The church is often its best counter-argument
Jesus called us to a life of such reckless obedience, but so often lately I feel that we Christians are just winking at each other as we go about our apathetic lives. "Love your new sports car, it's really sleek." "You went on a ski trip? How was it?" "Are you going to see any movies this weekend?" "Learning to ride horses, good for you!" "Ooh, you got a tattoo. So edgy!"
What I really want to say in each case is: Aren't we clever, wearing Christ's name on our sleeves while we shake a cheerful fist in his face with our materialism and self-indulgence? We're so progressive, so "grace-oriented" and "balanced." We know it's not how we should be; but as long as I wink at you and you wink at me, nobody has to be reminded of it.
We're so pointless as the church in America. So accommodating and polite, as long as we can have our Calgon moments. It's interesting that masturbation has become a topic of debate in Western Christian circles again (among both men and women), after being a practice non grata for hundreds of years. I don't believe that's a coincidence.
But someone will say, "Don't go making lists of what's acceptable! That's legalism!" I'm not going to make anybody any lists. It'd be too depressing anyway, because you're already doing all the stuff I'd rule out on it. And so am I. I breathe the water too (and I drown the same way). I'm no more eager than the next guy to be the moral pioneer who gets all the arrows in his back.
And, it seems, neither is anyone else.
So we continue as before. "White-water rafting? So adventurous!"
What I really want to say in each case is: Aren't we clever, wearing Christ's name on our sleeves while we shake a cheerful fist in his face with our materialism and self-indulgence? We're so progressive, so "grace-oriented" and "balanced." We know it's not how we should be; but as long as I wink at you and you wink at me, nobody has to be reminded of it.
We're so pointless as the church in America. So accommodating and polite, as long as we can have our Calgon moments. It's interesting that masturbation has become a topic of debate in Western Christian circles again (among both men and women), after being a practice non grata for hundreds of years. I don't believe that's a coincidence.
But someone will say, "Don't go making lists of what's acceptable! That's legalism!" I'm not going to make anybody any lists. It'd be too depressing anyway, because you're already doing all the stuff I'd rule out on it. And so am I. I breathe the water too (and I drown the same way). I'm no more eager than the next guy to be the moral pioneer who gets all the arrows in his back.
And, it seems, neither is anyone else.
So we continue as before. "White-water rafting? So adventurous!"
posted by John at 9:46 PM
1 Comments:
You're sounding a little Annie Dillardish there John! "Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews."
I couldn't agree with you more - as I sit in my house and think of the things that would sure make my life a little more comfortable. I find that I'm often trying to walk a tightrope; blatent consumeristic materialism on one side with a dash of edgy coolness thrown in for good measure, and radical Jesus stuff on the other where I actually take the Sermon on the Mount seriously. It's not really possible to walk the rope though, what it ends up being is an unwillingness to truly make a decision. And a non-decision is usually a decision to be the kid with the chemistry set.
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