I have a tendancy to get insecure when thinking about talented people for too long. I try to make myself feel better by wondering if "It's easier for a donkey to jump through a burning ring of fire than it is for a really talented person to enter the gates of Heaven." I feel like Jesus might have said that on one of His "off days" if he ever had one...
Last Sunday I went and saw Chronicle, which is about 3 teenagers who obtain the power of telekinesis. Without spoiling the movie, the power obviously goes to their young minds and antics ensue. I walked away from the movie feeling rather thoughtful and since then I've realized that I harbor an unhealthy amount of envy for those in our world who are blessed with incredible talent. It's so hard to deal with because everyday in America talented people are shoved in our faces on billboards, in magazines, movies, and especially television. Every reality show these days depicts thousands of extremely talented people fighting against one another to become the next best whatever. We watch the best dancers, singers, models, business men/women, and athletes face off (or show off) on the American stage and I wonder if I'm the only one looking at that hot mess of talent and asking God "How in the world is my untalented-self going to make a difference?" And that question is the very problem so many of us seek to answer.
Luke 18:27 "What is impossible for people is possible with God."
John 6:63 "Human effort accomplishes nothing."
Now I know at this point every 'good christian' out there can kind of sense my theme and wants to raise their hand and suggest Philippians 4:13 next but I'm sticking to what Jesus said for a reason. Notice, that both of these quotes give you no idea as to the actual context from which they come. They struck me first as quotes that needed no context. Initially, I just reflected on how true it is that it matters not what we can do physically, mentally, or emotionally if we do not have a divine presence in our lives. That is indeed a foundational belief that every Christian needs to internalize, especially in this DIY culture that we live in as Americans where the individual is expected to provide for everything in his/her own life and attain success only by merit of his/her personal skills. As I looked deeper into this aspect of these particular verses I wandered into the context from which they both come, and that is from Scripture in which Jesus is discussing the difficulties of attaining Salvation.
The quote from Luke is preceded by Jesus' famous teaching that it is "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven." The quote from John is surrounded by a passage depicting Jesus' own disciples grumbling about Him and eventually walking away from His ministry. Rich men, promising religious leaders = Talented people. There's something dangerous about personal success in this life. We either have it and deify ourselves, or we idolize what it will be like to have it someday. It has the power to corrupt our minds into thinking "Well, I've made it this far through my own abilities, so why would I need something else to get me the rest of the way?" I find it especially hard in this culture as an adult feeling like everything is riding on what you do rather than what God does through you. We are often given glimpses of the expectations we face by our families, friends or the media that tell us to go out and make something of ourselves by earning a living in a practical manner so we can to support our loved ones. Eventually we start to believe that everything we gain is through our own personal effort. This is what I've come to recognize as the great blasphemy of our generation.
It's this flawed mindset that plagues me as I constantly dwell on how I, a simple person with no real extraordinary talent, could make a lasting impact in this world that seems so resilient especially in places as dark as Hollywood. But that's why I love these verses such as this for they realign our perspective on God. These verses point to the slippery slope that comes from being overly reliant on the self or obsessing over personal gain of any kind. God can and will use any tool that lays itself down before Him. Instead of worrying about how this lame tool will be able to fix any sort of substantial problem in the world, I'm just going to worry about laying myself down everyday at the feet of the Carpenter to be used whichever way seems best to Him. That's the only way I know I'll ever be truly effective. That's how we utilize our divine talent.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Crazy Love? Crazy People!
Do you ever meet really weird people who claim to be "Christians"? That's a bit of a rhetorical question. But do you also cringe a little bit inside when you find out how outspoken they are about their faith because it makes you nervous to think of someone that crazy going around telling other non-believers about God? Telling them about the same Jesus you believe in? I may be a bit cynical in this aspect of my faith but I very much want my religion, and my relationship with God to be taken seriously. I too want to be taken seriously and not grouped into a category with the rest of the "crazy, whack-job, religious fanatics" in society. Those people ruin Christianity for me a bit, and they shouldn't. I know Jesus would have loved them just the same. Weirdness never disqualified anyone from the love of Christ. I however, do not love like Christ does, yet. I want to be able to value those who continually push the limits of socially acceptable behavior (in a strange way, not as Jesus crossed cultural barriers in society to prove a point).
As I was mulling over my uneasiness with weird people, I came to the realization that we all have to be a little "off" in order to be Christ-followers in the first place. Think about it, we talk to someone who we can't see, we follow mystical feelings that we describe as "callings", we have no clear answer for dinosaurs, we believe in being able to tell the future aka prophecy, miraculous healings, floods, and to top it off that a mystical spirit lives within us that cleanses us from all sin and has the power to move mountains. Try telling that to any logical person who has never darkened the doors of a church before and see if they come running to God with arms open wide. We are all weird, but profoundly beautiful. We are, in every sense of the word, blessed to have found such a wonderful truth in this life. The catch is that it comes with a lifetime of mainstream society looking down on us, mocking our faith, doctrines, scripture, traditions, experiences, and Christ Himself.
It's hard to block those condescending voices out. I've found that if we listen to them for too long that we begin to question our own sanity, which makes it difficult to accept God's voice in our own lives. I was on the treadmill last night listening to some Gospel music (something I should do more often) and I inexplicably felt God's love and acceptance of me for exactly who I am. It was a moment that almost brought me to tears before the doubtful voice arrived in my head telling me: "It's just endorphins caused by exercise" and "You just want to feel something so bad that this is all in your head, don't attribute this to God." You see, I have always caricatured those people who tell me about those mystical experiences they've had with God that they couldn't explain. I envy their experiences and I so badly want to hear the voice of God, see an angel, or feel the physical touch of Christ for myself that I have made experiencing God's presence into something so majestic that I've blocked out the possibility of simply feeling His presence in an empty gym on a long run on the treadmill.
I don't want to be labeled as "one of those crazy Christians" but even more so I don't want that fear to prevent me from growing my faith to its fullest potential or from experiencing God for even one second. I guess we all have to accept that we are crazy people before we can experience God's crazy love.
As I was mulling over my uneasiness with weird people, I came to the realization that we all have to be a little "off" in order to be Christ-followers in the first place. Think about it, we talk to someone who we can't see, we follow mystical feelings that we describe as "callings", we have no clear answer for dinosaurs, we believe in being able to tell the future aka prophecy, miraculous healings, floods, and to top it off that a mystical spirit lives within us that cleanses us from all sin and has the power to move mountains. Try telling that to any logical person who has never darkened the doors of a church before and see if they come running to God with arms open wide. We are all weird, but profoundly beautiful. We are, in every sense of the word, blessed to have found such a wonderful truth in this life. The catch is that it comes with a lifetime of mainstream society looking down on us, mocking our faith, doctrines, scripture, traditions, experiences, and Christ Himself.
It's hard to block those condescending voices out. I've found that if we listen to them for too long that we begin to question our own sanity, which makes it difficult to accept God's voice in our own lives. I was on the treadmill last night listening to some Gospel music (something I should do more often) and I inexplicably felt God's love and acceptance of me for exactly who I am. It was a moment that almost brought me to tears before the doubtful voice arrived in my head telling me: "It's just endorphins caused by exercise" and "You just want to feel something so bad that this is all in your head, don't attribute this to God." You see, I have always caricatured those people who tell me about those mystical experiences they've had with God that they couldn't explain. I envy their experiences and I so badly want to hear the voice of God, see an angel, or feel the physical touch of Christ for myself that I have made experiencing God's presence into something so majestic that I've blocked out the possibility of simply feeling His presence in an empty gym on a long run on the treadmill.
I don't want to be labeled as "one of those crazy Christians" but even more so I don't want that fear to prevent me from growing my faith to its fullest potential or from experiencing God for even one second. I guess we all have to accept that we are crazy people before we can experience God's crazy love.
Monday, January 16, 2012
"Religious": A Useless Word
Are you religious? Why, or why not? These are simple questions that every Christian needs to ask them self before some one else does, especially a non-christian. Religion has always been a taboo subject in polite conversation within mainstream society and even now the word "religious" has begun to carry with it deeply negative connotations within Christian communities. I've heard both Timothy Keller and Mark Driscoll say to their respective mega-churches that Jesus was extremely "anti-religious". Without a doubt, Jesus had most of His disputes with "religious leaders" for they "load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:46) However, Scripture is quick to correct our view of what religion is supposed to be as it says in James 1:27, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." Just before this verse James makes another profound comment on religion that I love, and that is "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless." It is this very dichotomy of religiosity that brings me to the point of this blog post.
In the preface to Mere Christianity, C.S Lewis writes that "When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object; it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object." The context of Lewis' preface is a description of the common folly of people to destroy the meaning of a word by twisting the way in which it is used. He uses the word "Christian" as his main example. The word Christian means someone who "accepts the common doctrines of Christianity", yet there are many people who protest this by saying "Who are you to lay down who is and who is not a Christian?" or "Aren't there plenty of people who don't believe these doctrines yet are far more truly a Christian, for closer to the spirit of Christ, than someone who does?" I guarantee you we have all heard this before, or maybe even thought it ourselves. However, Lewis says this objection is very "spiritual, sensitive, and charitable" yet it is anything but "useful". The term "Christian" is not supposed to be used by means of giving praise but rather for describing who someone truly is based on a set definition. There are no shortage of people who claim to be Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist who do not follow any of the practices of their religion, nor do they even know what the specific doctrines are that set their religion apart from any other. This leads to my current struggle with language in so far as I use it to define myself to others.
When I talk to people on set about my faith one of the main questions I always get is, "Are you really religious?" The fact that people often qualify the word "religious" with "really" or "very" is a problem as well because it implies that you could be "moderately" or "sort of religious". As much as I hate to get legalistic or black and white when it comes to any issue, this is one of those topics that has frustrated me enough to the point where I need, or rather strongly desire, an answer. Am I religious? Well, I do religious things. Do I help out widows and orphans very often? Not really. Do I weigh people down with heavy burdens then refuse to lift a finger to help them? Not at all. Do I pray? YES. Do I attend Church regularly? YES. Do I take part in the sacraments? YES. Do I tithe? YES. Do I love God and His people? I sure try.
What I have come to accept about religion is that it can actually replace the God to whom it was meant to lead us. Marc Driscoll likens the relationship between God and religious folks to a yard in which we are allowed to play in as God's children. God put up a fence at the end of the yard so that we don't run out into the street and get hit by a car. Religious people look at the fence and say "Well, that's a pretty good start but lets put up another bigger fence just before God's fence so that no one even thinks about jumping over God's fence." Then they question whether their first fence was good enough so they build another, and another, until what started out as a yard for us to play in has turned into a prison. That's what religious people do, apparently.
To mainstream, American society, the religious people are the ones who hate the gays, advocate for censorship, are uptight, rude, prudish people who judge everything and everyone as less enlightened than themselves and who want everyone to conform to their exact moral system and way of life. When someone asks me on set, "Are you religious?" they are asking me if I'm like that. How do I answer that? I believe my religion is the true religion, but so does every other religious person. I want to be able to proudly declare that I am of the Christian Religion, but I am not proud of what the christian religion has done to so many people in the world. I do religious things out of a desire to grow closer to God, but I do not want to be identified with "religious people". It's such a difficult place for me to be. I'm not sure that once the utility of a word has been destroyed that it can ever become useful again, or at least useful in the way it was originally meant to be. Instead, now when people ask me "Are you religious?" I have to ask them what they mean by that. Maybe that's actually better in a way...Maybe that's how we get to describe our faith even more than if it was clear to all people everywhere what it meant to be religious. I still think we need to answer for ourselves what religion looks like in our lives and truly define what it is we believe. If we can't explain it to ourselves than how will we ever explain it to someone else? We have to make "religious" a useful word again, if only for our personal sanity/clarity.
In the preface to Mere Christianity, C.S Lewis writes that "When a word ceases to be a term of description and becomes merely a term of praise, it no longer tells you facts about the object; it only tells you about the speaker's attitude to that object." The context of Lewis' preface is a description of the common folly of people to destroy the meaning of a word by twisting the way in which it is used. He uses the word "Christian" as his main example. The word Christian means someone who "accepts the common doctrines of Christianity", yet there are many people who protest this by saying "Who are you to lay down who is and who is not a Christian?" or "Aren't there plenty of people who don't believe these doctrines yet are far more truly a Christian, for closer to the spirit of Christ, than someone who does?" I guarantee you we have all heard this before, or maybe even thought it ourselves. However, Lewis says this objection is very "spiritual, sensitive, and charitable" yet it is anything but "useful". The term "Christian" is not supposed to be used by means of giving praise but rather for describing who someone truly is based on a set definition. There are no shortage of people who claim to be Christian, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Buddhist who do not follow any of the practices of their religion, nor do they even know what the specific doctrines are that set their religion apart from any other. This leads to my current struggle with language in so far as I use it to define myself to others.
When I talk to people on set about my faith one of the main questions I always get is, "Are you really religious?" The fact that people often qualify the word "religious" with "really" or "very" is a problem as well because it implies that you could be "moderately" or "sort of religious". As much as I hate to get legalistic or black and white when it comes to any issue, this is one of those topics that has frustrated me enough to the point where I need, or rather strongly desire, an answer. Am I religious? Well, I do religious things. Do I help out widows and orphans very often? Not really. Do I weigh people down with heavy burdens then refuse to lift a finger to help them? Not at all. Do I pray? YES. Do I attend Church regularly? YES. Do I take part in the sacraments? YES. Do I tithe? YES. Do I love God and His people? I sure try.
What I have come to accept about religion is that it can actually replace the God to whom it was meant to lead us. Marc Driscoll likens the relationship between God and religious folks to a yard in which we are allowed to play in as God's children. God put up a fence at the end of the yard so that we don't run out into the street and get hit by a car. Religious people look at the fence and say "Well, that's a pretty good start but lets put up another bigger fence just before God's fence so that no one even thinks about jumping over God's fence." Then they question whether their first fence was good enough so they build another, and another, until what started out as a yard for us to play in has turned into a prison. That's what religious people do, apparently.
To mainstream, American society, the religious people are the ones who hate the gays, advocate for censorship, are uptight, rude, prudish people who judge everything and everyone as less enlightened than themselves and who want everyone to conform to their exact moral system and way of life. When someone asks me on set, "Are you religious?" they are asking me if I'm like that. How do I answer that? I believe my religion is the true religion, but so does every other religious person. I want to be able to proudly declare that I am of the Christian Religion, but I am not proud of what the christian religion has done to so many people in the world. I do religious things out of a desire to grow closer to God, but I do not want to be identified with "religious people". It's such a difficult place for me to be. I'm not sure that once the utility of a word has been destroyed that it can ever become useful again, or at least useful in the way it was originally meant to be. Instead, now when people ask me "Are you religious?" I have to ask them what they mean by that. Maybe that's actually better in a way...Maybe that's how we get to describe our faith even more than if it was clear to all people everywhere what it meant to be religious. I still think we need to answer for ourselves what religion looks like in our lives and truly define what it is we believe. If we can't explain it to ourselves than how will we ever explain it to someone else? We have to make "religious" a useful word again, if only for our personal sanity/clarity.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
I Want Them All...
Just before I left the set today I had a "passionate conversation" with two girls about the difference between Judaism and Christianity. It was rather interesting to converse about such a topic with two women who were dressed in all black clothing, all black make-up, and big black boots as they were both playing characters who were into the "goth" scene. Anyway, we were wrapped before we could come to any sort of satisfying conclusion and with one of the girls protesting that Judaism is way better because it isn't "forced on people" like Christianity is, and that is the only reason why there are so many believers. Neither of the two woman really knew anything about their faith yet they defended it vigorously.
They left no room for the Message of Christ in their hardened hearts and I was left to drive away with quite a bit of anger towards their intolerant, ignorant belief system. However, after 5 minutes or so of dwelling on my misguided anger I found myself deeply saddened, as is the case every time this sort of incident occurs. I realized that if the world ended tonight these two very damaged women (from what I could deduce about their past and current problems) would not be with their Father in Paradise. This is the reason I was so angry. I felt like I knew what was best for them and they wanted nothing to do with it. I felt like an angry parent who gets upset with their child who wont eat their vegetables and thus gain the valuable nutrients needed for their young bodies to grow properly.
I am completely aware of the pride and ego that plays into the mindset of someone who believes they have the ultimate truth. I do not believe in any way that just believing in Christ makes me a better person than anyone else who does not. It makes me blessed, but not better. That said, at the end of the day my heart sinks into sadness when I find people looking for answers in all the wrong places because I just want them to feel the sense of completeness that comes from finding Jesus. I know that's cliché, but o well (I'm starting to get over my fear of clichés slowly but surely). Even more than that, I want no one to suffer the torment of Hell for even one second. It was this thought that lead to me to reflect on how much greater the pain must be for God to look down at His creation and hear them deny His existence day after day and walk into a lifetime of despair. I have no doubt that our God is the God of the lost sheep. He is the Shepard that leaves the flock to go searching for the one that got away. Even if that sheep was stubborn and walked purposefully in the wrong direction, He'd still go after it. I wonder how it feels for Him, the Shepard, to come home empty handed after a draining night of searching tirelessly for His lost love.
They left no room for the Message of Christ in their hardened hearts and I was left to drive away with quite a bit of anger towards their intolerant, ignorant belief system. However, after 5 minutes or so of dwelling on my misguided anger I found myself deeply saddened, as is the case every time this sort of incident occurs. I realized that if the world ended tonight these two very damaged women (from what I could deduce about their past and current problems) would not be with their Father in Paradise. This is the reason I was so angry. I felt like I knew what was best for them and they wanted nothing to do with it. I felt like an angry parent who gets upset with their child who wont eat their vegetables and thus gain the valuable nutrients needed for their young bodies to grow properly.
I am completely aware of the pride and ego that plays into the mindset of someone who believes they have the ultimate truth. I do not believe in any way that just believing in Christ makes me a better person than anyone else who does not. It makes me blessed, but not better. That said, at the end of the day my heart sinks into sadness when I find people looking for answers in all the wrong places because I just want them to feel the sense of completeness that comes from finding Jesus. I know that's cliché, but o well (I'm starting to get over my fear of clichés slowly but surely). Even more than that, I want no one to suffer the torment of Hell for even one second. It was this thought that lead to me to reflect on how much greater the pain must be for God to look down at His creation and hear them deny His existence day after day and walk into a lifetime of despair. I have no doubt that our God is the God of the lost sheep. He is the Shepard that leaves the flock to go searching for the one that got away. Even if that sheep was stubborn and walked purposefully in the wrong direction, He'd still go after it. I wonder how it feels for Him, the Shepard, to come home empty handed after a draining night of searching tirelessly for His lost love.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Improv
There's something about improvisation that has always tickled my fancy. I absolutely love comedic improv because it proves how truly funny a person can be on the fly. It demonstrates that when we have the least amount of time to think that we are often the most thoughtful, humorous or passionate as our most pure and genuine responses are allowed to have free reign. In life, we often get the opportunity to hone in our improvisational skills but rarely take advantage of them. When life changes suddenly we get to rely on the skills God has given us to make quick decisions that influence the outcome of the rest of our lives. We don't get to be in this stage of life very long and every second matters as we attempt to make a good impression on the rest of the audience and bring any sort of glory to the Kingdom of God. I believe, as Christians, we have a tendency to over think God's will for our lives. We believe that we are only able to make good decisions with hours upon hours of study, deliberation, and meditation when frequently there are situations that just don't allow for that kind of a decision making process. Obviously there are exceptions, but at some point we have to utilize the improv skills of our soul so we can quickly take in our situation and act naturally before our minds get in the way of our faith. That's really all I can say about this topic for now although I feel it's much deeper than what I've said. Just check out this link and tell me that God hasn't created us to utilize the wonderful capacity for improving moments in life.
Greatest Improved Moments in Film
(some of the language is intense from R-rated movies so sensitive ears should shy away from this one.)
Greatest Improved Moments in Film
(some of the language is intense from R-rated movies so sensitive ears should shy away from this one.)
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Middle of the Roadkill
I have a problem when it comes to agreeing with smart people. I have so few foundational, core beliefs and convictions that when theologians argue about certain "gray-area" topics, that I have yet to really understand, I find myself easily persuaded by whomever's opinion I have heard most recently. If I hear Marc Driscoll say something on Tuesday about free will that Timothy Keller contradicts on Friday, I will find myself all twisted up on Saturday as I feel lead to cross over from Driscoll's party to support Keller's campaign. Then on Sunday if I find myself around my peers discussing just such an issue as free will I am helpless but to lay down in the middle of the road as they wage war from both sides of the street. The most recent topic that has left me pondering which direction to go is the subject of Hell.
Obviously, there is no easy answer when it comes to the hot-button issue (cheesy pun intended). Is there a Hell, and if there is who goes there/what does it look like? I just read Rob Bell's book called Love Wins which guides readers to question their ideas of the traditional hell fire and brimstone theology in favor of a more post-modern approach to damnation. A lot of people took his approach to mean that he is a Universalist who believes that all people and all roads lead to Salvation. I don't believe he thinks that, but I could be wrong. He definitely does hold a kinda-sorta "new-age" vision of what Hell actually is that has definitely never been popularized before but definitely has scriptural support. Anyway, now I am reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan, who's theology I have always loved. This book was in many ways written as a rebuttal to Bell's book. Chan's fear of the vision of Hell the Bible gives him is what inspires so much of his radical, "crazy love" based ministry. He says "we can't afford to be wrong on this one." I have to say, my ignorant self already agrees with him. But I digress.
This issue in particular has made be look inwardly at how I do theology in general, and how a lot of people come to form their beliefs. I believe Christianity in the West today has never been harder. There is an information overload and everybody who was ever able to speak or write has an ability to find a powerful voice in society. This has given birth to so many sects, denominations, and in the end an unimaginable number of different view points on everything God related. Some opinions are completely uninformed and easily ignored, yet there are so many studied, intellectual, wise people in the world, now and from generations past, who offer up completely opposing beliefs on everything from homosexuality to predestination to the End Times. So what's your average American Christian to do?
Most people that I have talked to about this just say "Well, keep studying and pray that God gives you the answers in time." But I have argued with Mormons (who I completely disagree with from years of my own study and prayer) who have told me "Look, I sincerely pray to God about this and that He show me the way if this religion is in anyway incorrect and I've felt no conviction from the Holy Spirit." What could I possibly say to that? They had been in the Church all their lives, done the 2 year mission, knew their Bible and yet they and I both stood at a crossroads of disagreement and God was telling neither of us "You are wrong."
I have no doubt both Francis Chan and Rob Bell love Jesus Christ with all their heart. I believe that John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius both loved Jesus Christ with all their heart, but they had completely different views when it came to Salvation. Maybe God wants us to disagree...I don't know. Maybe in the end all the quarreling is just supposed to show us how incredibly fascinating and complex our God is. The cliché line I hear is typically "Well, if we could figure out God then He wouldn't be God!" That is as true as it is annoying. I want answers, I want the truth, and I know every time I say that God is looking right back at me, while doing His best Jack Nicholson impression, saying "You can't handle the truth!" So in the meantime, I'll be in the middle of the road trying not to get run over by all those people who think they've found the answers.
Obviously, there is no easy answer when it comes to the hot-button issue (cheesy pun intended). Is there a Hell, and if there is who goes there/what does it look like? I just read Rob Bell's book called Love Wins which guides readers to question their ideas of the traditional hell fire and brimstone theology in favor of a more post-modern approach to damnation. A lot of people took his approach to mean that he is a Universalist who believes that all people and all roads lead to Salvation. I don't believe he thinks that, but I could be wrong. He definitely does hold a kinda-sorta "new-age" vision of what Hell actually is that has definitely never been popularized before but definitely has scriptural support. Anyway, now I am reading Erasing Hell by Francis Chan, who's theology I have always loved. This book was in many ways written as a rebuttal to Bell's book. Chan's fear of the vision of Hell the Bible gives him is what inspires so much of his radical, "crazy love" based ministry. He says "we can't afford to be wrong on this one." I have to say, my ignorant self already agrees with him. But I digress.
This issue in particular has made be look inwardly at how I do theology in general, and how a lot of people come to form their beliefs. I believe Christianity in the West today has never been harder. There is an information overload and everybody who was ever able to speak or write has an ability to find a powerful voice in society. This has given birth to so many sects, denominations, and in the end an unimaginable number of different view points on everything God related. Some opinions are completely uninformed and easily ignored, yet there are so many studied, intellectual, wise people in the world, now and from generations past, who offer up completely opposing beliefs on everything from homosexuality to predestination to the End Times. So what's your average American Christian to do?
Most people that I have talked to about this just say "Well, keep studying and pray that God gives you the answers in time." But I have argued with Mormons (who I completely disagree with from years of my own study and prayer) who have told me "Look, I sincerely pray to God about this and that He show me the way if this religion is in anyway incorrect and I've felt no conviction from the Holy Spirit." What could I possibly say to that? They had been in the Church all their lives, done the 2 year mission, knew their Bible and yet they and I both stood at a crossroads of disagreement and God was telling neither of us "You are wrong."
I have no doubt both Francis Chan and Rob Bell love Jesus Christ with all their heart. I believe that John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius both loved Jesus Christ with all their heart, but they had completely different views when it came to Salvation. Maybe God wants us to disagree...I don't know. Maybe in the end all the quarreling is just supposed to show us how incredibly fascinating and complex our God is. The cliché line I hear is typically "Well, if we could figure out God then He wouldn't be God!" That is as true as it is annoying. I want answers, I want the truth, and I know every time I say that God is looking right back at me, while doing His best Jack Nicholson impression, saying "You can't handle the truth!" So in the meantime, I'll be in the middle of the road trying not to get run over by all those people who think they've found the answers.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Lazy Sunday
Sleep in, eat, watch football, eat some more, relax, play the geetar, Church, more football, and maybe some video games if I'm feeling frisky. That's my idea of a lazy Sunday. Part way through just such a day I decided to delve into the many books I have been planning on finishing. When I picked up my copy of The Screwtape Letters I found that my bookmark had been misplaced so I began flipping through the many chapters to see which one I had last read (all of my underlining makes it easy to figure out which chapter I was on.) However, I stumbled upon a section that stood out to me a while back and I became fixated on one passage in particular.
C.S. Lewis does not label his chapters in this book but I give each one a name to help me remember the topic when I skim through them again and I had labeled this one "The Gradual Road to Hell". It is about self-will and how we become lulled into an inactive lifestyle where we give up on pursuing our passions and end up finding ourselves in lifestyles that are completely sedentary and doing work that never stimulates any of our higher reasoning, deep thought, interests, or purpose. The quote that got me motivated enough to begin writing this very post, is the last line of the chapter and says, "The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."
For anyone reading this who is not familiar with the context of The Screwtape Letters, it is written from the perspective of one demon writing to his demon nephew in-training who is trying to steer his "patient" (human) away from salvation. I found this closing remark to be the deepest statement made in the entire chapter. I never thought that my inactivity could be a stumbling block used by the enemy to eventually deaden my senses and lead me down a path of destruction. Let me preface the rest of what I'm about to say with this; I do not believe that taking it easy some days is a sin, nor do I think it leads to an inactive lifestyle. I know perfectly well that after I work on set from 330pm to 430am the next morning that I am going to need a day of recuperation and "laziness" in order to decompress so I can keep my sanity.
What I am mostly geared up to ruminate on during this post is the grander scheme of Lewis' statement. I believe everybody is here to do something great. Greatness looks different to every person, but as individuals we all have certain traits that allow us to do "great" things. I believe greatness comes from doing exactly what God has programmed you to do best. Some people are janitors, others are presidents and we all have our unique opportunities to minister to those around us. With that said, I believe we often talk ourselves out of that very greatness God has in store for us because of the tactics the enemy has utilized on us for so long, the tactics that Lewis illuminates in The Screwtape Letters.
The reason that Lewis' statement made such an impact on me was the fact that he describes a snowball affect on our hearts that eventually overtakes our souls. Every time we talk ourselves out of something we know would be good for us, or that we would enjoy, because "there may not be enough time" or the logistics of things seem too daunting, we are giving the enemy a foothold on our lives. God gives everyone dreams for their lives for a reason. If we give up on those dreams or passions because the road may indeed prove to be very difficult, what does that say about our faith in God? Inevitably our lack of faith in God becomes a lack of faith in ourselves. After we have lost our faith in everything what good is living? Why not just sit at home and play video games all day until we're old and can die alone? Why chase after that dream if everyone will scoff at you and instead you can continue to fly under the radar and meet the status-quot of society? Why would you act on those silly emotions when clearly that's not the practical move to make? Lewis is saying that every time we fail to act on those innate parts of who we are that we will eventually cease to be who God has made us to be.
I really hate untapped potential. I know Satan loves it. I hope and pray and try continually to be the best possible version of myself that I can be. And I'll admit it, sometimes this pursuit of "perfection" bites me in the ass, but it's so worth it. I believe the more we act the more we will be able to discern how God speaks through the Holy Spirit within us and we will be given a clearer picture of the men and women we are called to be. So, let's enjoy the lazy Sundays when they come but let's never allow ourselves to become numb to the feelings that God uses to get us up off the couch and into the world that He has sent us to save.
C.S. Lewis does not label his chapters in this book but I give each one a name to help me remember the topic when I skim through them again and I had labeled this one "The Gradual Road to Hell". It is about self-will and how we become lulled into an inactive lifestyle where we give up on pursuing our passions and end up finding ourselves in lifestyles that are completely sedentary and doing work that never stimulates any of our higher reasoning, deep thought, interests, or purpose. The quote that got me motivated enough to begin writing this very post, is the last line of the chapter and says, "The more often he feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel."
For anyone reading this who is not familiar with the context of The Screwtape Letters, it is written from the perspective of one demon writing to his demon nephew in-training who is trying to steer his "patient" (human) away from salvation. I found this closing remark to be the deepest statement made in the entire chapter. I never thought that my inactivity could be a stumbling block used by the enemy to eventually deaden my senses and lead me down a path of destruction. Let me preface the rest of what I'm about to say with this; I do not believe that taking it easy some days is a sin, nor do I think it leads to an inactive lifestyle. I know perfectly well that after I work on set from 330pm to 430am the next morning that I am going to need a day of recuperation and "laziness" in order to decompress so I can keep my sanity.
What I am mostly geared up to ruminate on during this post is the grander scheme of Lewis' statement. I believe everybody is here to do something great. Greatness looks different to every person, but as individuals we all have certain traits that allow us to do "great" things. I believe greatness comes from doing exactly what God has programmed you to do best. Some people are janitors, others are presidents and we all have our unique opportunities to minister to those around us. With that said, I believe we often talk ourselves out of that very greatness God has in store for us because of the tactics the enemy has utilized on us for so long, the tactics that Lewis illuminates in The Screwtape Letters.
The reason that Lewis' statement made such an impact on me was the fact that he describes a snowball affect on our hearts that eventually overtakes our souls. Every time we talk ourselves out of something we know would be good for us, or that we would enjoy, because "there may not be enough time" or the logistics of things seem too daunting, we are giving the enemy a foothold on our lives. God gives everyone dreams for their lives for a reason. If we give up on those dreams or passions because the road may indeed prove to be very difficult, what does that say about our faith in God? Inevitably our lack of faith in God becomes a lack of faith in ourselves. After we have lost our faith in everything what good is living? Why not just sit at home and play video games all day until we're old and can die alone? Why chase after that dream if everyone will scoff at you and instead you can continue to fly under the radar and meet the status-quot of society? Why would you act on those silly emotions when clearly that's not the practical move to make? Lewis is saying that every time we fail to act on those innate parts of who we are that we will eventually cease to be who God has made us to be.
I really hate untapped potential. I know Satan loves it. I hope and pray and try continually to be the best possible version of myself that I can be. And I'll admit it, sometimes this pursuit of "perfection" bites me in the ass, but it's so worth it. I believe the more we act the more we will be able to discern how God speaks through the Holy Spirit within us and we will be given a clearer picture of the men and women we are called to be. So, let's enjoy the lazy Sundays when they come but let's never allow ourselves to become numb to the feelings that God uses to get us up off the couch and into the world that He has sent us to save.
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