A couple weeks ago, I did something to myself that made me very angry. I watched TV on Sunday morning. For those of you that don't know, we don't get cable at our apartment and the only channels we get are the basic fuzzy channels that come in through the rabbits ears. Through the fuzz, I got to see the only people who are on TV Sunday mornings, the tele-prophets/evangelists. At first I found myself amused at their messages that mostly focused on picking out bible verses from the stories they are written in and using them to support their arguments, then became pretty shocked at some of the things they were saying (one of them fasted for 21 days and said that God spoked to him about the law of six throughout the bible, which he then found all the places that had anything to do with six to support his case (except 666)), and then I got sad as he made the process of healing and restoration seem like a drug you can buy from the TV and made the sacred scriptures seem like a magic book, and then I got really angry when he said that "today you can activate the law of 6 by giving $$$$$" I got so angry about it that I felt nausious that people get away with this stuff and worse, people actually believe that it comes from God. So, I turned the channel, and I found another guy talking about giving money to his organization so that you will propser.
These kind of things make me so emotional because I think they affect the conversation about Jesus. So many people talk about Jesus in our country and say so many things about him, that it is really hard to know what is true and what isn't. I mean, the Ted Haggard scenario, shows us again that people can say one thing and hide the reality of their lives. I think our generation almost expects leaders to fail us, yet we long for someone we can trust.
I have had several different conversations with people recently that want to believe in God, but don't really know who to trust in the midst of so many voices. As Christians, we can't hide behind absolute truth arguments anymore. I think we need to be honest and authentic about the reality that we really cannot trust anyone 100%. There is something about humans that would rather find a leader to attach to than trust God. Throughout the whole Old Testament, Israel wanted to have a King to be like the other nations while all along God wanted to be their King so that they could be the light of the nations by their very quality of life in harmony with God and the world around them.
At the same time, I think we have to not to take the cop out by going to the other extreme and saying, just trust God. What does that even mean anyway? I don't thing that phrase does the gospel justice. Everything doesn't just happen for a reason. God involves us in the process of creating reasons for others. Reasons to have hope and not despair, reasons to live fully rather than exist, reasons to love rather than protect, reasons to trust and not judge, reasons to give and not just consume. Our passive attitude of just trusting God isn't really trust. Trust is action when it isn't good for you. Trust is humility when someone opposes you. Trust is hope beyond the present chaos we ofte feel in our souls that God can redeem any situation, but that is most definitely going to involve my decisions. The gospel always provides an invitation to turn from our way that seems right to us yet produces an illusion to us to the way of God that produces reality. People who live fully in reality can be trusted, people that are trying to sell you something can be smelt from a mile away.
A life lives following God embraces and lives in full reality of the human experience. A passive, indifferent trust that doesn't change us to the core is not faith in the gospel. That doesn't do the gospel justice. The gospel of Jesus isn't the gospel if it isn't actually changing us in the messy process of real life to produce a new kind of life. Throughout Paul's letter, we see the only apologetics that he refers to are the resurrection of Jesus and the people living radically different lives in union with God through the Spirit. Without the character of Christ being formed in our communities, we don't really have a message that people can trust. i think we need to embrace this responsiblity, while knowing we are always in the process of becoming. We are not God, but God lives in those who believe in Him. The way we treat each other affects others, our decisions to take steps of faith affects others, our character of living affects others.
The one person I know I can trust is Jesus because he always embraces me and is calling me to a more noble life for the sake of other people. I wish our leaders were known for helping people think for themselves about what is truly real and what is illusion rather than trying to give them false hope and assurances.
That's all I got for now
Peace
Corey
4 comments:
I completely agree with your point that the mixed messages people hear "affect the conversation about Jesus." With that being the case, I feel there is a greater need for our actions to back up our message. It is to the point where people need to see your God, before they want to hear about your God.
Admittedly, I am no saint. I often feel the need to apologize to Jesus for the way my actions defame His message. I pray that I would continue to grow, to mature, to become a man of God. I pray that my actions could lead to someone desiring to know my Jesus.
Found this on a blog today about Benny Hinn's request for a new airplane. Here is the link to the blog talking about it and a quote from Hinn's website about what you will get in return for your generous donation. As cynical as I am, I try really hard to give people the benefit of the doubt. I think some people have so surrounded themselves with lies for so long that they are completely out of touch with reality and don't have a clue how ridiculous and damaging this is.
http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.564
"Your name will be placed prominently in a special area of Dove One where Pastor Benny studies and prays during his travels. Everywhere Pastor Benny flies, your name will travel with him, millions of miles and for years to come, reminding him that you have made it possible to go and preach as God has called him to do. He wants to keep the names of his closest and most generous friends nearby as he travels the globe in the highest prayer tower in the world, at 40,000 feet in the heavens, where he will intercede for you and ask God to pour out an unprecedented and unusual anointing upon your life."
Corey,
It's great to be able to "talk" to you via the internet! A blessed Holiday to you, Danielle, Hannah, and Shiloh.
I know what you mean about the tv"gelists". There are some good men out there with really good messages - it's just hard to find them.
I know that you will be God's instrument in many ways during your life, and that you will touch many lives with your deeds, actions, and words.
God bless.
Uncle Jimmy
thanks for the comments guys, i'm still getting into the rhytme (very slow rhythm) on this blog thing
look forward to future (quicker) conversations
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