I find myself caught in a difficult position; I see a greater truth than the truth I have always been told. I have always deeply sensed there was more to life, more to being a man than just being a good guy, and never hurting anyones feelings. There's more to life than putting on a happy face, pretending the world isn't a cruel place. So what is it that I've been missing? What have I not seen until now? I've always known the language of Christianity, I know the politics and all about faking the behaviors just to appear acceptable. I know all about the artificial art of "Living for God." I've studied the theology, I've seen all the works of God in the hearts and lives of men, but I know now that something has always been missing from what I could see. I fear that something is missing from what we all see. God, or at least the god I was always taught to believe in, was something short of what he was made out to be. The god I was taught to believe in was subject to the powers of men, shackled and burdened with the weight of the demands of human hearts and minds. He was an all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present phony. He was a farce, a fabricated image of a tainted western culture, well suited to fulfill the whims and desires of a sinful, selfish, and demanding human race. God has been reduced to a puppet!
That is not truth. Frankly, it's no wonder the Church is in decline in America. We have heroes like John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Superman, Batman, etc, who needs a puppet god to be a savior? That would be futile. No wonder we gorge ourselves by indulging in our every desire; be it entertainment, food, or even our relationships with other humans. We find temporary satisfaction for the void we feel by not having something real, a true God to satisfy our desire for him. We use other people, our latest and greatest friends, the latest fling, or anyone who seems to suit our desires for some tangible substitute for a seemingly weak god. If my friends can suit my needs, why would I need a puppet to fulfill that? As a whole, we've domesticated God. We've watered down the power of his message; cutting holes in our bibles to make Christianity more palatable, or to steal a term from our modern culture, "seeker friendly." In the process of making the message palatable, we have simultaneously removed its power. One of the greatest preachers of our current century, Haddon Robinson once said "I have come closer to being bored out of Christianity, than being reasoned out of it." The truth is, I share the sentiment of Dr. Robinson, in that I have been bored out of Christianity, but never reasoned out of it. So as I said, I see a greater truth. I hate to even use the word Christian anymore, because it has so many incredible stereotypes attached to it and unfortunately, most are well deserved stereotypes. I don't want what God is, or what many have found, to be associated with any of those previous stereotypes.
I now want to look past tradition and the usual Christianity, and see what we were meant to be. Indeed we find that when God fills the holes that have left us desiring, we find beauty in contentment. For most in Western Culture, contentment is a four letter word. In our society, even in Christian circles, teaching contentment is a heresy. How far is this from the truth. Try eating all of your food without any spice, try living your whole life without laughing; not too pleasant a thought, right? Yet that's what we do when we cut holes in our Bibles, when we try to make the message of God more palatable, it's as if we took the spice off of our food, or the laughter out of life. Replace the genuine character of the message with tradition or legalism, and all you've done is use a different spice. You can't replace God with tradition, you can't replace scripture with legalism, they are not an acceptable substitute for the truth.
What is the message that is so hard to hear? Is there something wrong with God's radical love, that we should fear it? Is there something wrong with admitting that we are indeed sinful, and in need of a savior to help us attain the righteousness necessary to live in relationship with that God who loves us so much? What is wrong with having a substitute to take the penalty for our sins? The cross of Christ is ugly, but the result of that sacrifice is worth it. Sadly, it's not God we have decided to intentionally paint an ignorant picture of, it's ourselves. When we take ourselves out of a correct perspective; subordinate to God, we simultaneously paint an incorrect perspective on God as subordinate to us. When we think God answers to us, we've made Him nothing, and of no effect. He would have no power to change our lives, no power to help our hopeless circumstances, and conveniently, when God is here, when he is nothing, rejecting him is easy. When he is everything, rejecting him is impossible.
As cliche' as it may sound, we have to get ourselves back into the right perspective, then we will have God in his rightful place. And when God is in his rightful place in the hearts and minds of those who claim to follow him, then the world will see and believe in who he is and all that he has done.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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Never The Same
I tried religion, it made me want to die. I tried behavior modification, psychological tricks, and kicked it old-school with tradition; but it all proved itself a dire waste. I tried intellectual stimulation, overloaded on sensory perceptions, and tried the "eff-it" approach to life; but they all left me feeling exactly the same. In other words, "I can't get no satisfaction!" Somewhere along this road, I decided to go back to the starting point. When everything outside of me failed to bring me the life I thought I needed, and conceded to the life I thought I could never have, I gained the life I never knew I always wanted. Since then, I have never been the same!
I suppose you could call it many things: Jesus Freak, Holy Roller, Christian, Christ-Follower, Church Kid, Minster Dude, Pastor, Preacher, or even one of those Bible people. Whatever you call it, no matter how you spin it, see it, like it, hate it, love it, ignore it, follow it, judge it, accept it, percieve it, respect it, deny it, live it, laugh at it, converse about it, fight it, or want it, the bottom line is, it changed me.
I was given a choice, I could either take my life (which at one point seemed logical), or I could give my life (which is what I ultimately decided). I gave my life to someone who promised to give me a more abundant life, and I have never been the same.
See John 10:7-10 for details.
With that said, it is only logical that I should use every opportunity and skill that has been given me to share that change with those who, like I once did, feel empty and dissatisfied. If you're looking for truth, there is a way, a truth, and a life, and he is called Jesus Christ.
I suppose you could call it many things: Jesus Freak, Holy Roller, Christian, Christ-Follower, Church Kid, Minster Dude, Pastor, Preacher, or even one of those Bible people. Whatever you call it, no matter how you spin it, see it, like it, hate it, love it, ignore it, follow it, judge it, accept it, percieve it, respect it, deny it, live it, laugh at it, converse about it, fight it, or want it, the bottom line is, it changed me.
I was given a choice, I could either take my life (which at one point seemed logical), or I could give my life (which is what I ultimately decided). I gave my life to someone who promised to give me a more abundant life, and I have never been the same.
See John 10:7-10 for details.
With that said, it is only logical that I should use every opportunity and skill that has been given me to share that change with those who, like I once did, feel empty and dissatisfied. If you're looking for truth, there is a way, a truth, and a life, and he is called Jesus Christ.