musta been a dog person
I really don’t understand the way that some people think. Are some people really that irritable that they can’t stand a cat being in a small town’s post office, so much so that they complain that since the cat doesn’t pay taxes, it has no right to be in the institution. Are some people really so afraid of personal responsibility that they will sue McDonald’s for $2.9 million because they spilled coffee on themselves? Are some people so blinded by what they see as wrong that they will destroy a building and put lives in risk instead of loving the people and praying for alternatives to abortion?
As odd of a jump as it may seem, this reminds me of Israel and the Pharisees back in Biblical times. Both of their actions elicit a similar feeling of frustration from within me.
I had this thought a few months ago at Real Men: whenever I study the Bible and read of the Israelites following a pillar of clouds by day and a pillar of fire by night, witnessing the Red Sea parting and then walking through it themselves, and yet creating a golden calf to worship within only a few days of Moses leaving to go up Mt. Sinai, or the Pharisees memorizing the entirety of the Torah by the time they were 13, tying scripture to their foreheads, dedicating their lives to piety and devotion to the LORD, and yet twisting God’s laws to their own purposes and subjecting their own people to a law of rules instead of a law of love, and failing to recognize their messiah, the one they had been waiting centuries for, and instead crucifying him, I can’t help but think, “How?! How could these people ignore God’s word and the miracles that they had witnessed, and twist this truth into a religion?”
Yet, what separates the church today, and myself, from the errors of our predecessors? It’s a terribly frightening thought. How has today’s church compromised and strayed from the truth and instead created our own religion?
The biggest deviation from God’s true word that I can see is the church’s use of money(God’s money!). I don’t doubt that exciting youth groups and impressive buildings can attract people to certain churches, but isn’t there a point where money is better spent on feeding Africans or sending Bibles to China instead of on a new high def television or nicer sound equipment? Isn’t it ridiculous to hear a sermon on humility, servant-hood, and love, and then leave the church, get into your BMW and drive to an overpriced steakhouse?
These are by no means sins of which I am innocent. I will readily admit that society has corrupted my personal beliefs to the point where I may not even know that what I am doing is contradictory to the truth, God’s truth. I really wish that a third-party would step in and say, “Alex, look at your life. Now look at the life we are called to live. Lets help each other.” What this world needs is Christians who don’t just accept what their churches tell them, this world needs is Christians who question all of the norms in the church and in society, who live by God’s word, who love freely.
As Ghandi famously said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
To my brothers and sisters in Christ: Please, let us help each other. If you see a way in which our faith has been compromised by our society or by convinience, then lets find out where God actually calls us to be. And if you see me acting in a way outside of the way I was created to, please(!) let me know. Isn’t that what the church is for? To help each other strive for the truth and to help the world see the truth.
If any of you have any other examples of how the church has deviated from what God called it to be, please post your ideas. I’m really hoping to get some interesting responses.
