What if we actually lived out what Scripture taught? What if, rather than being a passive affiliation our faith occupied every square inch of our being? What if our every decision was made in light of who Christ is, what He has done for us, and what He demands from us in return?
I distance myself from these ideas even as I write them.
This is crazy talk! I'd rather get back to amusing myself with bright lights and sounds than think on any of this. But I'm gonna get tired soon. And I'm gonna turn the lights off. And the darkness is gonna remind me again. I don't like to suffer alone. So I bring you into my world to think on the things that crowd my brain and send it spinning.
Kierkegaard is a dead man (alive in Christ!) who wrote 150 years ago. But his words are as pointed, and jarring today as they were then. The Melancholy Dane, who considered himself the prophet to the Church of Denmark, like Jeremiah the weeping prophet preaching to those who refuse to hear, he wrote:
"When one sees what it is to be a Christian in Denmark, how could it occur to anyone that this is what Jesus Christ talked about: Cross and agony and suffering, crucifying the flesh, suffering for doctrine, being salt, being sacrifice, etc? No, in Protestantism... Christianity marches to a different melody, to the tune "merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along'---Christianity is the enjoyment of life tranquilized, as neither Jew nor pagan was." (Attack Upon "Christendom" Princeton University Press, 1968, p. 34-5)
And...
"If I must be candid, I d not deny that I am not a Christian in the New Testament sense; if I must be honest, I do not deny that my life cannot be called an effort in the direction of denying myself, renouncing the world, dying from it, etc.; rather the earthly and the temporal become more important to me with every year I live." (p. 30).
Sometimes I wish Kierkegaard never said this, sometimes I wish I never read it. But I have, and here I am now accountable... left to deal with the question: What do I do with this?
Clearly, in my life at least, there needs to be change.
Lord, burn away every part of me that rebels again you and the holiness to which I have been called. And by your grace may I pursue you recklessly, even if I am alone. Help me to deny myself and the enticements of this world, and to magnify You! Amen.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Abortion (because i haven't been controversial enough lately)
I was born into and raised under the Protestant, evangelical Christian tradition. Which pretty much means I am an incidental Fundamentalist. You know all those Christians that stood in front of abortion clinics, screaming God's impending judgement? Yeah... those are my peeps! I didn't hang out with anyone all that severe, but all the same, abortion was the hill a lot of believers I knew chose to die on. Coming up through high school and early college I was a avid member of the Christian hardcore/punk scene. In this scene it was pretty much taken for granted that every band had a song against abortion. You're a Christian? Be against abortion!
I'm not a politician. I never wanted to be. My friends and I tried coining our own term for guys like me, the title was "Raging Evangelical*." While I'm still young and working through this it seemed to suit me then and it suits me now (leaving room for the correction of the Holy Spirit). My first concern is the Gospel. I'm convinced that we should be preaching it daily: to ourselves, to fellow believers in the Church, and to those who have not yet come to believe. I have no interest in making Christianly people, I desire to show people the saving grace and hope that comes only through Christ. What good is it to make someone act like a Christian, if they don't have Christ? They may be better company (although, considering some Christians I'm not so sure) but they are still on a path to hell. We've done nothing more than make their ride more comfortable for a time.
I saw abortion in much the same light. I am, always have been, and always will be pro-life. But that wasn't the hill I was going to die on. That wasn't gonna be my fight. It was good for other Christians, and I was indebted to them for taking up the mantle, but it wasn't for me. Give me an attentive ear and the thing that should come up is the Gospel. I'm not saying its wrong to talk about other things, or hold different convictions, I just believe my place in the Church is to be centered on the Gospel above all else.
So abortion was never on my radar. It wasn't the battle I was gonna fight. But over the last year or so my mind has begun changing. I am still a Raging Evangelical, but my heart is softening to the cause. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me over and over again, showing that a lot of my resistance to the cause was more pride and rebellion than founded on Biblical principles.
Over and over again through Scripture it is clear that God's heart is for the outcast, the disenfranchised. He fights for those who cannot fight for themselves. Those who do not have a voice are given a voice by God, that they are not to be taken advantage of or taken for granted. Every life, regardless of their economic contributions, aesthetic appeal, self reliance (or lack thereof), is sacred and worth defending! Because of this I see fighting against abortion as an important part of the life of the Church. We are to be people who love what Christ loves, hate what He hates, and have our hearts break for the things that break His heart. Pro-choice is such an interesting term. Who has the free-choice? Certainly not the child! He has no say in the matter. Someone needs to speak for him, and I am convinced it needs to be the Church.
As I've said, every life is sacred to God, murder is, therefore, a horrible offense. How then do we explain the inconsequential murder of millions of lives every year? Dress it up how you will, its murder. Actually, considering the numbers I'm looking at genocide seems to fit better! In 2005 there were 1.21 million abortions**! That's an impossible number to even think about. In on year 1.21 million children were killed because people didn't want to (or to be fair, in some cases their governments didn't allow them to) have a child. That's (if my math is right) 3,315 children killed every day. That's over 2 kids killed every minute!!!! That means, based on these statistics that in the time it takes to read a blog like this 10-12 kids were aborted. In the time its gonna take me to write this 80 to 120 kids will be killed! How can that not make people outraged? Its an epidemic!
But I'm a Raging Evangelical, with no intention of changing, who loves the Church and desires to serve within the Church. I don't believe I can fight abortion in politics. Its not where I'm called to be, and I have no desire to be there. As of now I won't be the guy protesting abortion clinics or talking about baby finger nails (Juno reference anyone?). I'm not out to change political policy. But I am convinced that the heart of God is to see this tragedy stop. And that can only be done from within the Church.
We pro-life people have to be honest. The government is not gonna stop allowing abortions when they cannot present any sort of alternative. They cannot afford to care for and house these unwanted babies (that's such a horrible sentence!). There is no reasonable alternative presented. We tell governments that killing of babies is wrong. Now we got 1.21 million babies that need homes. We all know that they shouldn't be with the people who wanted to get rid of them. They need a proper home!
That starts with the Church. Christians, if we wanna stop abortions we have to be the solution. Its not enough to shout from roof tops that abortion is murder. We need to get our hands dirty and say that we are the one's who will care for those whom we are trying to save.
Adoption is the answer to abortion. If abortions are gonna become less common it is going to be because the Church answers the call and says that they will care for those who are not wanted and cast aside. In the book of James it is clear that pure religion in the sight of God is (among other things) taking care of orphans. That is the call of the Church. We need to develop a culture of adoption. It should be part of the Church and part of every local church.
I'm not saying its gonna be easy. I'm not saying its something I'm gonna be awesome at or have all the answers on how to make it work. Adoption is hard and brings a lot of difficulties with it. Its work! Its hard! But its the hard that makes it good. If you're not interested in work, in getting your hands dirty then you are gonna have a difficult time being a part of the Church. If we do it together, if the Church stands as one to develop a culture of adoption, then its possible. We can lower the numbers, and give a life to those who would have never had it otherwise. Maybe we won't obliterate abortion entirely, but we can make a difference in individual lives. And if we each family in the Church could save one life... what an impact that would make!
note: these ideas are borrowed generously from a pastor named Chip Ingrim.
*Historians use the term "Neo-Evangelical" for guys like Billy Graham, so I'm taking it one step further. How clever of me!
** stats take from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
I'm not a politician. I never wanted to be. My friends and I tried coining our own term for guys like me, the title was "Raging Evangelical*." While I'm still young and working through this it seemed to suit me then and it suits me now (leaving room for the correction of the Holy Spirit). My first concern is the Gospel. I'm convinced that we should be preaching it daily: to ourselves, to fellow believers in the Church, and to those who have not yet come to believe. I have no interest in making Christianly people, I desire to show people the saving grace and hope that comes only through Christ. What good is it to make someone act like a Christian, if they don't have Christ? They may be better company (although, considering some Christians I'm not so sure) but they are still on a path to hell. We've done nothing more than make their ride more comfortable for a time.
I saw abortion in much the same light. I am, always have been, and always will be pro-life. But that wasn't the hill I was going to die on. That wasn't gonna be my fight. It was good for other Christians, and I was indebted to them for taking up the mantle, but it wasn't for me. Give me an attentive ear and the thing that should come up is the Gospel. I'm not saying its wrong to talk about other things, or hold different convictions, I just believe my place in the Church is to be centered on the Gospel above all else.
So abortion was never on my radar. It wasn't the battle I was gonna fight. But over the last year or so my mind has begun changing. I am still a Raging Evangelical, but my heart is softening to the cause. The Holy Spirit has been convicting me over and over again, showing that a lot of my resistance to the cause was more pride and rebellion than founded on Biblical principles.
Over and over again through Scripture it is clear that God's heart is for the outcast, the disenfranchised. He fights for those who cannot fight for themselves. Those who do not have a voice are given a voice by God, that they are not to be taken advantage of or taken for granted. Every life, regardless of their economic contributions, aesthetic appeal, self reliance (or lack thereof), is sacred and worth defending! Because of this I see fighting against abortion as an important part of the life of the Church. We are to be people who love what Christ loves, hate what He hates, and have our hearts break for the things that break His heart. Pro-choice is such an interesting term. Who has the free-choice? Certainly not the child! He has no say in the matter. Someone needs to speak for him, and I am convinced it needs to be the Church.
As I've said, every life is sacred to God, murder is, therefore, a horrible offense. How then do we explain the inconsequential murder of millions of lives every year? Dress it up how you will, its murder. Actually, considering the numbers I'm looking at genocide seems to fit better! In 2005 there were 1.21 million abortions**! That's an impossible number to even think about. In on year 1.21 million children were killed because people didn't want to (or to be fair, in some cases their governments didn't allow them to) have a child. That's (if my math is right) 3,315 children killed every day. That's over 2 kids killed every minute!!!! That means, based on these statistics that in the time it takes to read a blog like this 10-12 kids were aborted. In the time its gonna take me to write this 80 to 120 kids will be killed! How can that not make people outraged? Its an epidemic!
But I'm a Raging Evangelical, with no intention of changing, who loves the Church and desires to serve within the Church. I don't believe I can fight abortion in politics. Its not where I'm called to be, and I have no desire to be there. As of now I won't be the guy protesting abortion clinics or talking about baby finger nails (Juno reference anyone?). I'm not out to change political policy. But I am convinced that the heart of God is to see this tragedy stop. And that can only be done from within the Church.
We pro-life people have to be honest. The government is not gonna stop allowing abortions when they cannot present any sort of alternative. They cannot afford to care for and house these unwanted babies (that's such a horrible sentence!). There is no reasonable alternative presented. We tell governments that killing of babies is wrong. Now we got 1.21 million babies that need homes. We all know that they shouldn't be with the people who wanted to get rid of them. They need a proper home!
That starts with the Church. Christians, if we wanna stop abortions we have to be the solution. Its not enough to shout from roof tops that abortion is murder. We need to get our hands dirty and say that we are the one's who will care for those whom we are trying to save.
Adoption is the answer to abortion. If abortions are gonna become less common it is going to be because the Church answers the call and says that they will care for those who are not wanted and cast aside. In the book of James it is clear that pure religion in the sight of God is (among other things) taking care of orphans. That is the call of the Church. We need to develop a culture of adoption. It should be part of the Church and part of every local church.
I'm not saying its gonna be easy. I'm not saying its something I'm gonna be awesome at or have all the answers on how to make it work. Adoption is hard and brings a lot of difficulties with it. Its work! Its hard! But its the hard that makes it good. If you're not interested in work, in getting your hands dirty then you are gonna have a difficult time being a part of the Church. If we do it together, if the Church stands as one to develop a culture of adoption, then its possible. We can lower the numbers, and give a life to those who would have never had it otherwise. Maybe we won't obliterate abortion entirely, but we can make a difference in individual lives. And if we each family in the Church could save one life... what an impact that would make!
note: these ideas are borrowed generously from a pastor named Chip Ingrim.
*Historians use the term "Neo-Evangelical" for guys like Billy Graham, so I'm taking it one step further. How clever of me!
** stats take from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_induced_abortion.html
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