"In the beginning God..." The first few words of Genesis are what set the tone for all of Christendom. God was always, and will continue to be forever, the focal point of all adoration, worship, praise, attention, honor and service. In His name humans have graciously blessed the world, and also wrought huge tragedies upon it.
We cannot confuse God's will with man's misinterpretation of it.
We are taught in the hermeneutic method to avoid bringing personal and cultural biases to a text when exegeting. This is as possible as separating my hand from my wrist or making a differentiation of where my belly button starts or stops. However, they tell us it is critical in understanding God's Word (and consequently the Will of God as revealed through His Word) to set aside the conflicting paradigms of the day and recognize the intricate cultural paradigms taking place when the Scripture was not words on a page, but real life events.
Of course this knowledge is vital to understanding the Bible. Even for knowing God. But the more I think about it, the separation of yourself from understanding Scripture as if you read in a detatched, scholarly way, helps miss the point of internalization entirely.
When I was in high school, WAYYYYYYYYYYYYY back when, I was gifted with very keen written communicative skills. So much so, that when I had tried to sign up for Honors English (after having just experienced the class for the first time and content with the level of acedemia it produced) my parents and the faculty decided I would "flower" much better in the AP English course and promptly changed my schedule accordingly. In this class I learned a gread deal more about literature, writing and poetry than I ever care to admit. I learned enough to make me hate poetry (yes... there once was a time I enjoyed the stuff...sad on so many levels).
But what I learned from that experience with explicating (literary exegeting) poetry was that you cannot fully know what the intent of the author was unless you knew the intent of the author! It became more than simply understanding words, their structure, their ambiguous usage and archetypal symbols. It became a quest to understand the individual who penned such a stirring collection of verbiage. Understanding the individual meant looking into your own soul to relate. That is why poetry touches some people so profoundly and leaves others with a blank look on their face with the only thought happening in mind as "what the heck does this mean?... it doesn't even rhyme!!!" Only the minds capable of accute introspection and the ability to seek and connect with the author's persona truly appreciate and feed off of good poetry.
What this means for the Christian is this: In order to fully understand God's will Paul instructs us to be transformed by the continual renewing of our minds so that we may test and approve what God's will is. This renewal, I'm certain is this introspective concept. Throughout the Old Testament, God is revealing himself to His people. His character, His Power, His Mercy, His Justice, His Favor, His Grace, His Expectations, His Holiness, Everything. His desire is to be known even as he knows each and every one of us. While it is impossible, completely impossible, to put ourselves in God's perspective or even his shoes, it is not impossible to somehow catch a glimpse and relate to who God is. We are, after all, created in His image and bear resemblance to Him even in emotions. In order to understand God's feelings and character as it's revealed in Scripture, there has to be a huge rerouting of the individual's character preferences.
This is where the comparing and contrasting between our character and the character of God becomes crucial. We begin by seeing how God acts. What he does. Then we can begin to ask, Why? What is God's motivation? When we realize that, we can begin to see his character. But! Without taking the time to emulate parts of who God is within our own hearts, we will never truly understand or know God. The simple truth that prevents people from doing this is because of the horrible unbalance there is in the contrast between God's character and our own. It's a night and day difference no matter how saintly you are. The fear of having your own faults and flaws brought to the brightest examining light possible is more than enough to keep many upon many from going beyond a scholarly or philosophical understanding of the Character of God.
God's character is not meant to be an intellectual paradigm or a theological exercize constructed for our scholarly benefit. God said "be holy, even as I am holy." His character is meant to reflect and resound in our souls. His character is meant as the standard to which we should aspire, emulate, and conform to.
** It should be noted that I am talking about the moral character of God at this point if it were not already painfully apparent.
The character of God is not a complete mystery, nor is it an unattainable fancy meant to set us on a wild goose chase. It is a real and standing goal God has pressed us towards all through scripture. The only thing that stand in our way is ourselves.
If we would plainly look at God and ourselves on the same page, how much advancement could be made in the process of holiness? What fears would be overcome byt he simple conquering of the fear of what you might find in the recesses of your own soul? How much more could you know and realize God if you could just know and realize yourself?
In light of the Easter season. I would ask of you to take time for contemplation and introspection to reflect on who you are and who God is. The whole point of Jesus coming was to show us the way back to the Father. To save us from ourselves. We must know what we're being saved from, and that distinction only comes from looking at God's character and our own side by side. Conquer the fear! Begin the journey of becoming more like Christ!
God bless.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Church Paradigms - Rethinking Church
A few weeks ago, I was asked by my folks to present and discuss with our evening service this topic of Re-think Church. The United Methodist Church has begun a large campaign on this very subject and much of my initial material came from the line of questions they have been raising. If you would like to check out their discussion, you may do so by following this link.
I'll try to keep this all simple, but the fact of the matter is that there is no super simple way of explaining the problem OR the solution. Also, the fact that my brain's line of thought can cause confusion when others try to follow may prevent you from understanding what I'm saying... If this happens, please feel free to pause, re-read what you just read (the rest of the paragraphs will wait patiently for you) and continue. If this doesn't help, then you should message me your question. Use of all caps to express personal frustration is perfectly acceptable. :D
Now, it's only right to take a shot at properly defining what's wrong with current church paradigms and what problems are contributing factors. I'll list them, but be aware that many of these are interwoven and affect each other. Keep this in mind as not every church will have every problem.
1. The Pendulum Effect - Ever since the Church was officially established as a state-endorsed institution in 312 it has gone through pendulum shifts. The Great Schism, Reformation, Protestant, etc. While these seem as huge divisions in the Church... well they are. They are caused when a certain group in the body of believers take something biblical or non-biblical to the extreme. Whether out of good intentions or not, this extreme causes others to gang together and protest (or rebel depending on whether they are the majority or minority). Sometimes this happens just over a disagreement and goes way beyond what it should have. This is why there are so many different denominations. Calvinism is a pendulum swing from Armenianism. Lutheran a pendulum from Catholicism. Pentecostalism a pendulum swing from everything... j/k SEU (My previous university) :D
What these swings do is cause huge divisions in the body of Christ and propogate more opportunities for larger swings of the pendulum. The Holiness movement of the past few centuries caused a swing of liberalism in the doctrine. And now a swing from the contemporary church has begun as the Emergent movement.
Not only does it help confuse believers, it also confuses the heck out of anyone who is outside the Church trying to understand the church. A new Christian suddenly has a cacophany of options! All our denominations and pendulum movements should have their own brochure and place them all in a rack in every church (like the attractions kiosk in hotels). What to choose??!??!?!? Baptist, Anabaptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, First Church of Christ, Lutheran, Nazerene, Methodist...? the list goes on and on.
2. The Church "Experience" - In the contemporary Church there has been a big push in the effort to create a "Seeker Sensitive" environment. Church services have been revamped, the pastor given a face-lift, the hymns thrown out, electric guitars brought in, and more jokes,witty analogies and interesting anecdotes added to the sermon all in the name of attracting the unbeliever. To entice them to come into the church. This is the Roach Motel philosophy. The thought is "if we can just grab them, then Jesus will do the rest of the work and then WE GOT 'EM!"
While this works GREAT as a marketting tool (I'll get to the industrialization of the Church soon in another note dedicated to fighting it) it's horrible as a ministry option. What starts out with good intentions to bring those outside the church IN in order to reach them ends up as a displacement of spiritual investment. Sermons are so watered down by the illustrations and stories which make them relateable that they lack the power of the Inspired Word. Worship, which should be a full sensory participatory corporate event, resembles a half-time show as they strive for a more maintream professional feel. Church becomes all about encouragement. It's the pep talk/positive mental refuelment to get you through another drudging week. Congregations filled with smiles and not much more. They're filled with good feelings but devoid of the Power of Christ.
Now, the opposite is also a problem (here's the pendulum). There are those who believe that worship hasn't taken place unless you've cried for at least 2 minutes. The Spirit hasn't moved unless everyone becomes emotionally bankrupt and rushes for the altar. Those who seek the "Spiritual Experience" on a daily basis will eventually burn out. Seeking those "Mountain Top Moments" to fill EVERY moment will only asphyxiate on the thin air found that high. Life down where the mere mortals trod is hard. Escaping every now and then to glimpse the heavens is alright. It's when they attempt to live in the escape that reality will knock them down harder and harder.
3. Modeling - We are HORRIBLE examples when it comes to how to live life as Christians. Jesus called us the Light of the World and Salt of the Earth. Both of these are identity oriented and also USE oriented. As the web-link at the beginning will say, Christianity is supposed to involve action. VERB.
One problem is the pastor. Yes, they are the prime example. But everyone can't BE the pastor. And even then, it's hard to follow pastor's example. I mean, Yes, they may be an EXCEPTIONAL Christian in every aspect. But, that's their job. Think about it. Their sole task is to be a model and a Christian. To be in the Word, to help others to live as Christ lived. It's hard to take that as a perfect example when the rest of us have to deal with working, living, juggling our other concerns and family. There are so few righteous examples of the Everyday Christian and how they should be.
Then there are the Christians. :P Seriously, with all these pendulums it's hard to get a steady bead on what we're supposed to be doing in light of orthodoxy and tradition. Even theology is challenged and muddled. How are we supposed to think? What are we supposed to do? Who knows? Haha. If you answer, "I KNOW!" You run the risk of being called a heretic, or WORSE! Someone may actually follow you. Yes, they may follow you, take what you said WAY out of context and then those who protest cause another pendulum swing in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION! And now everyone's going against what the right answer was...
There's a reason Jesus is the Great Shepherd. It's because sheep are very, very, VERY stupid. Oh, you can wash a stupid sheep white as snow... but it's still stupid.
--------------------------
There's other contributing factors that I could nit-pick at, but these are the top contendors which are forming a barrier of ineffectiveness in churches across America.
So, by now you've probably re-read at least one of these numbered problems, come to acknowledge a feeling known as uneasiness and are ready to blurt out the question "WELL WHAT CAN WE DO!??"
Well... for $4.95 I'll tell you! Right... Like I would even want to profit from the solution. I pray no one does.
In all seriousness, There's only several things the Church CAN do to save itself from these pendulum problems and the peuberty-like identity crisis they incur.
SOLUTION 1. Discipleship - As I said previously, one HUGE thing the church is horrible at is providing a solid example of what it means to LIVE as a Christian. Being a Christian does not mean you just read the Bible, go to Church, sing Hymns, and smile all the time. Those are simply biproducts. Being a Christian means having a growing personal relationship with Christ. Being a Disciple means learning how to engage the world through the Power of Christ EVERY DAY. Being a Church means taking a communal stance to engage the world through the power of Christ EVERY DAY!
Churches across America must teach what it means to BE a Christian. Christianity is a way of life, not simply a religion or system of beliefs. It is MORE. It is still a religion and system of beliefs (they should not be ignored in importance) but it is MORE. Christians put God first while they LIVE, being active in the community in which they live. Sharing the love of Christ and setting an example. Our goals should be to HONOR GOD and WORSHIP HIM. To LOVE ONE ANOTHER. To HELP THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED. KNOW CHRIST, LIVE CHRIST. Once people understand what it means to be a Christian (it's so much more than adherance to a beliefe system and set of rules) the identity crisis will begin to heal.
When this is applied to the Church, it too can begin to heal. Once it realized that Church is NOT a building, but a gathering of CHRISTIANS, then true Church can happen. Church would then be like one Christian multiplied. The goals are the same, the action just exponentially amplified. God is worshipped, Love is shown, and people helped, all for God's glory.
SOLUTION 2. Service - The Emerging Church has attempted to deconstruct the HOW in how we do church. For that part, I agree with the disassembling of the traditional service of Welcome, fast song slow song, offering, fast song, slow song, slow song, message. There is to be order in the gathering service, yes, but many have turned this into a spiritual formula and many believe this is all church is.
I shy away from the big production and the awesome music. Yes, it's cool and I do enjoy it, but for me something genuine is missing. There is a time to be loud and a time to be quiet. I just don't understand why both times need to be wrapped up in an hour-long presentation. It's great to have a place to meet for "service." But an idea I thought would help reinstate the true meaning of that word would be to have home meetings of maybe 10-12 of Christians closest to you, then after small group (you just can't escape the nomenclature that church culture creates :P ) discussion, teaching and edification, the group goes out and actually DOES something to show love to the community. This requires Christians to actually be engaged and active IN their community in order to know who NEEDS help. The connection between Church and people needs to be strengthened. Then, once a week, the WHOLE church can gather together, after having been an instrumental part of the community, and after having been fed through the week by ministering the Word to each other, and just worship God the way HE wants to be worshipped.
When Christians find PURPOSE in who they are, so much of what's wrong and confusing about the Church will fade away. And when others see what the Church's identity is meant to be, they will want to be part of it. What attracts them to Christ is the part of Him they get to see through us.
Some things to think... and re-think.
God bless!
I'll try to keep this all simple, but the fact of the matter is that there is no super simple way of explaining the problem OR the solution. Also, the fact that my brain's line of thought can cause confusion when others try to follow may prevent you from understanding what I'm saying... If this happens, please feel free to pause, re-read what you just read (the rest of the paragraphs will wait patiently for you) and continue. If this doesn't help, then you should message me your question. Use of all caps to express personal frustration is perfectly acceptable. :D
Now, it's only right to take a shot at properly defining what's wrong with current church paradigms and what problems are contributing factors. I'll list them, but be aware that many of these are interwoven and affect each other. Keep this in mind as not every church will have every problem.
1. The Pendulum Effect - Ever since the Church was officially established as a state-endorsed institution in 312 it has gone through pendulum shifts. The Great Schism, Reformation, Protestant, etc. While these seem as huge divisions in the Church... well they are. They are caused when a certain group in the body of believers take something biblical or non-biblical to the extreme. Whether out of good intentions or not, this extreme causes others to gang together and protest (or rebel depending on whether they are the majority or minority). Sometimes this happens just over a disagreement and goes way beyond what it should have. This is why there are so many different denominations. Calvinism is a pendulum swing from Armenianism. Lutheran a pendulum from Catholicism. Pentecostalism a pendulum swing from everything... j/k SEU (My previous university) :D
What these swings do is cause huge divisions in the body of Christ and propogate more opportunities for larger swings of the pendulum. The Holiness movement of the past few centuries caused a swing of liberalism in the doctrine. And now a swing from the contemporary church has begun as the Emergent movement.
Not only does it help confuse believers, it also confuses the heck out of anyone who is outside the Church trying to understand the church. A new Christian suddenly has a cacophany of options! All our denominations and pendulum movements should have their own brochure and place them all in a rack in every church (like the attractions kiosk in hotels). What to choose??!??!?!? Baptist, Anabaptist, Catholic, Lutheran, Wesleyan, Pentecostal, First Church of Christ, Lutheran, Nazerene, Methodist...? the list goes on and on.
2. The Church "Experience" - In the contemporary Church there has been a big push in the effort to create a "Seeker Sensitive" environment. Church services have been revamped, the pastor given a face-lift, the hymns thrown out, electric guitars brought in, and more jokes,witty analogies and interesting anecdotes added to the sermon all in the name of attracting the unbeliever. To entice them to come into the church. This is the Roach Motel philosophy. The thought is "if we can just grab them, then Jesus will do the rest of the work and then WE GOT 'EM!"
While this works GREAT as a marketting tool (I'll get to the industrialization of the Church soon in another note dedicated to fighting it) it's horrible as a ministry option. What starts out with good intentions to bring those outside the church IN in order to reach them ends up as a displacement of spiritual investment. Sermons are so watered down by the illustrations and stories which make them relateable that they lack the power of the Inspired Word. Worship, which should be a full sensory participatory corporate event, resembles a half-time show as they strive for a more maintream professional feel. Church becomes all about encouragement. It's the pep talk/positive mental refuelment to get you through another drudging week. Congregations filled with smiles and not much more. They're filled with good feelings but devoid of the Power of Christ.
Now, the opposite is also a problem (here's the pendulum). There are those who believe that worship hasn't taken place unless you've cried for at least 2 minutes. The Spirit hasn't moved unless everyone becomes emotionally bankrupt and rushes for the altar. Those who seek the "Spiritual Experience" on a daily basis will eventually burn out. Seeking those "Mountain Top Moments" to fill EVERY moment will only asphyxiate on the thin air found that high. Life down where the mere mortals trod is hard. Escaping every now and then to glimpse the heavens is alright. It's when they attempt to live in the escape that reality will knock them down harder and harder.
3. Modeling - We are HORRIBLE examples when it comes to how to live life as Christians. Jesus called us the Light of the World and Salt of the Earth. Both of these are identity oriented and also USE oriented. As the web-link at the beginning will say, Christianity is supposed to involve action. VERB.
One problem is the pastor. Yes, they are the prime example. But everyone can't BE the pastor. And even then, it's hard to follow pastor's example. I mean, Yes, they may be an EXCEPTIONAL Christian in every aspect. But, that's their job. Think about it. Their sole task is to be a model and a Christian. To be in the Word, to help others to live as Christ lived. It's hard to take that as a perfect example when the rest of us have to deal with working, living, juggling our other concerns and family. There are so few righteous examples of the Everyday Christian and how they should be.
Then there are the Christians. :P Seriously, with all these pendulums it's hard to get a steady bead on what we're supposed to be doing in light of orthodoxy and tradition. Even theology is challenged and muddled. How are we supposed to think? What are we supposed to do? Who knows? Haha. If you answer, "I KNOW!" You run the risk of being called a heretic, or WORSE! Someone may actually follow you. Yes, they may follow you, take what you said WAY out of context and then those who protest cause another pendulum swing in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION! And now everyone's going against what the right answer was...
There's a reason Jesus is the Great Shepherd. It's because sheep are very, very, VERY stupid. Oh, you can wash a stupid sheep white as snow... but it's still stupid.
--------------------------
There's other contributing factors that I could nit-pick at, but these are the top contendors which are forming a barrier of ineffectiveness in churches across America.
So, by now you've probably re-read at least one of these numbered problems, come to acknowledge a feeling known as uneasiness and are ready to blurt out the question "WELL WHAT CAN WE DO!??"
Well... for $4.95 I'll tell you! Right... Like I would even want to profit from the solution. I pray no one does.
In all seriousness, There's only several things the Church CAN do to save itself from these pendulum problems and the peuberty-like identity crisis they incur.
SOLUTION 1. Discipleship - As I said previously, one HUGE thing the church is horrible at is providing a solid example of what it means to LIVE as a Christian. Being a Christian does not mean you just read the Bible, go to Church, sing Hymns, and smile all the time. Those are simply biproducts. Being a Christian means having a growing personal relationship with Christ. Being a Disciple means learning how to engage the world through the Power of Christ EVERY DAY. Being a Church means taking a communal stance to engage the world through the power of Christ EVERY DAY!
Churches across America must teach what it means to BE a Christian. Christianity is a way of life, not simply a religion or system of beliefs. It is MORE. It is still a religion and system of beliefs (they should not be ignored in importance) but it is MORE. Christians put God first while they LIVE, being active in the community in which they live. Sharing the love of Christ and setting an example. Our goals should be to HONOR GOD and WORSHIP HIM. To LOVE ONE ANOTHER. To HELP THOSE WHO ARE IN NEED. KNOW CHRIST, LIVE CHRIST. Once people understand what it means to be a Christian (it's so much more than adherance to a beliefe system and set of rules) the identity crisis will begin to heal.
When this is applied to the Church, it too can begin to heal. Once it realized that Church is NOT a building, but a gathering of CHRISTIANS, then true Church can happen. Church would then be like one Christian multiplied. The goals are the same, the action just exponentially amplified. God is worshipped, Love is shown, and people helped, all for God's glory.
SOLUTION 2. Service - The Emerging Church has attempted to deconstruct the HOW in how we do church. For that part, I agree with the disassembling of the traditional service of Welcome, fast song slow song, offering, fast song, slow song, slow song, message. There is to be order in the gathering service, yes, but many have turned this into a spiritual formula and many believe this is all church is.
I shy away from the big production and the awesome music. Yes, it's cool and I do enjoy it, but for me something genuine is missing. There is a time to be loud and a time to be quiet. I just don't understand why both times need to be wrapped up in an hour-long presentation. It's great to have a place to meet for "service." But an idea I thought would help reinstate the true meaning of that word would be to have home meetings of maybe 10-12 of Christians closest to you, then after small group (you just can't escape the nomenclature that church culture creates :P ) discussion, teaching and edification, the group goes out and actually DOES something to show love to the community. This requires Christians to actually be engaged and active IN their community in order to know who NEEDS help. The connection between Church and people needs to be strengthened. Then, once a week, the WHOLE church can gather together, after having been an instrumental part of the community, and after having been fed through the week by ministering the Word to each other, and just worship God the way HE wants to be worshipped.
When Christians find PURPOSE in who they are, so much of what's wrong and confusing about the Church will fade away. And when others see what the Church's identity is meant to be, they will want to be part of it. What attracts them to Christ is the part of Him they get to see through us.
Some things to think... and re-think.
God bless!
God Hates the World?
Today was the wrap up in a series of messages at my church revolving around the subject of love. 1Corinthians 13 was the banner for the month and served as the creed we shared during service. This morning, as my parents delivered the message instructing on ways to love the lost, my mind paced back and remembered a video I had seen months earlier. Many of you have already seen the video link I posted on my wall. Here is the link again for those of you who would like to see it. I recommend watching it before reading the rest of the note.
Warning: Definitely offensive to Christian and Non-Christian alike.
When I first saw this, I thought it had to be a joke. But when I researched the Church further, I was disappointed to find that this was serious. One of the general feelings that people feel when they watch this video is profound sadness on how Christians can fail so horribly at love. How their misguided theology can destroy the tenements of Faith. While it saddens some, it enrages others. it definitely angers me to know that there are churches teaching hate. They take sides as if we are in a war with sinners. We are at war with sin. When you neglect love and preach hate, you lose that war.
I'm apalled at the deplorable example that this Church is setting for their community. I only shudder to think of how many people who are genuinely seeking truth will turn away from the Gospel because of their actions.
While I was listening to the service for the second time (I had to run sound for both services today) I was also reading Dan Kimball's "They Like Jesus but not the Church." (I have to read people I disagree with because there's so few people to argue with around the house. So I fight with books... they can't yell back...) Anyway, I was reading his views as to why people outside the Church have such poor perceptions of wha tthe Church really is. When I remembered this video, it began to clear some things up...
When people see Churches and Christians who act like this and forget about love, it's very easy to see why many people are losing respect for Christianity. While many may hold Jesus and his teaching in high regard, they want nothing to do with the Body of Christ because somehow it has tarnished its reputation through poor representation.
I took it upon myself to answer the question "How can the Church overcome these negative perceptions?" I'll be writing some pseudo-sermonette notes in the next few days and weeks covering each issue I found from Dan's book.
These are the issues and perceptions I hope to cover and offer solutions to overcome them:
* Christians are just Right-Wing Conservatives with an ulterior political agenda
* Christians only finger point sin and condemn people for what they do
* Christians are close-minded and blindly follow beliefs while bashing anyone else who claims truth
* Christians are just a bunch of hypocrits
* Pastors and other Christians are only in it for the money. Christianity is a scam.
* Christians are pompous in thinking they have the only foothold on truth. There are no absolutes.
If Christians can unite and dispel these misconceptions and prove themselves keepers of the word and that they really love people, then maybe there's hope.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
"Love never fails...
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1Corinthians 13:1-8a,13 NIV)
God Bless
Warning: Definitely offensive to Christian and Non-Christian alike.
When I first saw this, I thought it had to be a joke. But when I researched the Church further, I was disappointed to find that this was serious. One of the general feelings that people feel when they watch this video is profound sadness on how Christians can fail so horribly at love. How their misguided theology can destroy the tenements of Faith. While it saddens some, it enrages others. it definitely angers me to know that there are churches teaching hate. They take sides as if we are in a war with sinners. We are at war with sin. When you neglect love and preach hate, you lose that war.
I'm apalled at the deplorable example that this Church is setting for their community. I only shudder to think of how many people who are genuinely seeking truth will turn away from the Gospel because of their actions.
While I was listening to the service for the second time (I had to run sound for both services today) I was also reading Dan Kimball's "They Like Jesus but not the Church." (I have to read people I disagree with because there's so few people to argue with around the house. So I fight with books... they can't yell back...) Anyway, I was reading his views as to why people outside the Church have such poor perceptions of wha tthe Church really is. When I remembered this video, it began to clear some things up...
When people see Churches and Christians who act like this and forget about love, it's very easy to see why many people are losing respect for Christianity. While many may hold Jesus and his teaching in high regard, they want nothing to do with the Body of Christ because somehow it has tarnished its reputation through poor representation.
I took it upon myself to answer the question "How can the Church overcome these negative perceptions?" I'll be writing some pseudo-sermonette notes in the next few days and weeks covering each issue I found from Dan's book.
These are the issues and perceptions I hope to cover and offer solutions to overcome them:
* Christians are just Right-Wing Conservatives with an ulterior political agenda
* Christians only finger point sin and condemn people for what they do
* Christians are close-minded and blindly follow beliefs while bashing anyone else who claims truth
* Christians are just a bunch of hypocrits
* Pastors and other Christians are only in it for the money. Christianity is a scam.
* Christians are pompous in thinking they have the only foothold on truth. There are no absolutes.
If Christians can unite and dispel these misconceptions and prove themselves keepers of the word and that they really love people, then maybe there's hope.
"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
"Love never fails...
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (1Corinthians 13:1-8a,13 NIV)
God Bless
Is Trust Really an Issue?
Let me ask you this; how many times a day do you hear people asking or compelling you to trust them? I hear it all the time. People use the phrase "Trust me" to dispell any hint of doubt and convince you of their intentions. Even commercials market their brand with a seal of security by tagging "The name you can TRUST!" at the end of their advertisement. Politicians' votes are completely based on trust. Their job (in essence) is to make you trust them. From whatever angle, everyone seems to be vying for your trust. And anyone who has lived long enough knows that while everyone wants you to trust them, most people aren't deserving of the level of trust they ask for.
This begs the question, "Who can you trust?" Everyone seems bent on their own agenda and they just need your trusting cooperation to bring their ultimate plans to fruition. These people seem less like friends and more like maniacally evil scientists who have just found the last portion of a secret and deadly formula. "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! With YOUR trust I will RULE THE WORLD!!!" ::Continue evil laughter::
The real issue about trust is that we become so inundated with the reality of human reality and the human mindset that we project that reality and experience onto God. Our interractions with each other color our perceptions about who God is. Realizing that, it's no mystery why some people have huge issues when it comes to trusting God. It's perfectly understandable given that mindset. I mean, why would you trust someone you can't see, don't know, and can't fully understand what it is they want? How do you know you're not getting hoodwinked into a situation that is going to embarrass you and leave you wishing you'd never gotten involved?
The answer lies in understanding that God's nature is not even close to the same as human's.
We must first understand that God's character supercedes any perception we may have. We build an approximation of His character based on similar traits found among fellow human beings. We see God as truthful through an extended lense from our experience with truthful people. God's true character is something much greater than that.
God's moral character is perfect. Not just perfect as how we perceive perfection, but truly perfect. He IS Justice, peace, patience, love, and above all, Holy. Because of WHO God is, there is Truth. There is an objective standard that is not based upon the simple perceptions that man can offer, rather Truth is based in the LORD.
Because God is his own standard, we can trust Him. He is unchangeable and not susceptable to a flighty attitude or changing his mind on a whim. He is dependable. There are some who challenge this by saying they never know what God will do. I understand that to be a problem of not knowing God, not that God is completely unpredictable and random.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are excellent examples of trusting God. Even when death faced them straight on, they refused to bow to a false idol. "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17 NIV)
Can you see the amazing level of trust there? God WILL save us. He IS able. And then the kicker, "Even if he does NOT." WOW! This is an amazing amount of trust to fully contemplate that even if things don't turn out the way THEY expect it to that they will still trust God completely with what HE wants to do. In the end God came through for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Their trust was rightly placed. Even if they hadn't been saved, their trust was in the right place. It is their example that we should follow when it comes to trusting God.
Life is hard. Everyone around us wants to earn our trust for the sole purpose of taking advantage of it. Our learned response is to become untrusting and lose sight of what's real and true. The reality is that God is Truth; He is trustworthy. He has proven himself through scripture, throughout history and even today. In light of that Truth, it is our responsibility to trust him... fully! Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
This begs the question, "Who can you trust?" Everyone seems bent on their own agenda and they just need your trusting cooperation to bring their ultimate plans to fruition. These people seem less like friends and more like maniacally evil scientists who have just found the last portion of a secret and deadly formula. "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! With YOUR trust I will RULE THE WORLD!!!" ::Continue evil laughter::
The real issue about trust is that we become so inundated with the reality of human reality and the human mindset that we project that reality and experience onto God. Our interractions with each other color our perceptions about who God is. Realizing that, it's no mystery why some people have huge issues when it comes to trusting God. It's perfectly understandable given that mindset. I mean, why would you trust someone you can't see, don't know, and can't fully understand what it is they want? How do you know you're not getting hoodwinked into a situation that is going to embarrass you and leave you wishing you'd never gotten involved?
The answer lies in understanding that God's nature is not even close to the same as human's.
We must first understand that God's character supercedes any perception we may have. We build an approximation of His character based on similar traits found among fellow human beings. We see God as truthful through an extended lense from our experience with truthful people. God's true character is something much greater than that.
God's moral character is perfect. Not just perfect as how we perceive perfection, but truly perfect. He IS Justice, peace, patience, love, and above all, Holy. Because of WHO God is, there is Truth. There is an objective standard that is not based upon the simple perceptions that man can offer, rather Truth is based in the LORD.
Because God is his own standard, we can trust Him. He is unchangeable and not susceptable to a flighty attitude or changing his mind on a whim. He is dependable. There are some who challenge this by saying they never know what God will do. I understand that to be a problem of not knowing God, not that God is completely unpredictable and random.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are excellent examples of trusting God. Even when death faced them straight on, they refused to bow to a false idol. "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17 NIV)
Can you see the amazing level of trust there? God WILL save us. He IS able. And then the kicker, "Even if he does NOT." WOW! This is an amazing amount of trust to fully contemplate that even if things don't turn out the way THEY expect it to that they will still trust God completely with what HE wants to do. In the end God came through for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Their trust was rightly placed. Even if they hadn't been saved, their trust was in the right place. It is their example that we should follow when it comes to trusting God.
Life is hard. Everyone around us wants to earn our trust for the sole purpose of taking advantage of it. Our learned response is to become untrusting and lose sight of what's real and true. The reality is that God is Truth; He is trustworthy. He has proven himself through scripture, throughout history and even today. In light of that Truth, it is our responsibility to trust him... fully! Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
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