From Thabiti Anyabwile's blog:- Turn their sacred Scripture into coloring books for children, or bedtime stories with full color sketches.
- Reduce the central message or teachings of their religion to a T-shirt slogan.
- Tweet that central message or those key teachings.
- Wear sandwich boards with their messages placarded on them.
- Record sacred music that sounds like cheesy love songs.
I have struggled with the sin of finding amusement with how others choose to show their faith. I find it a little like the Pharisee who is thankful that he is not as sinful as the Publican. I have struggled whether to find enjoyment regarding these types of posts. I will agree that Christians are probably more guilty than others of doing the things you speak of. I am probably out of the fold on this one a bit. I am also guilty of this type of behavior. I do not think that this is edifying. I do not think this is God glorifying.
ReplyDeleteI will leave you with a quote from Francis Schaeffer from his book A Christian Manifesto:
"Returning to the Moral Majority, we must realize that regardless of whether we think the Moral Majority has always said the right things or whether we do not, or whether we think they have made some mistakes or whether we do not, they have certainly done one thing right: they have used the freedom we still have in the political arena to stand against the other total entity. They have carried the fact that law is king, law is above the lawmakers, and God is above the law into this area of life where it always should have been. And this is a part of true spirituality.
The Moral Majority has drawn a line between the one total view of reality and the other total view of reality and the results this brings forth in government and law. And if you personally do not like some of the details of what they have done, do it better. But you must understand that all Christians have got to do the same kind of thing or you are simply not showing the Lordship of Christ in the totality of life."
My charge to us would be:
And if you/I personally do not like some of the details of what they have done, do it better.
Thanks for your comments, RC. I would have to say that I agree with you to a point.
ReplyDeleteWe can go too far and see these things as sources of amusement, which may lead to a sense of self-righteousness. But I do think things like the t-shirt image I posted are insults to the gospel. Such narrow, context-free catch phrases are misleading and distort the truths found in scripture.
I don't really see this as "finding amusement with how others choose to show their faith." I think Anyabwile's points are worded to make us reflect on our own actions and how we show our faith. And while it would be unfair to paint everyone with a broad brush, there is much truth in what he says.
Yes, I must agree with your final charge. If any of us personally do not like some of the details of what others do, then we need to do it better.
Thanks for commenting Lee and I see your points as well. I struggle with the issue. I have walked through a Christian bookstore with my friend, who was the theology buyer, and seen things that would make me want to simultaneously laugh and cry. My friend had no control over the majority of the bookstore. I do believe that these items can be very destructive to someone who does not understand the Gospel and just knows a similitude of it through pop Christianity. It is a very difficult situation. I am more upset with the peddlers of this trash than the consumers, however, the consumer bears some of the responsibility.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work.