Not to name-drop, but I was pretty stoked that one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, tweeted back to my response to his tweet. Unfortunately I am terrible at presenting a clear and intelligent point within the limitations of 140 characters. But that's not my point.
Yesterday was Easter Sunday. Easter is the most important day in Christian faith. I love everything about the day, the hope, the renewal of life, the time with my church family, and how gorgeous my wife looks in her Easter finest.
But this year was different. I don't know if it's just because I am more aware or if the world really has taken a sharp turn. This year, amid all of the wonderful aspects of the day, I found my heart breaking. This year I couldn't help but notice all of my unchurched friends, and even some that have been brought up in church, posting things on various forms of social media that I found to be offensive. I found the "Zombie Jesus" jokes and cartoons in particularly disturbing. Considering the current zombie trend in television and movies, this is not okay. Zombies are portrayed as mindless, soulless beasts bent on feasting on the flesh of the living. As Christians, calling Jesus a zombie should piss us off! (Yes, I typed a slightly offensive word and ended a sentence in a preposition. That should be some illustration of how angered this makes me.)
Why is it that if someone speaks against other religions they are considered hateful and intolerant, but Christianity is fair game? Not long ago I saw a picture someone had posted where Jesus and Santa Claus were riding a dinosaur while UFO's were shooting from the sky. I told the person I found it offensive and they basically called me a whiner. Yet when word got out a while back that there was to be an episode of the cartoon South Park featuring Muhammad, they creators of the show received death threats and were protested. Why the double standard?
I understand that the Bible warned us this would happen.
1 Corinthians tells us:
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For the most part, I kept silent on the offensive posts, but I did call out one friend and he totally didn't get it.
I would really like to hear your opinions on this. First, have you seen the things I've mentioned or similar? If so, how did you respond? If not, how would you respond?
I really want to turn the other cheek, but dang, they both are getting pretty tired!
Monday, April 21, 2014
Monday, April 14, 2014
Not Okay, Yet
Greetings,
Some interesting thoughts that I want (or probably need) to share. I've always been pretty transparent so why change now?
I've been going through some junk with my eyes. I was born with congenital glaucoma. In the past I was extremely vigilant about my eye care. I went to specialists regularly and did an excellent job at taking the necessary medications to keep them under control. But then came money issues. I'll spare you the details, except to say that I haven't been properly caring for my eyes. In the past year I have seen steady degeneration in my vision. So I finally sought treatment. For a minute things looked like they were going great and that everything would be better. During that brief period it was easy for me to be positive. I had no problem telling people how I had put the situation in God's hands and that I was willing to trust Him no matter the outcome.
But then things didn't go as smoothly as they originally appeared to be headed. Suddenly the answers that seemed to be miraculously headed my way didn't pan out in the ways I had expected. Perhaps I misread some of the signs. But either way I must admit that I'm disappointed. I've been attempting to mask my disappointment and push through. I tell myself that the words I said a week ago are still true. And I really do believe it. But that doesn't stop me from currently feeling sad, frustrated, and quite a bit scared. I don't want to go blind! Even as I type this I tell myself to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding" (Psalms 3:5.)
Here is the thing. For a change, I'm not running away. In the past I might have rebelled by crawling in to my own personal pity pit. I probably would have skipped church and church-related activities. But this time I have realized how dumb those decisions were in the past. First Corinthians 12 tells us how we are one body. I've really been allowing that one to roll around in my brain this week. I got this strangely weird and very cool image:
Imagine a body having a broken leg. It doesn't just lay in bed until the leg gets around to mending. The arms grab a pair of crutches in order to help the body continue to move as necessary until the leg is strong enough to resume its assigned role.
I went to church yesterday. I think I did a decent job of not wearing my emotions on my sleeve. But at the same time, when asked, I was honest. I shared with at least two arms, Karen and Mark, how I was feeling. These friends didn't tell me I was dumb for feeling that way. (Funny thought, just as with crutches, if we rely on armpits we're going to be in a great deal of pain; it's important to share our struggles with those who won't put us down for feeling the way we do.) Instead, these arms shared the load and promised to pray. And they built me up with words of encouragement. They didn't chastise me for my past failures in getting treatment (which an armpit would do.) They had compassion. I was again reminded how God is in control. And even if things go differently than I would like, I am part of a body. I'm still working through my feelings as far as my eyes are concerned. But I know that with God, and the body of Christ, everything will be okay.
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed- Deuteronomy 31:8
Some interesting thoughts that I want (or probably need) to share. I've always been pretty transparent so why change now?
I've been going through some junk with my eyes. I was born with congenital glaucoma. In the past I was extremely vigilant about my eye care. I went to specialists regularly and did an excellent job at taking the necessary medications to keep them under control. But then came money issues. I'll spare you the details, except to say that I haven't been properly caring for my eyes. In the past year I have seen steady degeneration in my vision. So I finally sought treatment. For a minute things looked like they were going great and that everything would be better. During that brief period it was easy for me to be positive. I had no problem telling people how I had put the situation in God's hands and that I was willing to trust Him no matter the outcome.
But then things didn't go as smoothly as they originally appeared to be headed. Suddenly the answers that seemed to be miraculously headed my way didn't pan out in the ways I had expected. Perhaps I misread some of the signs. But either way I must admit that I'm disappointed. I've been attempting to mask my disappointment and push through. I tell myself that the words I said a week ago are still true. And I really do believe it. But that doesn't stop me from currently feeling sad, frustrated, and quite a bit scared. I don't want to go blind! Even as I type this I tell myself to "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding" (Psalms 3:5.)
Here is the thing. For a change, I'm not running away. In the past I might have rebelled by crawling in to my own personal pity pit. I probably would have skipped church and church-related activities. But this time I have realized how dumb those decisions were in the past. First Corinthians 12 tells us how we are one body. I've really been allowing that one to roll around in my brain this week. I got this strangely weird and very cool image:
Imagine a body having a broken leg. It doesn't just lay in bed until the leg gets around to mending. The arms grab a pair of crutches in order to help the body continue to move as necessary until the leg is strong enough to resume its assigned role.
I went to church yesterday. I think I did a decent job of not wearing my emotions on my sleeve. But at the same time, when asked, I was honest. I shared with at least two arms, Karen and Mark, how I was feeling. These friends didn't tell me I was dumb for feeling that way. (Funny thought, just as with crutches, if we rely on armpits we're going to be in a great deal of pain; it's important to share our struggles with those who won't put us down for feeling the way we do.) Instead, these arms shared the load and promised to pray. And they built me up with words of encouragement. They didn't chastise me for my past failures in getting treatment (which an armpit would do.) They had compassion. I was again reminded how God is in control. And even if things go differently than I would like, I am part of a body. I'm still working through my feelings as far as my eyes are concerned. But I know that with God, and the body of Christ, everything will be okay.
It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed- Deuteronomy 31:8
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)