds choke the yard, they can't be bothered to mow. The raccoons that move into the attic are treated as welcome guest... you get the point.
I have seen more people choose the latter than all of the others combined, and it's somewhat baffling to me. Why is it so easy for people to completely disregard what they grew up with, studied, cried over, laughed over, bonded with, and generally immersed themselves with for the majority of their conscious life?
Immersion may be the key, though I'm not entirely sure. It is incredibly easy to go astray when you are not involved even the slightest in any form of activity that involves what you should be involved with. This is true of all things - athletes cannot perform if they stop working out and practicing, musicians cannot properly play their instruments if they fail to practice, the mind itself begins to fade if it is not regularly stimulated - so why do so many of us, myself included, assume that the same is not true about our faith?
"Oh, I can put off reading the Bible." "Oh, I'll just pray later. I don't really need to do it right now." "Eh, I don't really need to go to church, I'll just read the Bible later."
Laughable - yet common - sentiments.
Is it the need for something that drives us to seek outside comforts, rather than the loving arms of an eternal, flawless savior?
Loneliness is a powerful force, and one that I've had a fair bit of experience with. It's fully possible to be lonely with friends, lonely while praying, and the like. The feeling can come and go, but it is always the same - a deep, foreboding emptiness that, despite what logic seems to dictate, implies that you will always feel this way (somewhat similar to depression).
However, many of us have felt the deep joy that comes from a close relationship with Christ - summer camps tend to best personify this experience - so why do we seek out things that have not been proven to fill that unspoken void within us if we have a logical, obvious, flawless solution readily within our grasp?
Probably because Sin looks sexy most of the time. Just a guess.
I don't really have any answers here - this was simply me getting things off of my chest. If you were offended by this blog, please talk to me about it. I'd love to hear a differing opinion. If you agree, let me know. If you think I suck, you're probably right. If you want to encourage me, please do so. If you want to date me, we'll work something out. For now, I'm out.
- Matt
Sorry for the lack of updates - I don't like writing unless I feel inspired, and I haven't felt inspired for a while. I still don't, honestly, but I'm going to write about stuff anyway, since something has to come out eventually. I can't promise any deep Biblical truths since I don't have my Bible next to me, but I'll just adopt the machine-gun approach (the more you shoot, the more likely you are to hit something) and see if it works.
I really hate getting older.
Don't get me wrong, I like the extra abilities and rights, and don't mind the added responsibilities, and I don't think I'm old at all, but I hate the whole "process of time" thing. The longer I stay alive, the more and more people I see abandoning what they have always held to be true, valuable, and worthy in favor of activities which are clearly the opposite. Men and women alike who I used to consider strong Christians are sleeping with their significant others (or just sleeping with people in general), getting drunk on a regular basis, and finding countless other ways to spit in the face of God. Out of everyone that I know, there are very few people who have "stayed the course" (so to speak), and quite a few people who have decided that a much more liberal lifestyle is appropriate.
Some people don't consider themselves Christians anymore, and don't label themselves as such. I don't mind those people nearly as much as the others.
To claim that you are a Christian and to act the exact opposite is the same thing as spitting in your parents' faces before asking them for money, or flipping off a cop when they pull you over and asking for a warning. Actions, words, etc - these are not concepts that are new, or illogical, or even difficult - except when it comes to this one thing.
Before I go on, I'd like to note that I am far from perfect, and I am writing this about myself just as much as I am writing about anyone else. I am not targeting anyone with this blog.
Consider a house. Average house, average foundation, average construction - absolutely nothing fancy about this house. Let's assume that it's been cloned, so there are several identical houses lining this street.
Some people, through the passage of time, will keep the house exactly the same. When a massive thunderstorm rips shingles off of the roof, they will put the same type of shingles back. When the paint fades, they will repaint it exactly the same. When plants die, they will replant the exact same plants. There isn't much good in this, but not much bad, either. Nothing changes. This is not ideal, but will suffice.
Some people, through the passage of time, will improve their House. Additions will be made, landscaping will be done, paint will be improved, and the like. When storms come and rip things up, they will fix them better than they were fixed before. This is a very good thing.
Some people, however, will stop doing anything to their house. After all, it'll always be there, right? When storms harm it, they leave the damage. When weeds choke the yard, they can't be bothered to mow. The raccoons that move into the attic are treated as welcome guest... you get the point.
I have seen more people choose the latter than all of the others combined, and it's somewhat baffling to me. Why is it so easy for people to completely disregard what they grew up with, studied, cried over, laughed over, bonded with, and generally immersed themselves with for the majority of their conscious life?
Immersion may be the key, though I'm not entirely sure. It is incredibly easy to go astray when you are not involved even the slightest in any form of activity that involves what you should be involved with. This is true of all things - athletes cannot perform if they stop working out and practicing, musicians cannot properly play their instruments if they fail to practice, the mind itself begins to fade if it is not regularly stimulated - so why do so many of us, myself included, assume that the same is not true about our faith?
"Oh, I can put off reading the Bible." "Oh, I'll just pray later. I don't really need to do it right now." "Eh, I don't really need to go to church, I'll just read the Bible later."
Laughable - yet common - sentiments.
Is it the need for something that drives us to seek outside comforts, rather than the loving arms of an eternal, flawless savior?
Loneliness is a powerful force, and one that I've had a fair bit of experience with. It's fully possible to be lonely with friends, lonely while praying, and the like. The feeling can come and go, but it is always the same - a deep, foreboding emptiness that, despite what logic seems to dictate, implies that you will always feel this way (somewhat similar to depression).
However, many of us have felt the deep joy that comes from a close relationship with Christ - summer camps tend to best personify this experience - so why do we seek out things that have not been proven to fill that unspoken void within us if we have a logical, obvious, flawless solution readily within our grasp?
Probably because Sin looks sexy most of the time. Just a guess.
I don't really have any answers here - this was simply me getting things off of my chest. If you were offended by this blog, please talk to me about it. I'd love to hear a differing opinion. If you agree, let me know. If you think I suck, you're probably right. If you want to encourage me, please do so. If you want to date me, we'll work something out. For now, I'm out.
- Matt
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Snow tracks and sidetracks.
Snow is amazing.
Living in the DFW area, it's incredibly rare that we get anything more than sleet and ice once or twice a year. So, when I woke up at 1 in the afternoon and realized that my only class that day was canceled due to "averse weather conditions" (7 inches of snow), I did what any red-blooded American college kid would do - I went back to sleep for another 2 hours.
When I woke up again, I sat in my warm, comfortable room, and talked to a few friends over the internet for about an hour before deciding it was finally time to go outside and have myself some fun. Being the Texas-bred individual that I am, I quickly put on pants, Underarmor, ski bibs, a t-shirt, a huge jacket, a beanie, and the biggest boots that I had, in order that I would not even get the slightest bit chilly when heading out into the cold. I didn't have any gloves, but I had pockets, so I was all good.
Walking outside with camera in hand and phone in pocket, I proceeded to watch quite a bit of people having a good time sledding, sculpting, fighting, and generally enjoying the once-in-a-Texan-lifetime opportunity. However, since most of my friends were nowhere near the action, I decided to simply observe for the most part, and take quite a few pictures.
That changed when I was charged by a lone individual. My hands occupied with my camera, I was helpless against the three-snowball onslaught, and made a semi-distressed noise as the white spheres of doom exploded upon my protective layers. I was not prepared for such savagery! The girl who invited me to join the war shortly after confirmed my thoughts - I could no longer stand by idly.
It was an epic battle.
What began as two sides of 20-versus-10 quickly morphed into 20-versus-10-versus-7, and then to 40-versus-5, and then to approximately 50-vs-50. Snowballs flew, soldiers fell amidst the icy field, orders were shouted, and allegiances were formed and broken subconsciously by the frantic warriors. At one point, a lone individual darted through the carnage wearing nothing but red boxers and brandishing a bright green towel as a rallying beacon, skilfully avoiding the barrage of death-spheres being flung at him by the opposition and working his way back to his defenders, who allowed him to re-dress in safety.
However, all good things must come to an end, and I left for supper as the snowball war was winding down, grabbing some very good pictures on my way to the dining hall. Walking inside forced me to remove a layer or two, only to re-prepare them for the trek back. As I returned to the earlier scene, only a few scarce individuals remained, the forts and giant snowballs and igloos the only testament to their earlier existence.
Now you may be thinking, "Well, that's a great story, but what does it have to do with anything aside from you having a great time and getting amazing pictures?" Well, keep reading, and you'll see.
Essentially, my day was a collection of examples of Christianity - everything from outsiders' responses to our own actions.
Feel free to go back and re-read them if you wish - everything below this line will still be here when you get done.
Ready?
It starts at the very beginning - from the moment I first looked out the window and saw the snow. While my initial reaction was that of pleasure, I soon realised simply from the chill coming from the window that it was much more comfortable outside. Sure, there was an undisturbed world of excitement and adventure waiting for me, but there was also a warm bed and several more hours of sleep to get. Surely I'd have time to do it later; sleep was more important.
This mentality of "well-sure-it's-good-but-maybe-later" is pervasive in both the lives of Christians and non-Christians, and always has been. While we may be willing to give up some things, the more difficult requirements of Christianity are generally ignored (Matthew 19:16-22), preferring to stick with what we know and are comfortable with. It is clear that we don't really need to worry about anything that we give up in order to more thoroughly immerse ourselves in Christianity (Matthew 19:27-30, Luke 12:22-34), but we worry about these types of things anyway, and generally keep them held tight, preventing us from fulfilling our potential. It's something that I still struggle with quite a bit.
While I was tempted to draw some form of metaphor between bundling up and resisting the parts of Scripture that we find less appealing, I do not feel that such a point needs addressing at this particular moment, and so I have opted to skip it in favor of the next. This is not meant to imply that a valid point cannot be made; I simply feel that making such a statement is not my place at the time.
Let me continue, then, skipping far ahead to the snowball fight. I had imagined more comparisons when I originally conceived this note, but I feel that this one is the most essential, and I intend to flesh it out as fully as possible.
In this note, snow is symbolic of God. The pure, vast, untampered fields of snow that fell (and were clearly visible along the highway on my drive to work later that night) struck a solemn chord somewhere within me, and the only thing that I could think to compare them to was our Creator. Even though it was a scant 7 inches of snow, the entirety of the city seemed to be blanketed with perfection - a truly calming, somber experience (and one that I will likely not see again, should I continue to live where I do).
However, man is ill equipped to leave such things as they are, or to handle them in their state. Throughout the day, emergency sirens sounded constantly as individuals failed to recognize the power of the snow and ice and sent their vehicles plunging into guardrails and other cars, or sent their rears plunging to the concrete beneath their feet. Many of the fields soon became warzones, and the once-pristine blankets of snow were rapidly turned into countless defenses against equally countless offenses. While a bad time was had by few and a good time was had by many, at the end of the day, those parts of the snow that had been played in were unquestionably altered by men to fit their temporal needs.
Please don't get me wrong in this - I love snowball fights. I am simply making a point, and snow happens to be my tool for doing so this time.
Throughout history, mankind has constantly corrupted the public face of the Church for their own gain. From the Indulgences sold by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages to modern-day bigots ignoring New Testament commands in favor of Old Testament doctrine, people never stop attempting to use God's word to somehow prove that they are superior to others. This occurred in Biblical times (Acts 8:9-25, Acts 19:13-17), and it is still occurring today.
It seems to me that ultimately, the root of this issue is humility. When people firmly believe that they have in their possession a means to control anything, it is a very simple matter to cease considering the viewpoints and concerns of others while remaining confident in your own, unshakable position.
This is true of nearly everything, not just Christianity. The various Islamic factions continue their infighting, the conflicts in the Middle East show no signs of ending, nuclear research in Iran and North Korea continues despite warnings and sanctions, evolution is widely taught as fact with no attention paid to its numerous flaws, heads of major corporations continue to embezzle funds, corrupt government officials in our own country and in all other nations continue to behave as if they are above the law... the list goes on. The simple fact of the matter is that humility is not something that comes naturally to most people, and this is plainly, painfully evident.
It should be remarked, then, that Jesus was not only a staunch advocate of humility, but also a firm practitioner of it. He did not surround himself with religious leaders and prominent individuals, but instead ate and accompanied tax collectors (who were despised at the time) and 'sinners' (Matthew 9:10-13, many more). He did not proclaim himself a mighty ruler and instantly overthrow everyone, but allowed himself to be treated absolutely terribly, in order that something much more important than himself could be accomplished.
The world is expected to be shallow, materialistic, and prideful. However, as a Christian, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" (Philippians 2:5-7). We are expected to live as Christ lived, which entails a great deal of humility. We, as humans, are not above reproach, and it is guaranteed that we will be rebuked, corrected, debated (and the like) by both those who follow our God and those who do not. Regardless of the circumstances, however, there are clear outlines for our behavior (Mark 12:29-34; Ephesians 4:2-3; Colossians 3) and a clear definition for what those entail (1 Corinthians 13), and we would be foolish to abandon the greatest tools at our disposal in a vain attempt to preserve our pride.
Living in the DFW area, it's incredibly rare that we get anything more than sleet and ice once or twice a year. So, when I woke up at 1 in the afternoon and realized that my only class that day was canceled due to "averse weather conditions" (7 inches of snow), I did what any red-blooded American college kid would do - I went back to sleep for another 2 hours.
When I woke up again, I sat in my warm, comfortable room, and talked to a few friends over the internet for about an hour before deciding it was finally time to go outside and have myself some fun. Being the Texas-bred individual that I am, I quickly put on pants, Underarmor, ski bibs, a t-shirt, a huge jacket, a beanie, and the biggest boots that I had, in order that I would not even get the slightest bit chilly when heading out into the cold. I didn't have any gloves, but I had pockets, so I was all good.
Walking outside with camera in hand and phone in pocket, I proceeded to watch quite a bit of people having a good time sledding, sculpting, fighting, and generally enjoying the once-in-a-Texan-lifetime opportunity. However, since most of my friends were nowhere near the action, I decided to simply observe for the most part, and take quite a few pictures.
That changed when I was charged by a lone individual. My hands occupied with my camera, I was helpless against the three-snowball onslaught, and made a semi-distressed noise as the white spheres of doom exploded upon my protective layers. I was not prepared for such savagery! The girl who invited me to join the war shortly after confirmed my thoughts - I could no longer stand by idly.
It was an epic battle.
What began as two sides of 20-versus-10 quickly morphed into 20-versus-10-versus-7, and then to 40-versus-5, and then to approximately 50-vs-50. Snowballs flew, soldiers fell amidst the icy field, orders were shouted, and allegiances were formed and broken subconsciously by the frantic warriors. At one point, a lone individual darted through the carnage wearing nothing but red boxers and brandishing a bright green towel as a rallying beacon, skilfully avoiding the barrage of death-spheres being flung at him by the opposition and working his way back to his defenders, who allowed him to re-dress in safety.
However, all good things must come to an end, and I left for supper as the snowball war was winding down, grabbing some very good pictures on my way to the dining hall. Walking inside forced me to remove a layer or two, only to re-prepare them for the trek back. As I returned to the earlier scene, only a few scarce individuals remained, the forts and giant snowballs and igloos the only testament to their earlier existence.
Now you may be thinking, "Well, that's a great story, but what does it have to do with anything aside from you having a great time and getting amazing pictures?" Well, keep reading, and you'll see.
Essentially, my day was a collection of examples of Christianity - everything from outsiders' responses to our own actions.
Feel free to go back and re-read them if you wish - everything below this line will still be here when you get done.
Ready?
It starts at the very beginning - from the moment I first looked out the window and saw the snow. While my initial reaction was that of pleasure, I soon realised simply from the chill coming from the window that it was much more comfortable outside. Sure, there was an undisturbed world of excitement and adventure waiting for me, but there was also a warm bed and several more hours of sleep to get. Surely I'd have time to do it later; sleep was more important.
This mentality of "well-sure-it's-good-but-maybe-later" is pervasive in both the lives of Christians and non-Christians, and always has been. While we may be willing to give up some things, the more difficult requirements of Christianity are generally ignored (Matthew 19:16-22), preferring to stick with what we know and are comfortable with. It is clear that we don't really need to worry about anything that we give up in order to more thoroughly immerse ourselves in Christianity (Matthew 19:27-30, Luke 12:22-34), but we worry about these types of things anyway, and generally keep them held tight, preventing us from fulfilling our potential. It's something that I still struggle with quite a bit.
While I was tempted to draw some form of metaphor between bundling up and resisting the parts of Scripture that we find less appealing, I do not feel that such a point needs addressing at this particular moment, and so I have opted to skip it in favor of the next. This is not meant to imply that a valid point cannot be made; I simply feel that making such a statement is not my place at the time.
Let me continue, then, skipping far ahead to the snowball fight. I had imagined more comparisons when I originally conceived this note, but I feel that this one is the most essential, and I intend to flesh it out as fully as possible.
In this note, snow is symbolic of God. The pure, vast, untampered fields of snow that fell (and were clearly visible along the highway on my drive to work later that night) struck a solemn chord somewhere within me, and the only thing that I could think to compare them to was our Creator. Even though it was a scant 7 inches of snow, the entirety of the city seemed to be blanketed with perfection - a truly calming, somber experience (and one that I will likely not see again, should I continue to live where I do).
However, man is ill equipped to leave such things as they are, or to handle them in their state. Throughout the day, emergency sirens sounded constantly as individuals failed to recognize the power of the snow and ice and sent their vehicles plunging into guardrails and other cars, or sent their rears plunging to the concrete beneath their feet. Many of the fields soon became warzones, and the once-pristine blankets of snow were rapidly turned into countless defenses against equally countless offenses. While a bad time was had by few and a good time was had by many, at the end of the day, those parts of the snow that had been played in were unquestionably altered by men to fit their temporal needs.
Please don't get me wrong in this - I love snowball fights. I am simply making a point, and snow happens to be my tool for doing so this time.
Throughout history, mankind has constantly corrupted the public face of the Church for their own gain. From the Indulgences sold by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages to modern-day bigots ignoring New Testament commands in favor of Old Testament doctrine, people never stop attempting to use God's word to somehow prove that they are superior to others. This occurred in Biblical times (Acts 8:9-25, Acts 19:13-17), and it is still occurring today.
It seems to me that ultimately, the root of this issue is humility. When people firmly believe that they have in their possession a means to control anything, it is a very simple matter to cease considering the viewpoints and concerns of others while remaining confident in your own, unshakable position.
This is true of nearly everything, not just Christianity. The various Islamic factions continue their infighting, the conflicts in the Middle East show no signs of ending, nuclear research in Iran and North Korea continues despite warnings and sanctions, evolution is widely taught as fact with no attention paid to its numerous flaws, heads of major corporations continue to embezzle funds, corrupt government officials in our own country and in all other nations continue to behave as if they are above the law... the list goes on. The simple fact of the matter is that humility is not something that comes naturally to most people, and this is plainly, painfully evident.
It should be remarked, then, that Jesus was not only a staunch advocate of humility, but also a firm practitioner of it. He did not surround himself with religious leaders and prominent individuals, but instead ate and accompanied tax collectors (who were despised at the time) and 'sinners' (Matthew 9:10-13, many more). He did not proclaim himself a mighty ruler and instantly overthrow everyone, but allowed himself to be treated absolutely terribly, in order that something much more important than himself could be accomplished.
The world is expected to be shallow, materialistic, and prideful. However, as a Christian, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant" (Philippians 2:5-7). We are expected to live as Christ lived, which entails a great deal of humility. We, as humans, are not above reproach, and it is guaranteed that we will be rebuked, corrected, debated (and the like) by both those who follow our God and those who do not. Regardless of the circumstances, however, there are clear outlines for our behavior (Mark 12:29-34; Ephesians 4:2-3; Colossians 3) and a clear definition for what those entail (1 Corinthians 13), and we would be foolish to abandon the greatest tools at our disposal in a vain attempt to preserve our pride.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
The Ghost of Christians Past
Let's talk about ghosts for a minute.
There are a whole lot of people who believe in ghosts. Personally, I think that the Bible teaches that there's two options when we die, Heaven or Hell, and nobody gets to stick around after death and make their own decision (Philippians 1:21-23; Luke 16:22-23); however, for the sake of the point we're going to leave that question as an assumed "unanswerable."
Essentially what we have now are two types of people - the kind who believe in ghosts and the kind who don't. The people who believe in ghosts feel very strongly that ghosts exist and can (and do) interact with our world in a tangible way. They will go to great lengths to prove their belief, also, taking countless pictures and videos, exploring strange places, investigating abnormal circumstances, and trying to convince people that these ghosts are real and really do matter to us. However, in many situations, they keep quiet about their beliefs, because there's a lot of people who think that ghosts are made up, and who wants to be thought of as the crazy guy who believes in ghosts?
Those on the other side, the people who do not believe in ghosts, are equally as confident in their decision not to believe. They may have seen something that was difficult to explain, but hey, there's a lot of things they don't know, so surely there will be some sort of valid explanation for these things once we learn more. For now, they'll just attribute it to swamp gas, or electromagnetic fields, or hallucinations, or something more standard, and work with that. No amount of video footage, blurry camera photos, and strange readings on funky machines is going to convince them that something that they can't see is relevant.
Sound fair enough?
This is a big issue with Christianity today. It's an issue about God, too, but that's not the point I'm making.
Christianity today is a ghost.
As Christians, we go around spouting our proof every here and there, wherever it seems relevant. We surround ourselves with sermons, music, anything that can reaffirm our beliefs that we're doing the right thing by believing in Jesus. Sometimes, if people around us seem receptive to the idea of this Jesus fellow, we'll go into great detail about how there's so much in favor of Christianity and how we're always supposed to love everyone and turn the other cheek and so on, but generally, we keep our thoughts and opinions to ourselves, because who wants to be thought of as the crazy person who believes in that Christianity stuff?
The non-Christians, whether they're atheist, agnostic, wiccan, hindu, or whoever, just laugh. They see Christians mocking or assaulting homosexuals, spreading racist and backwards political beliefs, indulging in everything that non-Christians indulge in, picketing funerals, driving like bats out of hell in traffic, and the like, and they think to themselves, "If people who follow an all-loving God can do all this in His name, He must be a fake." Occasionally, they'll hear of miracles occurring, people dying due to their willingness to go to terrible places to preach the gospel, and astounding transformations in lives, but it's a simple matter to just say, "Well, sometimes medical things happen that we can't explain, people do crazy things for just about anything, and some people just reach a point of personal enlightenment. There's nothing special here." They are not shown the true form of Christianity, and so they dismiss it as pointless, unscientific, and the like.
True Christianity is a ghost.
Fortunately, there is a way to bring it back.
If you were a ghost-believer, and you had to convince your closest friend in the whole world that ghosts really did exist, it would help to be able to quote exact reasons why - personal narratives, various facts regarding ghosts, and so on - but the absolute best, most effective way to prove to them that ghosts existed would be to show them one. It is easy to rationalize away written occurrences, but who could keep believing that ghosts didn't exist after they directly saw one do something spectacular?
I'm not trying to claim that Christians should drag non-Christians to remote places, point out something awesome and God-done, and exclaim, "Look, I believe the right thing and I proved it, now convert!" This is inappropriate and will probably get you arrested or committed to a mental facility. Rather, we should live each moment of our lives entirely committed to glorifying God and manifesting Christ in our actions (Ephesians 5:1-2).
What better way can we convince people that there is a God who loves everyone unconditionally than by being living examples of this love (1 John 4:7-17)? It is incredibly clear in the Bible that the entire purpose of our new Christian lives is to love everyone with Christ's love (John 15:12), and therefore, this should be the primary focus of Christianity today.
Unfortunately, this can be very difficult. As humans, we are prone to judge everyone that we meet by their physical appearance, and to make immediate assumptions about them based solely on what we can physically see (1 Samuel 16:6-7). Sadly enough, this is even true in many of today's churches, where many of the fashions of the youth today are visibly and loudly frowned upon by active churchgoers.
The true form of Christianity cannot be shown to the world if we are not even showing it to our fellow Christians.
It's depressing when I hear about people who have been so harmed by Christians, whether directly or indirectly, that they refuse to give Christianity a chance. I get upset when I'm talking to people and they feel the need to preface their statements with "Please don't hate me for this but...." The attitude of the ghost of Christianity is one that has lost the true spirit of Christ, and rather than producing fruit, is actively scaring the fruit away from the vine!
When we begin judging people wrongfully (1 Corinthians 5:12) and treating people based on our human judgment instead of God's holy and all-knowing wisdom, we lose our ability as a faith to grow (John 15:1-8). The reason that the early church spread so rapidly, even despite its persecution, is that their members were an entire group of people who, even when they didn't even want to be alive, continued to live as Jesus lived (2 Corinthians 1:3-12).
Living this way is difficult, but rewarding beyond anything that we can imagine (John 15:9-14).
The analogy continues, at least in part.
People who don’t believe in ghosts (in terms of this analogy) will cite countless logical, scientific reasons why it’s just not possible for ghosts to be real, and will cling to them unceasingly. They are absolutely staunch in their belief and reasoning for not-believing, and will undoubtedly always have facts on hand to prove why ghosts don’t exist.
Opponents of Christianity, as well, will do the same thing. Whether it’s impossibly complex logical arguments as to why God simply can’t exist to rhetoric about why He isn’t needed, we are constantly bombarded by the illogical nature of believing in an omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving Creator. The idea is dismissed as primeval or irrelevant, and Christians are dismissed as simple-minded fools.
In a sense, we are, or we should be, crazy to this world. The basic truth of Christianity – that God loves us so much that he sent his Son to die in our place so that we could remain with Him forever (John 3:16) is ridiculous when people fail to accept the idea that anything supernatural exists. However, since God created everything that exists and is not bound by the laws of nature that we can interact with, His strength and glory are utterly confusing to anyone who is not saved (or getting there) (1 Corinthians 1:18-20).
Christianity is intended to be somewhat contrary to the ways of this world. Our society encourages selfishness and a single-minded relentless pursuit of our own desires at the expense of everyone else if needed, while true Christianity (not its ghost) is selfless, kind, and involves a true sense of compassion for all people (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). This seems impossible to those who view true Christianity from the outside – but that’s a good thing! If people are looking at you, as a Christian, and are absolutely perplexed as to why you’re doing what you’re doing, then you can be sure that you’re somewhere close to the right track (1 Corinthians 8:23-25).
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Milk is nice... I'd like a burger.
I bet if I told you that I seriously believed that Voodoo could kill people, you'd wonder how on earth I was allowed to write things and still consider myself a Christian. After all, Voodoo is just witchcraft and can't possibly work, right? I mean, all those little dolls with pins and junk, needing a hair or something from someone's body, that's surely impossible, because God said so, right?
Well, actually, Voodoo can kill people. Sometimes. I'll explain why in a minute.
The more pressing matter is this - what did that statement just do to you?
You've just heard a Christian author claim that people can die to Voodoo, and also claim that he could prove it.
Here's a guy who has written all this stuff that you probably agree with (at least part of it), and now he's sitting here telling you that voodoo can kill people? You may be wondering, "If he can claim that, what does that say about his faith? And if his faith is terrible, then what does that say about mine?"
It's a common dilemma that I think the vast majority of churchgoers face in this day and age. Many - I'd even argue most - people who go to church just show up, listen to the pastor, take everything that he says as the absolute truth about the matter, and go no further. If this was a parable, they'd be considered the seeds that fell on the rocks (Matthew 13:21-22). So what happens to them when this paragon of righteousness, the embodiment of their faith and everything that they believe, does something stupid, and ruins themselves?
I can tell you what happens.
A church down the street from my house faced this situation. They had a decent-sized congregation, an active youth ministry, and everything was going rather well... until their pastor ran off with an 18-year old girl from the youth group, leaving behind a wife and two kids and an entire congregation of people who lacked a solid foundation of faith.
Their attendance bombed. Driving past their church on the way to my own, I would see (at times) only a literal handful of cars in the parking lot on Sunday morning.
Now, it's possible that some people stopped coming just because they didn't have a consistent pastor anymore, and it's possible that some people stopped coming because they were "upset with how the church handled the whole situation," and it's possible that some people just started going to other churches, but does it really seem likely that at least 100 families would just pack up and leave, yet keep their spiritual walk completely intact? I haven't done any interviews with anyone who was in the church for that incident, but I sincerely doubt that they're all ok.
It's a shame, really, but not just because a supposed man of God just destroyed his family.
The people in that church who lost their faith due to the actions of a single man are people who will have missed out on countless weeks, months, or years of ministering to those around them because their roots were not firm. The long-term implications of this are massive. Imagine if one person way back in the beginning of the Church had decided that he didn't really believe any of it, and that there had to have been some earthly explanation for what happened? He may have only failed to witness to 50 people before he died, but how many people would they have witnessed to, and how many would their new believers have witnessed to, and so on?
It breaks my heart to hear about people who have decided that they no longer believe what they used to claim to love. Unfortunately, today's Christianity doesn't truly grasp the gravity of the situation.
Pastors are great people to know - I highly recommend that if you don't know at least two by a first-name basis that you go find some to meet - but believing in a religion because a pastor told you to is a terrible way to believe. Believing because someone told you that it was good or because someone said you'd go to Hell if you didn't or because it's the trendy thing to do in your town isn't even worthy of being called a true belief.
By the way, that thing about voodoo? Totally true. When people who truly believe in Voodoo magic get cursed by a witchdoctor, their sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive - basically, their entire body goes hyperactive, doing way more than it should ever do. To compensate, the parasympathetic nervous system slows everything down. In some cases, the parasympathetic nervous system actually slows down the body enough that the heart stops, and the individual dies. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, back to the point.
Consider Christianity a profession. For some people it is, for others it's not, but for the sake of the point, assume that Christianity is something that you honestly want to do for your whole life, like psychology or quantum physics or dentistry something else absolutely fascinating. Assume that you plan to be successful in the field of Christianity, make a living, and support the people that you love with what you reap from your profession.
Logically, if you're serious about pursuing this choice, you'll do everything you can to learn about it. You'll buy all the required reading, you'll dig through it constantly in order to find new things to learn, you'll share what you've just found out with people who probably don't care but oblige you anyway because they can tell that you're passionate about this field...
...does this sound like the Christian faith today?
Write the answer next to that line, please.
The answer is, "No, it doesn't." It might not even sound like your own faith. I'll confess, up until fairly recently it didn't even sound like mine.
As Christians, it is our duty to spread the Good News of the Resurrection to everyone that we possibly can (Matthew 28:16-20), but how can we honestly expect to do that if we can't even commit to learning what we're supposed to be teaching, and can't bother to live like we actually care about our message? It'd be like a first-year pre-med student attempting to instruct a random passer-by in the fine art of neurosurgery, or a high schooler who just took an Advanced Psychology class attempting to give a dissertation on the finer points of Freud (a pretty important psychologist), We don't assume that someone who lacks the basic knowledge of brushing their teeth can properly perform a root canal on us, why should we expect that we can be proper witnesses for Christ if the only time that we open our Bibles is on Sunday (if even then - after all, the words might be on the big-screen, so you don't even have to bring your Bible!)?
Paul writes about this in Hebrews 5:11-6:3 and 1 Corinthians 3. He wants so badly to keep instructing people, but he can't, because they don't even have a firm grasp on the basic knowledge that they already should know!
It is vital that Christians base their faith not on the words of a faulty, mortal pastor, but on the truth that is Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). A proper foundation is the key to a sturdy building (Matthew 7:24-27), and the only way to gain a proper foundation is to ensure that Jesus is the center of your life, of your thoughts, and of your actions.
How convenient is it, then, that not only is Jesus supposed to be the foundation (and cornerstone) for our faith, but that the most efficient way to seek Him is through His self (John 1:1-5, 1:14; )?
It's stressed constantly in church that Bible study is important, that prayer is important, and so on, but the reasons for this are often glossed over with pretty, Churchy terms, and as a result, tend to roll off the backs of those who already consider themselves good Christians. The thought that always went through my head was "I don't really need to read, I know it good enough anyway."
That changes when you're proven wrong by an atheist.
I spend a great deal of time interacting with people on various forums over the internet, and it's honestly been a blessing - I never realized how completely ignorant I was about what I believed until I was confronted by someone who knew very strongly what they believed, and it wasn't what I had been raised.
I got demolished, to put it politely.
That's what happens when you don't have any roots.
Since my mom is a gardener, I've had a bit of experience with trees - planting, uprooting, and the like. One time, we planted a tree out front, and it died within a year. It then became my job, as the only male who was at home when Mom finally decided that the tree needed to come up, to pull it out of the ground. Keep in mind, this tree hadn't even been there for a year.
It was one of the most physically challenging things I'd ever done. Even after so short of a time, the tree had already begun poking out of the little sod cylinder that it had been purchased in and started setting its roots in the hard Texas soil. I finally got it out, with help from a shovel or two and a sister or three of mine, but it took quite a bit longer than I'd expected.
If you've never seen pictures of trees that have been ripped up after a tornado hits, I recommend finding some. They're absolutely incredible - sometimes, entire root systems will be just sitting above the ground, bits of mud and dirt caked all over. Those roots are why trees don't fall over unless something absolutely, impossibly powerful comes along. In order for a fully-grown tree to be moved from its place, something almost supernatural has to occur.
This is a rather appropriate metaphor for how our faith should be.
When you first buy a tree, it comes in a plastic base filled with some form of nutritious dirt. It can survive in this little plastic shell for a while, but eventually it will suck all the nutrients out of the dirt and it will die. You can't avoid it. If you want your tree to grow, you have to take it out of the plastic base and plant it the appropriate depth in the dirt.
If you want your faith to grow, you have to take it out of the plastic shell of the Sunday morning sermons and the church building and plant it in Jesus. If you don't, it will be unable to take root in the truth that is Jesus, and it will die. If you leave your faith in the little plastic bin, anyone will be able to come along, take it, and plant it somewhere that it doesn't belong - let's just say Antarctica. However, if you plant your tree in good soil, care for it, and nurture it, then with God's help, it will grow into something massive, unmovable, and absolutely amazing.
Christianity should be like a forest, not like a tree farm.
Well, actually, Voodoo can kill people. Sometimes. I'll explain why in a minute.
The more pressing matter is this - what did that statement just do to you?
You've just heard a Christian author claim that people can die to Voodoo, and also claim that he could prove it.
Here's a guy who has written all this stuff that you probably agree with (at least part of it), and now he's sitting here telling you that voodoo can kill people? You may be wondering, "If he can claim that, what does that say about his faith? And if his faith is terrible, then what does that say about mine?"
It's a common dilemma that I think the vast majority of churchgoers face in this day and age. Many - I'd even argue most - people who go to church just show up, listen to the pastor, take everything that he says as the absolute truth about the matter, and go no further. If this was a parable, they'd be considered the seeds that fell on the rocks (Matthew 13:21-22). So what happens to them when this paragon of righteousness, the embodiment of their faith and everything that they believe, does something stupid, and ruins themselves?
I can tell you what happens.
A church down the street from my house faced this situation. They had a decent-sized congregation, an active youth ministry, and everything was going rather well... until their pastor ran off with an 18-year old girl from the youth group, leaving behind a wife and two kids and an entire congregation of people who lacked a solid foundation of faith.
Their attendance bombed. Driving past their church on the way to my own, I would see (at times) only a literal handful of cars in the parking lot on Sunday morning.
Now, it's possible that some people stopped coming just because they didn't have a consistent pastor anymore, and it's possible that some people stopped coming because they were "upset with how the church handled the whole situation," and it's possible that some people just started going to other churches, but does it really seem likely that at least 100 families would just pack up and leave, yet keep their spiritual walk completely intact? I haven't done any interviews with anyone who was in the church for that incident, but I sincerely doubt that they're all ok.
It's a shame, really, but not just because a supposed man of God just destroyed his family.
The people in that church who lost their faith due to the actions of a single man are people who will have missed out on countless weeks, months, or years of ministering to those around them because their roots were not firm. The long-term implications of this are massive. Imagine if one person way back in the beginning of the Church had decided that he didn't really believe any of it, and that there had to have been some earthly explanation for what happened? He may have only failed to witness to 50 people before he died, but how many people would they have witnessed to, and how many would their new believers have witnessed to, and so on?
It breaks my heart to hear about people who have decided that they no longer believe what they used to claim to love. Unfortunately, today's Christianity doesn't truly grasp the gravity of the situation.
Pastors are great people to know - I highly recommend that if you don't know at least two by a first-name basis that you go find some to meet - but believing in a religion because a pastor told you to is a terrible way to believe. Believing because someone told you that it was good or because someone said you'd go to Hell if you didn't or because it's the trendy thing to do in your town isn't even worthy of being called a true belief.
By the way, that thing about voodoo? Totally true. When people who truly believe in Voodoo magic get cursed by a witchdoctor, their sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive - basically, their entire body goes hyperactive, doing way more than it should ever do. To compensate, the parasympathetic nervous system slows everything down. In some cases, the parasympathetic nervous system actually slows down the body enough that the heart stops, and the individual dies. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, back to the point.
Consider Christianity a profession. For some people it is, for others it's not, but for the sake of the point, assume that Christianity is something that you honestly want to do for your whole life, like psychology or quantum physics or dentistry something else absolutely fascinating. Assume that you plan to be successful in the field of Christianity, make a living, and support the people that you love with what you reap from your profession.
Logically, if you're serious about pursuing this choice, you'll do everything you can to learn about it. You'll buy all the required reading, you'll dig through it constantly in order to find new things to learn, you'll share what you've just found out with people who probably don't care but oblige you anyway because they can tell that you're passionate about this field...
...does this sound like the Christian faith today?
Write the answer next to that line, please.
The answer is, "No, it doesn't." It might not even sound like your own faith. I'll confess, up until fairly recently it didn't even sound like mine.
As Christians, it is our duty to spread the Good News of the Resurrection to everyone that we possibly can (Matthew 28:16-20), but how can we honestly expect to do that if we can't even commit to learning what we're supposed to be teaching, and can't bother to live like we actually care about our message? It'd be like a first-year pre-med student attempting to instruct a random passer-by in the fine art of neurosurgery, or a high schooler who just took an Advanced Psychology class attempting to give a dissertation on the finer points of Freud (a pretty important psychologist), We don't assume that someone who lacks the basic knowledge of brushing their teeth can properly perform a root canal on us, why should we expect that we can be proper witnesses for Christ if the only time that we open our Bibles is on Sunday (if even then - after all, the words might be on the big-screen, so you don't even have to bring your Bible!)?
Paul writes about this in Hebrews 5:11-6:3 and 1 Corinthians 3. He wants so badly to keep instructing people, but he can't, because they don't even have a firm grasp on the basic knowledge that they already should know!
It is vital that Christians base their faith not on the words of a faulty, mortal pastor, but on the truth that is Jesus (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). A proper foundation is the key to a sturdy building (Matthew 7:24-27), and the only way to gain a proper foundation is to ensure that Jesus is the center of your life, of your thoughts, and of your actions.
How convenient is it, then, that not only is Jesus supposed to be the foundation (and cornerstone) for our faith, but that the most efficient way to seek Him is through His self (John 1:1-5, 1:14; )?
It's stressed constantly in church that Bible study is important, that prayer is important, and so on, but the reasons for this are often glossed over with pretty, Churchy terms, and as a result, tend to roll off the backs of those who already consider themselves good Christians. The thought that always went through my head was "I don't really need to read, I know it good enough anyway."
That changes when you're proven wrong by an atheist.
I spend a great deal of time interacting with people on various forums over the internet, and it's honestly been a blessing - I never realized how completely ignorant I was about what I believed until I was confronted by someone who knew very strongly what they believed, and it wasn't what I had been raised.
I got demolished, to put it politely.
That's what happens when you don't have any roots.
Since my mom is a gardener, I've had a bit of experience with trees - planting, uprooting, and the like. One time, we planted a tree out front, and it died within a year. It then became my job, as the only male who was at home when Mom finally decided that the tree needed to come up, to pull it out of the ground. Keep in mind, this tree hadn't even been there for a year.
It was one of the most physically challenging things I'd ever done. Even after so short of a time, the tree had already begun poking out of the little sod cylinder that it had been purchased in and started setting its roots in the hard Texas soil. I finally got it out, with help from a shovel or two and a sister or three of mine, but it took quite a bit longer than I'd expected.
If you've never seen pictures of trees that have been ripped up after a tornado hits, I recommend finding some. They're absolutely incredible - sometimes, entire root systems will be just sitting above the ground, bits of mud and dirt caked all over. Those roots are why trees don't fall over unless something absolutely, impossibly powerful comes along. In order for a fully-grown tree to be moved from its place, something almost supernatural has to occur.
This is a rather appropriate metaphor for how our faith should be.
When you first buy a tree, it comes in a plastic base filled with some form of nutritious dirt. It can survive in this little plastic shell for a while, but eventually it will suck all the nutrients out of the dirt and it will die. You can't avoid it. If you want your tree to grow, you have to take it out of the plastic base and plant it the appropriate depth in the dirt.
If you want your faith to grow, you have to take it out of the plastic shell of the Sunday morning sermons and the church building and plant it in Jesus. If you don't, it will be unable to take root in the truth that is Jesus, and it will die. If you leave your faith in the little plastic bin, anyone will be able to come along, take it, and plant it somewhere that it doesn't belong - let's just say Antarctica. However, if you plant your tree in good soil, care for it, and nurture it, then with God's help, it will grow into something massive, unmovable, and absolutely amazing.
Christianity should be like a forest, not like a tree farm.
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