Dude break has been great mainly because I’ve gotten the rare opportunity to read. I love reading- more than TV & Sports and DEFINATLY more than video games. Maybe that means I’m growing up, maybe I’m an old man. Good books have got to be the best presents ever- and at the rate I’m going I’ll have enough from Christmas to get me through the year. Mainly a lot of awesome Christian thinkers like Don Miller, C.S. Lewis, and Ravi Zacharias. So since I got all these books I figure it’s a shame to read them and not share/discuss/debate what I’ve seen. I know there are quite a few Christian thinkers out there so if you agree or disagree or care at all- please respond or write your own thoughts on your blog because if nothing else, God loves it when we talk about him.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
I just finished Searching for God Knows What. Pretty stinkin good. One thing that stood out for me (among many many….which I’ll expand on later) was this. Feel free to talk amongst yourselves:
When I meet a non-Christian do I spend more time & energy trying to reconcile Christianity to them or pointing them to Jesus?
This got me thinking quite a bit. I mean- at least half of the non-Christians I’ve met were driven away because the church has hurt them in the past, and I often find myself being placed in a position where I’m forced to be a reconciler. Usually it takes a few months for many at school to realize that these Christian folks are real people who genuinely care and (gasp!) love them. Many times its loveless contact evangelism, fire and brimstone, and checksheet Christianity clean up work and I often catch myself focusing more on how we’ve twisted the Good News rather than the message of Christ itself.
Crafty little devil isn’t he….
And so I turn into another bitter cynic off in the corner- just what the church needs. At times I find that many of us love to point at the faults of the church without taking any ownership or getting our hands dirty to bring about Godly change. Instead we turn to bitterness- we cross our arms & pout like 4 year olds.
Hebrews 12: 14-15 is awesome here:
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.”
See? Not only do we “cause trouble” and “defile many” by harboring this bitterness, but perhaps more importantly- we fail to see God and his blessings and are blinded to His purpose for our lives.
WHOA!
5 comments:
Awesome thoughts. I think you are right. I have found myself in the same situation many times. I think there is a balance between being honest that the church has screwed up in the past and in different places, but having with that the hope and desire for what could be... we need a vision for what the Church should be. And we need to seek God to know what his vision for our life is, what our part of that bigger vision is. I think that is where we need to be to avoid the caution in Hebrews 15.
yea man, i think it's augustine or someone who said the church is a whore, and it's my mother. so the church and those in it definitely have made mistakes over the years, but the hope we have in Christ is that He continues to grow and transform us into more holy beings and i think at the same time He transforms His church more and more into His bride.
Amen
Mmmm delicious....why arent more folks at Tech in on this blogging thing?
Honestly I started because of GUPY, before that I didn't want to take the time. And I didn't want to share my thoughts, now I am not afraid to, and it is a good way to keep up with my friends thoughts/lives.
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