Well, it is that day of the year again. The day that children, and many adults, dress up as everything from Justin Bieber to fairy godmothers. Police officers to Mount. St. Helens. Princesses, knights, wizards, witches, chicki magnets, the doplar effect. It's all been done. It's the night that kids are actually encouraged to run in the streets and take candy from strangers. For many kids, this is the best night of the year. Late Night, cool costume and lots of candy. What could be better?
While the holiday is celebrated by many, there are many people (especially Christians), who find Halloween sinful and evil. They may give out candy (or possibly scripture passges and tracts), but they likely will just sit at home, with the lights turned out, praying for the lost souls who are selling their souls to the devil walking around dressed up as demons and taking candy. Why is it that there is such an issue with this particular holiday? You don't see people boycotting Christmas, Birthdays, Easter, New Years, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day or Labour Day (Jehvah Witnesses excluded of course...of course even they just go about it in silence). I figured that I would do a quick history lesson here...what is the origins of Halloween? Why is it the holiday that it has become? Why October 31? And more importantly, why do many Christians find it evil and scary? Let's find out shall we...
According to Wikipedia (it's always truthful and accurate right?), Halloween is sort of a spin off from the Celtic holiday of Samhain (meaning "summer's end"), which is a celebration of the end of the "lighter half of the year" and the beginning of the "darker half". It was believed that on this day, the Otherworld was opened up and spirits (both good and bad), could pass through. The wearing of costumes is believed to come from people dressing up as bad spirits in order to avoid harm.
Jack-O-Lanterns were initially created to commemorate the souls in purgatory, as well as warding off evil spirits. Trick or Treating originated from the practice of souling, when poor people would go door to door asking for food in return for prayers.
This is a very quick, overview of the history of Halloween...please, feel free to comment and fix any errors, or add any vital information that I am lacking. Anyway, now to the questions. How should Christians respond? Personally, I see no harm in participating in Halloween. I think it can be a harmless holiday, filled with fun and games. Yes, there are some creepy costumes, and lots of mischief...but overall, it's a fairly harmless holiday. In fact, for many people it is the only day of the year (other than Christmas, with carolling), that they get to meet their neighbours in a non threatening way. Friendships can be built, relationships formed. Now, I don't think we should go around casting spells on people, or performing exorcisms (leave that to the priests), but in reality...the holiday, while rooted in the spiritual, has evolved into just a night of fun and candy. Things change over time. Word meanings change, things that once meant one thing, mean something different now. For example, the word gay once meant happy...today it is a word describing a homosexual. Bitch once was a harmless word meaning "female dog"...now it means...well, you get the idea. Halloween has evolved too. It is no longer just a day to ward of spirits...in fact, most people don't even know the origins anymore. The day has brought together many different celebrations and days (All Saints Day, All-Hallows Eve, Samhain), and created a new holiday.
So should we embrace it? Perhaps. I'm not here to tell people how they should respond to something. The Bible does say that if something causes someone else to stumble, then it should be avoided around that person. If you are intimidated by Halloween, or it makes you uncomfortable, by all means don't celebrate the holiday. But do it in silence. If you love Halloween, don't force others to love it with you. People have choice. Just like religion, yes we are called to make disciples, but a disciple CHOOSES to follow, it is not forced to follow. Make up your own mind about Halloween, love it or hate it, just don't judge others for their view.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Forgiving Mel
So, I was planning on finally doing my "Fmylife" blog...but then I was surfing around on the Rotten Tomatoes website (a move critic website), and saw an article about Mel Gibson being turned down for the Hangover 2 sequel. Apparantly, the creator/writer or whoever of the movie wanted Mel to have a cameo in the movie, but the rest of the cast and crew turned down the idea, due to his anti-semetic remarks a while ago. Now, I definately condone these people for standing up for their beliefs...but seriously, can we give the guy a break?
Keep in mind, that the first Hangover starred Mike Tyson, who isn't regarded as a great role model. My point is...I think as a human race we tend to dwell on the past way too much. If someone does something to offend us, we will forver see them as the "person who did this", instead of just a person. Mel Gibson says an anti-semetic remark (keep in mind he was drunk at the time...and his comments were likely taken out of context), and immediately he is thrown under the bus, cast aside and banished. It seems that no matter what he does, he will always be remembered as the person who hates jews. He could probably even make a movie about Judaism, and it would still be seen as a mockery. Tiger Woods will forver be remembered not for his golf, but for his "encounters", Rick Rypien for his altercation with the Minnesote Wild fan (although, i do find that one hilarious!)...there are many people who have been marred by past sins. But is it not time for forgiveness? Can we not move past the past, and instead focus on the future? Jesus forgave those who beat him and hung him on a cross (some of whom did in fact happen to be jewish...so Mel, you were partly right). The ancient Christians were able to, over time, forgive Paul (formerly Saul) even after he killed and persecuted countless Christians. Why is it that we have such a hard time letting past sins go? Why do we hold these things over people? Why can't we let them forever break free? God forgives them...why can't we forgive?
I'm not saying we have to forget...forgetting is hard, especially after someone does something to really hurt us. But give them another chance. Move on....if the guilty party is seeking forgiveness, then give it to them. Love them. Accept them. Forgive them.
Please note, I am not saying that the cast and crew of Hangover 2 are bad people, nor am I saying that the movie should have Mel Gibson in it. This will not stop me from wanting to see the movie (I don't expect it to be as good as the first one...but I do think it will be pretty funny), I am merely making a point. Forgiveness is one of the foundational pillars of the Christian faith (and most other religions actually)...why does it seem that we have lost that over the years? Why do churches split over differences or arguments that can easily be solved with a little love, forgiveness and compromise? Why do friendships dissolve, marriages break up, siblings hate one another? Forgiveness is not easy, I definately understand that...I have people I need to forgive, and have many people who I need to be forgiven from...but it is something we have to do...or at least give a good attempt to do, not some half-hearted "meh" attempt. It's time to forgive the Mel Gibson's of our life...forgive, and move on. Don't hold someone in a certain box...free them, let them out, and let them become more than just one event, one altercation, one sin. We all mess up...we all need forgiveness...it's time to give it!
Keep in mind, that the first Hangover starred Mike Tyson, who isn't regarded as a great role model. My point is...I think as a human race we tend to dwell on the past way too much. If someone does something to offend us, we will forver see them as the "person who did this", instead of just a person. Mel Gibson says an anti-semetic remark (keep in mind he was drunk at the time...and his comments were likely taken out of context), and immediately he is thrown under the bus, cast aside and banished. It seems that no matter what he does, he will always be remembered as the person who hates jews. He could probably even make a movie about Judaism, and it would still be seen as a mockery. Tiger Woods will forver be remembered not for his golf, but for his "encounters", Rick Rypien for his altercation with the Minnesote Wild fan (although, i do find that one hilarious!)...there are many people who have been marred by past sins. But is it not time for forgiveness? Can we not move past the past, and instead focus on the future? Jesus forgave those who beat him and hung him on a cross (some of whom did in fact happen to be jewish...so Mel, you were partly right). The ancient Christians were able to, over time, forgive Paul (formerly Saul) even after he killed and persecuted countless Christians. Why is it that we have such a hard time letting past sins go? Why do we hold these things over people? Why can't we let them forever break free? God forgives them...why can't we forgive?
I'm not saying we have to forget...forgetting is hard, especially after someone does something to really hurt us. But give them another chance. Move on....if the guilty party is seeking forgiveness, then give it to them. Love them. Accept them. Forgive them.
Please note, I am not saying that the cast and crew of Hangover 2 are bad people, nor am I saying that the movie should have Mel Gibson in it. This will not stop me from wanting to see the movie (I don't expect it to be as good as the first one...but I do think it will be pretty funny), I am merely making a point. Forgiveness is one of the foundational pillars of the Christian faith (and most other religions actually)...why does it seem that we have lost that over the years? Why do churches split over differences or arguments that can easily be solved with a little love, forgiveness and compromise? Why do friendships dissolve, marriages break up, siblings hate one another? Forgiveness is not easy, I definately understand that...I have people I need to forgive, and have many people who I need to be forgiven from...but it is something we have to do...or at least give a good attempt to do, not some half-hearted "meh" attempt. It's time to forgive the Mel Gibson's of our life...forgive, and move on. Don't hold someone in a certain box...free them, let them out, and let them become more than just one event, one altercation, one sin. We all mess up...we all need forgiveness...it's time to give it!
Friday, October 15, 2010
The Truth about The Bible
I've been meaning to blog about this for a while now, and am finally doing it. I've had the question in my head recently, "Is the Bible True, or does it only contain Truth?". This question all goes back to my first year at Bethany, when I said something along the lines of, "The Bible is true", and someone said "Is it?". It led to a discussion, in which my only response was, "umm...yes?" followed my a wimper. This of course was before the days that I enjoyed debates and discussions, and actually cowered away from them (my how things have changed). So I raise the question, once again "Is the Bible True?".
This will likely sound horrible and very unChristian, but I would have to argue that the Bible is NOT 100% true, and only CONTAINS Truth. It's a big difference, and may seem to shatter faith, although when you really look at the contents of the Bible, you can't say that everything in the Bible is infallable, True, and Holy. First of all, we have to look at the types of books we have in the Bible. We have letters, we have poetry, we have stories, songs, legends, and proverbs. Now, I am not going to argue that the stories in the Bible are false, and didn't happen. I believe that they did happen, and are true. However, we have to take into consideration that, back in biblical days, it was not uncommon, nor was it frowned upon, to exaggerate stories. Also, it must be remembered that theses stories were passed down verbally for many years before written down. We all know what happens with verbal stories. We've played the game Telephone as kids...we know that usually what is left at the end is not what started. I'm not going to say that the stories are so embellished that only very small fragments are true, but I am saying that we have to keep in mind that things have been embellished slightly, or at least very likely have been. For example, the story of Gideon. We know that story as a man who led 300 men against THOUSANDS of me. Now, he likely had more than 300 men, and perhaps the enemy didn't have as many men as the story says...but the bottom line is...he was vastly outnumbered, and defeated the enemy with God's help in a miraculous way. Does it really matter if he was outnumbered 3 to 1 or 10 to 1? Not really.
These exagerations don't mean that we can't trust the Bible...nor does it mean that the Israelites were liars...it's what was done back then. Numbers were symbolic, for example the number 40. Was it exactly 40 years that the Israelites wandered wht desert? Exactly 40 days and nights that it rained? Who knows....but it was a long time. The number 40 , like the numbers 7, 3 and 12, were very symbolic and meant a lot to the Israelite people. That is why certain numbers appear numerous times throughout Scripture...it's not a coincidence.
Now I want to get into likely the part of the Bible that is most often misread, misunderstood and misinterpreted among Christians. The Psalms. Do you ever notice how we take Psalm 23 and make it out to be whole hearted, 100% infallible truth? We analyze it, tear it apart and meditate over it. I'm not denying its power and beauty. I love it, and think it is a wonderful psalm...but we must remember that it is written by a person, in poetry form. We don't study World War II based solely on the poem "In Flanders Fields", even though that is a wonderful poem. It doesn't contain the whole truth...it's one persons opinion, feeling and description. Now, does Psalm 23 contain truth that is consistent with the rest of Scripture? Of course it does. But the Psalm was written by one person, at a particular time of his life, during certain circumstances. He also wrote Psalms about destroyign cities, killing enemies and having no hope. We don't take Ecclesiastes "Everything is Meaningless" super seriously, nor do we take many of the Proverbs as purely accurate...and yet we read the Psalms as if it is the word of the Lord himself. The Psalsm are beautiful, evoke wonderful emotion, and can be very worshipful...but we can't make them more than what they are. They are poems, hymns and songs.
Finally I want to talk about The Letters, or The Epistles. We can't forget that these books are written by one person to a certain group of people, or in some cases to one particular person. Do they contain truth, and great wisdom? Yes, but we can't attempt to claim every insight and every word as a word written to us. For example, there is a verse in one of the letters about women not being alolowed to lead or speak in church. At first this seems sexist, but when you realize that this was written to one particular church, where the women were gossips, liars, loud, obnoxious and spreading falsehoods, it makes more sense. It's not saying that no women ever should lead or speak in church..it's saying These women in This church.
This blog very likely will be misunderstood as me trying to undermine the Bible. I will probably get nasty comments about how we just need to take all of Scripture as the Holy Words of God. I don't want to make the Bible seem unimportant, false, or incomplete. On the contraty, I want to make sure that we fully understand what we can actually get from the Bible. It's because people take Scripture out of context, and put Truth where there shouldn't be, that we have genocides, sexism, racism, slavery, wars, bigotry, hate, and why Christians are judgemental, and seen as "better than thou". Please, leave a comment, let me know what you think, and feel free to disagree. What do you think, "Is the Bible True, or does it just contains Truth?"
This will likely sound horrible and very unChristian, but I would have to argue that the Bible is NOT 100% true, and only CONTAINS Truth. It's a big difference, and may seem to shatter faith, although when you really look at the contents of the Bible, you can't say that everything in the Bible is infallable, True, and Holy. First of all, we have to look at the types of books we have in the Bible. We have letters, we have poetry, we have stories, songs, legends, and proverbs. Now, I am not going to argue that the stories in the Bible are false, and didn't happen. I believe that they did happen, and are true. However, we have to take into consideration that, back in biblical days, it was not uncommon, nor was it frowned upon, to exaggerate stories. Also, it must be remembered that theses stories were passed down verbally for many years before written down. We all know what happens with verbal stories. We've played the game Telephone as kids...we know that usually what is left at the end is not what started. I'm not going to say that the stories are so embellished that only very small fragments are true, but I am saying that we have to keep in mind that things have been embellished slightly, or at least very likely have been. For example, the story of Gideon. We know that story as a man who led 300 men against THOUSANDS of me. Now, he likely had more than 300 men, and perhaps the enemy didn't have as many men as the story says...but the bottom line is...he was vastly outnumbered, and defeated the enemy with God's help in a miraculous way. Does it really matter if he was outnumbered 3 to 1 or 10 to 1? Not really.
These exagerations don't mean that we can't trust the Bible...nor does it mean that the Israelites were liars...it's what was done back then. Numbers were symbolic, for example the number 40. Was it exactly 40 years that the Israelites wandered wht desert? Exactly 40 days and nights that it rained? Who knows....but it was a long time. The number 40 , like the numbers 7, 3 and 12, were very symbolic and meant a lot to the Israelite people. That is why certain numbers appear numerous times throughout Scripture...it's not a coincidence.
Now I want to get into likely the part of the Bible that is most often misread, misunderstood and misinterpreted among Christians. The Psalms. Do you ever notice how we take Psalm 23 and make it out to be whole hearted, 100% infallible truth? We analyze it, tear it apart and meditate over it. I'm not denying its power and beauty. I love it, and think it is a wonderful psalm...but we must remember that it is written by a person, in poetry form. We don't study World War II based solely on the poem "In Flanders Fields", even though that is a wonderful poem. It doesn't contain the whole truth...it's one persons opinion, feeling and description. Now, does Psalm 23 contain truth that is consistent with the rest of Scripture? Of course it does. But the Psalm was written by one person, at a particular time of his life, during certain circumstances. He also wrote Psalms about destroyign cities, killing enemies and having no hope. We don't take Ecclesiastes "Everything is Meaningless" super seriously, nor do we take many of the Proverbs as purely accurate...and yet we read the Psalms as if it is the word of the Lord himself. The Psalsm are beautiful, evoke wonderful emotion, and can be very worshipful...but we can't make them more than what they are. They are poems, hymns and songs.
Finally I want to talk about The Letters, or The Epistles. We can't forget that these books are written by one person to a certain group of people, or in some cases to one particular person. Do they contain truth, and great wisdom? Yes, but we can't attempt to claim every insight and every word as a word written to us. For example, there is a verse in one of the letters about women not being alolowed to lead or speak in church. At first this seems sexist, but when you realize that this was written to one particular church, where the women were gossips, liars, loud, obnoxious and spreading falsehoods, it makes more sense. It's not saying that no women ever should lead or speak in church..it's saying These women in This church.
This blog very likely will be misunderstood as me trying to undermine the Bible. I will probably get nasty comments about how we just need to take all of Scripture as the Holy Words of God. I don't want to make the Bible seem unimportant, false, or incomplete. On the contraty, I want to make sure that we fully understand what we can actually get from the Bible. It's because people take Scripture out of context, and put Truth where there shouldn't be, that we have genocides, sexism, racism, slavery, wars, bigotry, hate, and why Christians are judgemental, and seen as "better than thou". Please, leave a comment, let me know what you think, and feel free to disagree. What do you think, "Is the Bible True, or does it just contains Truth?"
Friday, October 8, 2010
Glee, God and Grilled Cheesus.
Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. To be honest, I have wanted to blog for a while now, just didn't know what to blog about. I've had a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my brain for a while; a discussion about the Bible and whether the Bible is Truth or just contains Truth, a sort of funny blog from the popular website and book Fmylife (which I still do plan on doing one day...just give it some time), and a look at the Psalms, and whether Christians sometimes take them too seriously. But then I watched Glee. Yes, that's right. I watch Glee. Usually I watch it just for the music, get a few laughs, and then download the songs the next day to put on my ipod. But Tuesday's episode was different. It stirred emotions. It asked questions, and it begged to be discussed. I realize that my blog demographic doesn't include very many Glee lovers (that I know of), so I will try to discuss the episode in a way that will allow those that have not seen the show to appreciate and get involved in the discussion as well. To start with, here is an episode summary:
Finn, the main character of the show, makes a grilled cheese sandwich, and ends up creating the face of Jesus in the burn marks on the bread. He immediately turns religious, and wants to dedicate the week of Glee to singing spiritual songs. Of course, the school (or more specifically Sue Sylvester the arch-nemesis to the Glee club) takes a firm stance against seperationg of Church and State. Then Kurt's dad (Kurt is a fellow Glee member) has a heart attack, and the Glee club tries to comfort Kurt with prayers and spiritual songs. Kurt then professes that he is an atheist...much to the shock and awe of the Glee club.
That is a very quick synopsis of the episode. Yes, there is much more that happened, but I will save those for the discussion part. So let's start with my opinions and discussions.
Grilled Cheesus!
As silly as turning religious after seeing the face of Christ in a grilled cheese sounds, it happens. People turn religious over the silliest, and seemingly stupidest things. A dream, a near-death experience, a relationship...whatever. There is a tendency to try to "find the face of Christ" in everything. We want God to speak to us in every imaginable way, and even when he isn't, we still imagine that he is. It's a major problem. Yes, there are worse problems in life than trying to find God in the ordinary, and I don't want to say that he is not found in the ordinary and everyday life...but it's dangerous to go around and put God's face, or God's voice to things that don't have God's face or voice in them. When we do that, we tend to idolize those things, or that event. We pray to the Grilled Cheese, read The Purpose Driven Life like it is Bible (or even worse, like it is better than the Bible), and learn all we need to know about faith from Facing The Giants (yes...I went there). I am not saying that God can't be found in strange places...he was the "whisper in the wind", but when we go and look for him in those places, and CREATE him in those places, that is when we get ourselves into trouble.
Seperation of Church and State
This can lead to a heated debate here I'm sure. I personally am all for, to some extent, the seperation of church and state. I find it offensive that Christians beg, plead and cry when we aren't alowed to pray/worship publically, but then get angry when they see someone of another religion worship in public. We don't like seperation of church and state for us, but we want it for everyone else. It has to be either no one, or everyone. Christians can be the most arrogant, and selfish people ever. When we don't have it, we demand it, and when others have it we beg for it to be stripped from them. I remember at Bethany, we had a survery in class (I believe it was Issues and Ethics class) in which we were asked if the Lords Prayer should be reinstated into public schools...and a majority, if not unanimously, of the class said no, because once you open the door to the Lords prayer, then you have to open the door to every other religion. It's true..we can't expect to be the only religion given rights. Seperation of Church and State is a good thing, or at least it can be...in my opinion anyway (feel free to disagree and voice your comments).
"I have a hard time believing in a loving God when his followers don't look to highly on gays, or science, or women".
As hurtful and perhaps humorous this comment is, spoken by the gay atheist Kurt, it has a harsh truth to it. I have blogged about this before, but the church treats gays like crap. And there are many churches and Christians who feel that Science is opposed to the Bible, and that all Scientists are out to disprove the existence of God. And as sad as it is, there are churches who don't look highly on women, and are racist as well. It's horrible. As DC Talk says at the start of the song "What if I stumble", 'the biggest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians'. We claim to serve a loving God, we claim to be a loving and accepting group, and yet we are the most secluded, and often hardest to penetrate (insert innapropriate Office joke here). We are loving and accepting to those who have the same beliefs, same opinions as us...but once we meet someone who believes something different, we close up, segregate and hate. And then, after we push people away (often they are the most needing people as well), we are suprised to find out that they don't believe in God. They calim it's because there is no proof, but deep down it's because of us. We caused them to stop believing in God. So much for being disciples.
...ok I realize that this is getting kind of long so I will do one more, a follow up to the previous discussion point.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
The episode ends with Kurt going to church, after an invite from Glee member Mercedes (yes, she is black). Despite Kurt being gay, and an atheist, the church is inviting and accepts him. And when the choir, led by Mercedes, sings "Bridge over Troubled Waters", an elderly woman next to Kurt, grabs hold of his hand, which is very significant to the episode as that is the main memory of Kurt and his comatose Father. The show never shows whether Kurt changes his theological beliefs...but the church definately warmed his heart. THAT is how church should be. Could you imagine what would have happened if, as he was expecting, the church closed its doors to him. Pushed him aside. Ignored him, and looked at him condescendigly? His faith in there being no God would have been all but proven. Church should be a place of comfort, healing and faith building. It should be where the spirit of God is most felt. It's too bad that we have turned it into a place of judgement and hate (I'm looking at you Florida pastor who wanted ot publically burn Korans!".
For those of you who watched the episode, there are many more things that can be discussed...please feel free to comment on those things and discuss them. Let me know what you think, do you disagree, agree? Let the discussion, comments and opinions flow!
Finn, the main character of the show, makes a grilled cheese sandwich, and ends up creating the face of Jesus in the burn marks on the bread. He immediately turns religious, and wants to dedicate the week of Glee to singing spiritual songs. Of course, the school (or more specifically Sue Sylvester the arch-nemesis to the Glee club) takes a firm stance against seperationg of Church and State. Then Kurt's dad (Kurt is a fellow Glee member) has a heart attack, and the Glee club tries to comfort Kurt with prayers and spiritual songs. Kurt then professes that he is an atheist...much to the shock and awe of the Glee club.
That is a very quick synopsis of the episode. Yes, there is much more that happened, but I will save those for the discussion part. So let's start with my opinions and discussions.
Grilled Cheesus!
As silly as turning religious after seeing the face of Christ in a grilled cheese sounds, it happens. People turn religious over the silliest, and seemingly stupidest things. A dream, a near-death experience, a relationship...whatever. There is a tendency to try to "find the face of Christ" in everything. We want God to speak to us in every imaginable way, and even when he isn't, we still imagine that he is. It's a major problem. Yes, there are worse problems in life than trying to find God in the ordinary, and I don't want to say that he is not found in the ordinary and everyday life...but it's dangerous to go around and put God's face, or God's voice to things that don't have God's face or voice in them. When we do that, we tend to idolize those things, or that event. We pray to the Grilled Cheese, read The Purpose Driven Life like it is Bible (or even worse, like it is better than the Bible), and learn all we need to know about faith from Facing The Giants (yes...I went there). I am not saying that God can't be found in strange places...he was the "whisper in the wind", but when we go and look for him in those places, and CREATE him in those places, that is when we get ourselves into trouble.
Seperation of Church and State
This can lead to a heated debate here I'm sure. I personally am all for, to some extent, the seperation of church and state. I find it offensive that Christians beg, plead and cry when we aren't alowed to pray/worship publically, but then get angry when they see someone of another religion worship in public. We don't like seperation of church and state for us, but we want it for everyone else. It has to be either no one, or everyone. Christians can be the most arrogant, and selfish people ever. When we don't have it, we demand it, and when others have it we beg for it to be stripped from them. I remember at Bethany, we had a survery in class (I believe it was Issues and Ethics class) in which we were asked if the Lords Prayer should be reinstated into public schools...and a majority, if not unanimously, of the class said no, because once you open the door to the Lords prayer, then you have to open the door to every other religion. It's true..we can't expect to be the only religion given rights. Seperation of Church and State is a good thing, or at least it can be...in my opinion anyway (feel free to disagree and voice your comments).
"I have a hard time believing in a loving God when his followers don't look to highly on gays, or science, or women".
As hurtful and perhaps humorous this comment is, spoken by the gay atheist Kurt, it has a harsh truth to it. I have blogged about this before, but the church treats gays like crap. And there are many churches and Christians who feel that Science is opposed to the Bible, and that all Scientists are out to disprove the existence of God. And as sad as it is, there are churches who don't look highly on women, and are racist as well. It's horrible. As DC Talk says at the start of the song "What if I stumble", 'the biggest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians'. We claim to serve a loving God, we claim to be a loving and accepting group, and yet we are the most secluded, and often hardest to penetrate (insert innapropriate Office joke here). We are loving and accepting to those who have the same beliefs, same opinions as us...but once we meet someone who believes something different, we close up, segregate and hate. And then, after we push people away (often they are the most needing people as well), we are suprised to find out that they don't believe in God. They calim it's because there is no proof, but deep down it's because of us. We caused them to stop believing in God. So much for being disciples.
...ok I realize that this is getting kind of long so I will do one more, a follow up to the previous discussion point.
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
The episode ends with Kurt going to church, after an invite from Glee member Mercedes (yes, she is black). Despite Kurt being gay, and an atheist, the church is inviting and accepts him. And when the choir, led by Mercedes, sings "Bridge over Troubled Waters", an elderly woman next to Kurt, grabs hold of his hand, which is very significant to the episode as that is the main memory of Kurt and his comatose Father. The show never shows whether Kurt changes his theological beliefs...but the church definately warmed his heart. THAT is how church should be. Could you imagine what would have happened if, as he was expecting, the church closed its doors to him. Pushed him aside. Ignored him, and looked at him condescendigly? His faith in there being no God would have been all but proven. Church should be a place of comfort, healing and faith building. It should be where the spirit of God is most felt. It's too bad that we have turned it into a place of judgement and hate (I'm looking at you Florida pastor who wanted ot publically burn Korans!".
For those of you who watched the episode, there are many more things that can be discussed...please feel free to comment on those things and discuss them. Let me know what you think, do you disagree, agree? Let the discussion, comments and opinions flow!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
3 Guys, a King, and a Fiery Place!
One of the most beloved stories in the Old Testament, at least in my mind, is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abdnego. It is found in the book of Daniel (right after Ezekiel and before Hosea, if that helps) chapter 3. Now, before we get into that story, let's go through the brief history lesson.
Daniel begins with a siege and exile of Judah. This is the first of 2 exiles the Israelites will face. The Babylonians, led by king Nebuchadnezzar, takes over the nation, but takes back with them some of the smartest, handsomest, strongest and best of the Israeli men. Four of the young men taken to Babylon are Daniel (whose name was changed to Belteshazzar), Hananiah (whose name was changed to Shadrach), Mishael (name changed to Meshach), and Azariah (changed to Abednego).
(Back to the story now!) Not too long after being taken to Babylon, the king Nebuchadnezzar decides to have a gold statue built in his honour. He is a pretty humble guy, so he decides to have it built 90 feet tall, 9 feet wide...and summon everyone to come to the dedication of this idol. Now, Daniel is never mentioned in this story so it is unclear as to where he is during this time. Perhaps he was away on an assingment, or perhaps he actually was there and decided to go along with the crowd. We don't really know. What we do know, is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Rack, Shack and Benny...as told by Veggie tales) are there, and they don't appreciate what they see. As the story goes, the king tells everyone that at the blow of the trumpet, they are to bow down and worship the idol-those that don't will be cast into a fiery furnace. The trumpet sounds, and everyone but the 3 friends bow down and worship the gigantic image of the king. The King doesn't like this...so he summons them to him. Now, as much as he doesn't appreciate their refusal to bow, he does seem to be a generous king and he offers them another chance. He suggests that maybe they didn't hear the trumpet (of course, seeing thousands of people falling to their faces should have been a clue). He gets everyone set up, and again blows the trumpet, forcing everyone to their faces in adoration and worship. Again, the friends refuse. This time, the King is furious and gets the furnace heated up seven times hotter, and brings Rack, Shack and Benny back to him. Now this is where the story gets really interesting in my opinion. These 3 guys have been looked upon as incredible examples of faith. We tell their story, and talk about how they knew that God would deliver them from the furnace. But we seem to miss the part that, they accept the fact that God may not save them. Verses 17 and 18 recount what they say:
Daniel begins with a siege and exile of Judah. This is the first of 2 exiles the Israelites will face. The Babylonians, led by king Nebuchadnezzar, takes over the nation, but takes back with them some of the smartest, handsomest, strongest and best of the Israeli men. Four of the young men taken to Babylon are Daniel (whose name was changed to Belteshazzar), Hananiah (whose name was changed to Shadrach), Mishael (name changed to Meshach), and Azariah (changed to Abednego).
(Back to the story now!) Not too long after being taken to Babylon, the king Nebuchadnezzar decides to have a gold statue built in his honour. He is a pretty humble guy, so he decides to have it built 90 feet tall, 9 feet wide...and summon everyone to come to the dedication of this idol. Now, Daniel is never mentioned in this story so it is unclear as to where he is during this time. Perhaps he was away on an assingment, or perhaps he actually was there and decided to go along with the crowd. We don't really know. What we do know, is that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (Rack, Shack and Benny...as told by Veggie tales) are there, and they don't appreciate what they see. As the story goes, the king tells everyone that at the blow of the trumpet, they are to bow down and worship the idol-those that don't will be cast into a fiery furnace. The trumpet sounds, and everyone but the 3 friends bow down and worship the gigantic image of the king. The King doesn't like this...so he summons them to him. Now, as much as he doesn't appreciate their refusal to bow, he does seem to be a generous king and he offers them another chance. He suggests that maybe they didn't hear the trumpet (of course, seeing thousands of people falling to their faces should have been a clue). He gets everyone set up, and again blows the trumpet, forcing everyone to their faces in adoration and worship. Again, the friends refuse. This time, the King is furious and gets the furnace heated up seven times hotter, and brings Rack, Shack and Benny back to him. Now this is where the story gets really interesting in my opinion. These 3 guys have been looked upon as incredible examples of faith. We tell their story, and talk about how they knew that God would deliver them from the furnace. But we seem to miss the part that, they accept the fact that God may not save them. Verses 17 and 18 recount what they say:
"...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 THAT WE WILL NOT SERVE YOUR GODS OR WORSHIP THE IMAGE OF GOLD YOU HAVE SET UP"
There are a few key words here..."God is able" and "even if he doesn't". This, in my opinion, is the key to what true faith is. We often have this idea that faith is believing without a shadow of doubt that God will rescue us. We believe that God will give us what we want, because we have faith and are asking it. But I don't believe that that is true faith. That is arrogant faith. These 3 men show what true faith is. It is believe that God is able. Believing that God has the power, and has complete control. But then it is also the knowledge that, while God is able, he may not answer the way we want. These guys were willing to enter the fiery furnace. They were willing to DIE!. They didn't know if God would even save them...they knew he COULD, but they accepted that "even if he doesn't".
We can learn a lot from these 3. They aren't mentioned in the Faith Hall Of Fame in Hebrews 11 (wait, let me check again....nope. Not there), but in my mind they are the perfect example of what true faith is. We need to set aside our arrogance. We need to stop telling God how he should respond. We need to lay aside our 100% certainty that God will answer "in this certain way", and instead remember that, while God is more than able to save us...he may not. True faith is accepting that God may not. These 3 guys were willing to die with that knowledge. Now, we know that God did in fact save them, which is an amazing miracle. But the point, in my mind anyway isn't that God saved them. It's that they were willing to stand up, even if God didn't save them.
So next time someone tells you that something is going to happen because they have faith ("I'll get the job because I have faith", "We'll be safe because I have faith...whatever it may be", remember that God is much bigger than this right here right now. He is more than able to provide, protect, and prosper...but he may not! THAT, my friends, is what true faith is. That is what we can learn from this incredible story of 3 friends, willing to stand up when everyone else bowed down.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Walking on Water
So, for those of you who read my blog on a consistent basis, you know my dislike and disdain for those clever, witty church signs. Anyway, there is a new one that I saw recently, which says "Looking for a life guard? Ours walks on Water". I don't know what it is, but this one really bothers me. I don't know why...it's not like it is offensive, or sacriligeous or anything...but there's something about it that just makes me frustrated. Maybe its because it is comparing Jesus to a life-guard. I'm not sure...maybe I just have such a bias against church signs that I can't enjoy them...perhaps I'm just a negative, pessimistic person. But it did get me thinking a little bit...which I guess is the point of it, about the significance of Jesus walking on water.
First of all I have to say that, too often Christians give too much credit to the miracles Jesus does. What I mean is...they focus so much on the miracle itself, that they miss out on the person performing the miracles. The Miracles Jesus did were never meant to becomes these major specatcles, in fact many times he tells people not to tell anyone about the miracle. The one that seems to get the most publicity from Christians (other than the resurrection) is when Jesus walks on water. They seem to equate walking on water, with perfection. Have you ever heard the saying, "Next time you think you are perfect, try walking on water". We seem to make a huge deal out of this one...I don't really know why. But we make a big deal out of it for the wrong reasons I think. We look so much at the miracle itself, that we miss out what Jesus is actually telling his disciples by walking on water. To fully understand that, we have to understand the significance of water in biblical times.
In biblical times, water (or the oceans) were met with fear. It was a place of horror, a place of terror. A place where people left and didn't return. A place of death, and chaos. In fact, in Genesis 1:2, when it says "...And the spirit of God hovered over the waters", it is referring to the fact that God has control over the chaos. No matter how chaotic and crazy things get..God is in control. That is in a sense what Jesus is showing the disciples here. The disciples are out in a boat, trying to cross to the other side...when all of a sudden, Jesus walks out to them. This story is found in Matthew 14:22-36, right after he feeds the 5,000.
It's night time, the wind is picking up...the boat is probably rocking back and forth, waves splashing over the side of the boat, and the disciples are probably already fairly scared. And then they see Jesus, walking towards them. This scares them even more...they even think that Jesus is a ghost. But Jesus is showing them more than just a magic trick here. It's more than an illusion, or a funny prank. He is showing that he has control over fear. Control over chaos. Over terror. Over death. Over hell. The water, in the disciples mind...and in the mind of most bibilical characters, was scary. It represented evil...everything that was wrong with the world. But Jesus is showing that he is in control of it all. So this makes it that much more key, to when Peter asks to climb out of the boat and walk to Jesus. It's not a matter of just jumping into water, and swimming. Chances are, he didn't even know how to swim. Peter is entering the unknown. He enters the very thing that scares him the most...the dark, terrifying, chaotic waters. He does this, because he begins to understand that Jesus has control over it. Jesus is bigger than the fea. Than the evil, than the chaos. Peter puts his full trust in Jesus. I think we can learn a lot from this story. We often are stuck in a boat...surrounding us is our fears, or worries. Things that scare us, terrify us, hold us captive. And then Jesus shows up, and reminds us that he has control over everything. That he holds our worries, our fears and our concerns in the palm of his hand. He walks all over our troubles. And we have a decision to make. Do we let the fear, and chaos hold us captive in the boat...in the safety of the boat...or do we take a chance. Step out of the boat, step out of the safety net, and right into the chaos. Right into the fear?
Take the step. Step out of the boat. Jesus is in control. Jesus is bigger than our problems. Bigger than our worries, and fears, and the unknown. Trust Him. Jump into the water!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sprititual Buffet
There's something awesome about a buffet isn't there? The seemingly endless choice. The ability to usually eat as much food as you possibly can, and to make the plate of your dreams. You can take meaetballs, apple pie, a lasagna, pizza and shrimp one time, and the next time up choose some soup, a salad, perhaps a piece of roast beef, and cake. It's great. You get exactly what you want, and only what you want.
Lately there seems to have been a religious version of the buffet. People go from church to church, religion to religion and take bits and pieces. Ideas, gods, beliefs and cultures, and mix it together into their own form of "perfect" religion. They create their ideal plate. They have the best of everything, and only what they want. It's called Syncretism. Now, don't get me wrong. I want to say first and foremost that I think there is something that can be learned from pretty much every religion. But when you start taking pieces of this religion, with ideas from that religion and create a religious smorgasborg (I don't know how to spell that), you are living very dangerously. It's like taking Scripture out of context, you lose the intent, the meaning...and you make it mean what you want it to mean. Have you noticed how big yoga has gotten lately? Does anyone realise the religious conotations that go along with Yoga? It's more than just stretching...it's a spiritual action. It would be like if everyone started having baptism groups and we opened up a store that sold baptism tanks and baptism clothes and stuff, and made it into a "cleansing, healing" thing instead of the religious statement that it is. (Note: I'm not tearing into Yoga and thinking people shouldn't do it...I'm just making a point here).
There seems to be 2 waves of thought. There are those people who see all opossing religions as "evil" and "infidels" Like a church in Florida that has people burning the Koran as a show of remembrance for the victims of 911. And saying that Islam is of the devil. Or the Crusades, holocaust, genocides, KKK. All of these stems from a belief that "we are right, and you are wrong and EVIL!". This is the one extreme, and I think that it is just as bad as the other "buffet" extreme I mentioned earlier. The buffet seems more accepting. It seems more peaceful and loving. But is it really? In a sense it is saying, "I like this part of your religion, but the rest of it is crap...so I'll throw that away and add parts of this religion".
Let's learn from other religions yes. I think we should be in awe of the respect Sikhs have to the environment (here in Abbotsford, the walk EVERYWHERE..literally), the quiet meditation that Buddhists observe (meditation is not evil...we have a false sense of what meditation truly is), the passion that Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses have for spreading the "good news". I disagree with their methods, but I can't deny their passion and I wish I was that passionate. Don't be afraid to learn from other religions. When you travel to another country, you learn from their culture and customs. But don't go too far with learning from other religions. Look what happened to the Israelites when they "synced" with all the other religions around them. It tore them apart, and it led to their conquering, and exile. Other religions are not evil. Most religions have a lot of things right...just be very careful to create your own religious "plate". Religion is filled with things that are easy to follow, and tough to follow. There are things that I like about Christianity, and things that I don't like. I can't just throw away what I don't like and add things that I like from Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims or whatever.
I realize I've rambled, and I know I have really repeated myself a lot, and likely confused you. I apologize for that. This is more raising ideas, raising concerns, and giving you something to think about. If you are confused, I am sorry. Leave your comments. What do you think of Syncretism? With the spiritual buffet? Should we learn from other religions, or should we try to avoid them? Leave your thoughts!
Lately there seems to have been a religious version of the buffet. People go from church to church, religion to religion and take bits and pieces. Ideas, gods, beliefs and cultures, and mix it together into their own form of "perfect" religion. They create their ideal plate. They have the best of everything, and only what they want. It's called Syncretism. Now, don't get me wrong. I want to say first and foremost that I think there is something that can be learned from pretty much every religion. But when you start taking pieces of this religion, with ideas from that religion and create a religious smorgasborg (I don't know how to spell that), you are living very dangerously. It's like taking Scripture out of context, you lose the intent, the meaning...and you make it mean what you want it to mean. Have you noticed how big yoga has gotten lately? Does anyone realise the religious conotations that go along with Yoga? It's more than just stretching...it's a spiritual action. It would be like if everyone started having baptism groups and we opened up a store that sold baptism tanks and baptism clothes and stuff, and made it into a "cleansing, healing" thing instead of the religious statement that it is. (Note: I'm not tearing into Yoga and thinking people shouldn't do it...I'm just making a point here).
There seems to be 2 waves of thought. There are those people who see all opossing religions as "evil" and "infidels" Like a church in Florida that has people burning the Koran as a show of remembrance for the victims of 911. And saying that Islam is of the devil. Or the Crusades, holocaust, genocides, KKK. All of these stems from a belief that "we are right, and you are wrong and EVIL!". This is the one extreme, and I think that it is just as bad as the other "buffet" extreme I mentioned earlier. The buffet seems more accepting. It seems more peaceful and loving. But is it really? In a sense it is saying, "I like this part of your religion, but the rest of it is crap...so I'll throw that away and add parts of this religion".
Let's learn from other religions yes. I think we should be in awe of the respect Sikhs have to the environment (here in Abbotsford, the walk EVERYWHERE..literally), the quiet meditation that Buddhists observe (meditation is not evil...we have a false sense of what meditation truly is), the passion that Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses have for spreading the "good news". I disagree with their methods, but I can't deny their passion and I wish I was that passionate. Don't be afraid to learn from other religions. When you travel to another country, you learn from their culture and customs. But don't go too far with learning from other religions. Look what happened to the Israelites when they "synced" with all the other religions around them. It tore them apart, and it led to their conquering, and exile. Other religions are not evil. Most religions have a lot of things right...just be very careful to create your own religious "plate". Religion is filled with things that are easy to follow, and tough to follow. There are things that I like about Christianity, and things that I don't like. I can't just throw away what I don't like and add things that I like from Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims or whatever.
I realize I've rambled, and I know I have really repeated myself a lot, and likely confused you. I apologize for that. This is more raising ideas, raising concerns, and giving you something to think about. If you are confused, I am sorry. Leave your comments. What do you think of Syncretism? With the spiritual buffet? Should we learn from other religions, or should we try to avoid them? Leave your thoughts!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Like A Child
One of the most common phrases Jesus says in the Bible is "become like a child". It sounds good, sounds easy and sounds exciting. But what does it mean to have faith like a child? What does that look like?
Being a "camp kid" my whole life, I have been around children constantly. I've seen them at their best, and their worst. And there are a few things I learned while being a cabin leader about being "like a child". First of all, children believe what you tell them.
I remember one time at camp, we told the campers that there were "Bush Sharks" that lived in the bush, and they came out at night...so campers weren't to leave the cabin after lights out. Turns out, they believed us...to the point of getting nightmares and stuff, and so I had to give a public apology to the campers, and tell them that Bush Sharks don't exist (but Lake Chickens do). The point is, they didn't think about it. They just believed it because they trusted us, looked up to us, and respected us. It's got to be the same way with us and God. We have to believe what he says to us. Look at Abraham..God told him to move to a far away land...and Abraham did, without hesitation. God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son...the son that he waited a hundred years for...and he was willing to do that. Now, the challenge is knowing, what is from God and what is only in our head. We sometimes get these ideas in our head that we credit to God, when in reality it is all made up, and has nothng to do with God at all. When you do know it's from God, however...you must act. You can't hesitate (unless God tells you to wait...in which case hesitation is exactly what you should do)...you have to just do it. Go for it. God won't lie to you, or decieve you the same way we did with the campers and Bush Sharks. Trust him..know that he is honest, truthful, and has your best interest in mind.
Another thing about children, is that they ask questions. It almost gets to the point of annoying. My nephew is in the "why?" stage right now, and asks why about EVERYTHING! I think it is important for us to emulate that sense of wonder. As we grow up, we just learn to accept things as they are. We stop asking questions. That can't stop happening. If we don't ask questions, we don't learn, we don't grow, we don't evolve. Ask questions about everything. It's ok to ask questions about the Bible, "why did God do that? what does this mean?", ask questions about God, "how has God been around forever? Does God know everything?"...it's normal, acceptable, and HEALTHY to ask questions, and have an element of doubt.
Finally...well, there are many more characteristics of being a child, but I'm only focusing on three of them..children have fun. They laugh. They joke. While this is easily overlooked as immaturity, I think it is important to take it to heart. I remember reading in the MB herald a long time ago a letter to the editor by someone who said, "Laughter isn't biblical because the bible never mentions Jesus laughing". What a load of BullCRAP! The bible may never have mentioned Jesus laughing, but he hung out with children a lot of the time. It is nearly impossible to be with children and not smile and laugh. Life needs to be fun. Life should be enjoyed. It's a terrible travesty that as we grow up, we become so focused on work, and money, and "surviving" that we stop having fun. Jesus tells us to be like children. ENJOY LIFE! Laugh, joke...have fun. Play games, run around...stare in amazing wonder at the world. I soon will have a new nephew or neice, and it's interesting to watch a baby see things for the first time. Everything is new and exciting to them. The same should be for us. I've found that as I've lived here in BC for a while now, the mountains seem less beautiful and exciting. I need to see them as amazing once again. I take them for granted. We all take so much for granted. Let's enjoy everything, be amazed by it all.
Ask Questions, Trust God, and have fun. 3 key ways to become like a child. What other ways can we be like little children?
Being a "camp kid" my whole life, I have been around children constantly. I've seen them at their best, and their worst. And there are a few things I learned while being a cabin leader about being "like a child". First of all, children believe what you tell them.
I remember one time at camp, we told the campers that there were "Bush Sharks" that lived in the bush, and they came out at night...so campers weren't to leave the cabin after lights out. Turns out, they believed us...to the point of getting nightmares and stuff, and so I had to give a public apology to the campers, and tell them that Bush Sharks don't exist (but Lake Chickens do). The point is, they didn't think about it. They just believed it because they trusted us, looked up to us, and respected us. It's got to be the same way with us and God. We have to believe what he says to us. Look at Abraham..God told him to move to a far away land...and Abraham did, without hesitation. God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son...the son that he waited a hundred years for...and he was willing to do that. Now, the challenge is knowing, what is from God and what is only in our head. We sometimes get these ideas in our head that we credit to God, when in reality it is all made up, and has nothng to do with God at all. When you do know it's from God, however...you must act. You can't hesitate (unless God tells you to wait...in which case hesitation is exactly what you should do)...you have to just do it. Go for it. God won't lie to you, or decieve you the same way we did with the campers and Bush Sharks. Trust him..know that he is honest, truthful, and has your best interest in mind.
Another thing about children, is that they ask questions. It almost gets to the point of annoying. My nephew is in the "why?" stage right now, and asks why about EVERYTHING! I think it is important for us to emulate that sense of wonder. As we grow up, we just learn to accept things as they are. We stop asking questions. That can't stop happening. If we don't ask questions, we don't learn, we don't grow, we don't evolve. Ask questions about everything. It's ok to ask questions about the Bible, "why did God do that? what does this mean?", ask questions about God, "how has God been around forever? Does God know everything?"...it's normal, acceptable, and HEALTHY to ask questions, and have an element of doubt.
Finally...well, there are many more characteristics of being a child, but I'm only focusing on three of them..children have fun. They laugh. They joke. While this is easily overlooked as immaturity, I think it is important to take it to heart. I remember reading in the MB herald a long time ago a letter to the editor by someone who said, "Laughter isn't biblical because the bible never mentions Jesus laughing". What a load of BullCRAP! The bible may never have mentioned Jesus laughing, but he hung out with children a lot of the time. It is nearly impossible to be with children and not smile and laugh. Life needs to be fun. Life should be enjoyed. It's a terrible travesty that as we grow up, we become so focused on work, and money, and "surviving" that we stop having fun. Jesus tells us to be like children. ENJOY LIFE! Laugh, joke...have fun. Play games, run around...stare in amazing wonder at the world. I soon will have a new nephew or neice, and it's interesting to watch a baby see things for the first time. Everything is new and exciting to them. The same should be for us. I've found that as I've lived here in BC for a while now, the mountains seem less beautiful and exciting. I need to see them as amazing once again. I take them for granted. We all take so much for granted. Let's enjoy everything, be amazed by it all.
Ask Questions, Trust God, and have fun. 3 key ways to become like a child. What other ways can we be like little children?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Blame The Media!
I'm sure all of you, at one time or another, have heard someone talk about how the media is corrupting the younger generation. Likely, your parents carefully selected what tv shows, movies and music were acceptable to watch and which were forbidden. If your childhood years were anything like mine, The Simpsons were probably top of the list of shows not allowed to watch, and if the movie wasn't disney or rated G (occasionally PG), it was off limits. As for music...if the artist wasn't a follower of Christ, and said the words Jesus, God, Saved, or Forgiven at least once a verse it shouldn't be on the stereo (I don't know how my sisters got away with listening to Backstreet Boys and N'Sync). Ok...so I am exageratting a little bit, but you can likely relate right? The idea was, the media was trash and if anything "suggestive" got into your head, then it would imediately be followed through, with actions and speech. I actually remember a really lame song that my parents had on cassette tape (remember those things?) called "Input, Output". It was these kids singing in robotic voises (before T-Pain!) about how what goes in our mind comes out, through our words and actions and stuff. In fact, as I write this I have the silly, annoying tune echoing through my brain. But is it really true? Should we really be blaming the media for corrupting us, and our children?
To be perfectly honest, I think blaming the media is a horrible cop out. It's like people who blame God for 9/11, or blaming the ref for losing the game for your team. Yes, perhaps they have something to do with it, but it's not fully their fault. I think the biggest problem with them kids today, is that parents no longer communicate to their kids aobut what they are watching/listening to. In my humble opinion, I believe that if parents would sit with their kids, and watch stuff with them, and then engage them with honest, thought provoking questions about the show or movie, then kids could almost watch anything and not have it affect them in a negative way. I'm not saying that a 4 year old should watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre or anything, obviously it's within reason, but I think that if parents would actually communicate to kids, then things would change dramatically.
I love to go to Plugged In's website. Plugged in is the "media/entertainment critics" for Focus on The Family. Now, I don't go to the website to actually take their advice. Quite frankly, I go there AFTER I watch the movie to see how bad the movie was in their eyse. I often find myself laughing at how negative everything is, and how bad they make small, insignificant things seem. But they strike this fear that the media is to blame for corrupting us. It's not the media's fault. We need open discussion, dialogue, and deal with the issues head on instead of just sticking our heads in the sand. For example, instead of saying that the movie Bruce Almighty is sacriligeous, blasphemous and forbidden...watch it and ask questions. With an open mind, it is a brilliant depiction of why God can't possibly answer "YES" to all of our prayers, and how if we ran the world, things would be a disaster.
To be honest, I think family dynamic has much more to do with the corruption than the media. Kids see their parents constantly fight, their father drink 5 beers a day, everyone swearing, threatening, looking at dirty magazines...and then when they see it on TV, or hear lyrics in songs that match what they see at home, then they assume that it is normal and accepted. On the other hand, a family is loving, occasionaly argues, but always makes up. Swears happen, but not constantly, and onyl at appropriate times, and when alcohol is consumed, it is in a safe limit. These kids will watch the same shows, hear the same music, and yet it contradicts what they see at home, and so they ignore it. The like what they see at home. They love the warmth, the love and the safety. On top of that the parents talk to the kids about how, Media portrays violence as acceptable, and how that violence really isn't the answer to problems. Nor is drugs, alcohol, sex..whatever. Open dialogue, in a loving family and the media's impact is much more minimal. Yes, there are bad things in the media. There are shows that are just disgusting, and pointless. However, there are great shows on TV that kids never get to watch because of a "questionable character" or an "unchristian lifestyle". I think of the shows Modern Family and Glee. They aren't perfect, there are issues with both of them, but both shows depict real life, in a real way. Modern Family shows a very loving family, despite the fact that they are kind of dysfunctional. And Glee follows high school glee club members, who have to face adversity on a daily basis. Yes, it has teen pregnancy, homosexuality and an affair...but it never comes out and condones these things. In fact, in one controversial episode, 3 "couples" are about to go all the way, but only one goes through with it. The one who goes through with it, feels dirty and used. No, it's not a perfect depiction of celibacy, but it does at least push kids into thinking that sex is something sacred, and shouldn't be handled lightly.
So parents...talk with your kids about what they are watching. No, don't let them watch EVERYTHING, but do be a bit open minded. Watch with the kids. Talk with them after, and tell them what is different about the media portrayal and real life. Even those of us who aren't parents...we can still have open discussion and talk about what we watch and listen to. We don't have to be scared about everything. Watching a violent movie isn't going to make you go out an murder people. Trust me, I watched 300 on opening day, and while I was full of adrenaline and testosterone after...I didn't try to kick some guy into a deep well, and shout "THIS IS SPARTA!". A lack of dialogue, and a failure to comminicate, in my mind, are much more to blame than the media. But that is only my perspective...what do you guys think? Is the media to blame?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Homosexuals and the Church
So today, I did a quick glance through the MB Herald and read some letters to the editor about an article that was posted a few issues ago. I haven't read the original article, so I can't give a full honest opinion about everything, but the article was about homosexuality, and it asked the question, apparantly, about whether our perspective is right. Most people wrote in, hateful, spiteful, and angry (I don't want to comment about the inherant nature of MB's to complain...cause that will get me in trouble with a lot of people, so I'll just move on). Anyway, I don't really remember what everyone said, but it did get me thinking about how I feel about the homosexuality issue, and how I think that the church, as a whole (not just the MB church the worldwide church), has made it a much, MUCH bigger issue than it ought to be.
To be perfectly honest, I think the debate about whether it is genetic, or sinful, or that you are born with a gay gene, or it's due to parenting or whatever is pointless. I think it doesn't matter. Too often Christians feel that it is their duty to call certain things a sin, or certain people as sinners. We take it as our mission to judge and condemn certain people. Tiger Woods, who was once a role model is now doomed to eternal damnation. Bill Clinton is likely the spawn of Satan himself. Of course these are exagerations, but I think you get the point. The problem is, it shouldn't be our concern. We aren't supposed to be the judge. That's God's job. So going back to the homosexual issue, Christians have gone on a rampage protesting gay marriage, picketing the PRIDE parades and festivals, and most unfortunately, judging homosexuals out of the church. The very place that they should feel accepted and loved for who they are, they feel like scum. They feel judged and condemned. We quote Scripture and say that the Bible condemns homosexuality...but the Bible also condemnes calling our brothers (and sisters) names, disobeying parents, God HATES divorce, adultery, idolatry. And yet all of these things are not only in the church, they seem to be accepted. No one kicks out someone who tells a lie, or a child who disobeys their parents. Divorce, perhaps they may get the cold shoulder...unless they are a vital part of the church, in which case it is tossed aside and forgotten. Same goes for adultery, greed, lust. We have the worst double standard ever. We are, in a sense, saying that everything is permissible, and forgivable...except homosexuality.
Now, I do think that homosexuality is a sin. It's my opinion, and I could very well be wrong with it, but I think regardless, homosexuals need to be treated with love and respect from the Christian community. We may not agree with their lifestyle choice, or the fact that they want to be married, but they are still children of God. God loves them...He CREATED them. If homosexuality is in fact a sin, it is certainly not worse than any other sin. It's too bad that we have this heirarchy of sins, a list that progresses from "not too bad" to "AWFUL". In God's eyes, it's all the same. Sin is sin. Why do we think we are so much above the law that we can choose what is acceptable and what is not.
We don't have to agree with the lifestyle, we don't have to agree with everything about anyone...but we do have to show love. We have to show acceptance. We need to be willing to cast judgment aside, and just build a relationship. Build a friendship. Look at the life of Jesus. He hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, sinners. There are cases in which we seemed to "preach" to them, but there are many times he was just their friend, being with them and accepting them for who they are. Instead of focusing so much on the lifestyle, let's focus on the person. See them as the loved, respected, and beautiful person that they are. Let God deal with the rest. Let God do the judging.
That's just my thoughts on this issue. I realize it's a very touchy thing, but it's what I think. Feel free to disagree with me, if you so desire.
To be perfectly honest, I think the debate about whether it is genetic, or sinful, or that you are born with a gay gene, or it's due to parenting or whatever is pointless. I think it doesn't matter. Too often Christians feel that it is their duty to call certain things a sin, or certain people as sinners. We take it as our mission to judge and condemn certain people. Tiger Woods, who was once a role model is now doomed to eternal damnation. Bill Clinton is likely the spawn of Satan himself. Of course these are exagerations, but I think you get the point. The problem is, it shouldn't be our concern. We aren't supposed to be the judge. That's God's job. So going back to the homosexual issue, Christians have gone on a rampage protesting gay marriage, picketing the PRIDE parades and festivals, and most unfortunately, judging homosexuals out of the church. The very place that they should feel accepted and loved for who they are, they feel like scum. They feel judged and condemned. We quote Scripture and say that the Bible condemns homosexuality...but the Bible also condemnes calling our brothers (and sisters) names, disobeying parents, God HATES divorce, adultery, idolatry. And yet all of these things are not only in the church, they seem to be accepted. No one kicks out someone who tells a lie, or a child who disobeys their parents. Divorce, perhaps they may get the cold shoulder...unless they are a vital part of the church, in which case it is tossed aside and forgotten. Same goes for adultery, greed, lust. We have the worst double standard ever. We are, in a sense, saying that everything is permissible, and forgivable...except homosexuality.
Now, I do think that homosexuality is a sin. It's my opinion, and I could very well be wrong with it, but I think regardless, homosexuals need to be treated with love and respect from the Christian community. We may not agree with their lifestyle choice, or the fact that they want to be married, but they are still children of God. God loves them...He CREATED them. If homosexuality is in fact a sin, it is certainly not worse than any other sin. It's too bad that we have this heirarchy of sins, a list that progresses from "not too bad" to "AWFUL". In God's eyes, it's all the same. Sin is sin. Why do we think we are so much above the law that we can choose what is acceptable and what is not.
We don't have to agree with the lifestyle, we don't have to agree with everything about anyone...but we do have to show love. We have to show acceptance. We need to be willing to cast judgment aside, and just build a relationship. Build a friendship. Look at the life of Jesus. He hung out with tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, sinners. There are cases in which we seemed to "preach" to them, but there are many times he was just their friend, being with them and accepting them for who they are. Instead of focusing so much on the lifestyle, let's focus on the person. See them as the loved, respected, and beautiful person that they are. Let God deal with the rest. Let God do the judging.
That's just my thoughts on this issue. I realize it's a very touchy thing, but it's what I think. Feel free to disagree with me, if you so desire.
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