"Beyond the Surface" -Kutless
I've been trying to be someone I'm not
all these perfect fake people push us to insane ideals
they're nothing more than counterfeit images
they push me away
to bleed out the pain
stop comparing who you are
to who you want to be
and step out
beyond the surface...
This is only part of the song, but it's a great one. It talks about inside the box Christianity and I for one am a VERY outside the box person. In fact, I've made a lot of enemies here at CF because of my beliefs.
Church today, even Christians, want to create this cookie-cutter mold and stamp out everybody to be just like they are. "If you are like me, then you'll be perfect!"
In the advice section here at CF I found someone who was asking for some help because she looked at all the "pure Christians around her" and when she looked at her own mistakes, she felt filthy. I asked, "what makes you think every Christian is good and pure?" Because to tell the truth, and this may shock a lot of you, Christians aren't as holy and pure that they may appear to be. Like the song says, they are counterfeit images. Fools gold. Not quite the real thing, but try their hardest to come off that way.
My church in Michigan holds biker rallies a least twice a year and have a biker group called H.I.M. (Hogs in Ministry). Bikers come in from all over the place, wearing their chaps and leathers and get to praise the Lord and hear some amazing preaching. During one of these rallies, a group of bikers accidentally went to the wrong church and were asked to leave. Why? Because they weren't wearing suit and tie. They didn't look like everybody else.
We need to stop comparing who we are to who we want to be. When I see this line, I think that so many people desire to be perfect and holy. Heck, I even have my moments where I'm sad because I'm not as good a man as I desire. But that's not who I am. Who am I? I'm a sinner, saved by grace. I'm not saved because I was a good little boy. I wasn't saved because I spent all those years in ministry serving the Lord. Salvation didn't come to me because I wear suit and tie to church (I don't. I usually wear shorts and a tee-shirt, even in the winter
).
No, I was saved by grace. It was a gift given to me by Jesus Christ. It is HIS blood that covers me. HIS sacrifice that took all my sins I'll ever commit and threw them on Himself. He looked dirty to God, so that I'll look clean. He did the work and I have to do nothing but accept it. But I really deserve the punishment.
So when are we going to step out beyond the surface of things? Live outside the box? God never expected us to live by all these church rules and traditions. In fact the only commandments He gave us was to love Him and love people! The veil was torn for us! He didn't say, "come to me, but make sure you dress nice, check yourself at the door, make sure you've been living holy, take your vitamins and if you happen to have pink hair, do not come. Really if you sing to me with other than old time hymns, then you're not welcome in the kingdom of God."
Disclaimer: if this blog makes no sense, I'm sorry It's early.
I've been trying to be someone I'm not
all these perfect fake people push us to insane ideals
they're nothing more than counterfeit images
they push me away
to bleed out the pain
stop comparing who you are
to who you want to be
and step out
beyond the surface...
This is only part of the song, but it's a great one. It talks about inside the box Christianity and I for one am a VERY outside the box person. In fact, I've made a lot of enemies here at CF because of my beliefs.
Church today, even Christians, want to create this cookie-cutter mold and stamp out everybody to be just like they are. "If you are like me, then you'll be perfect!"
In the advice section here at CF I found someone who was asking for some help because she looked at all the "pure Christians around her" and when she looked at her own mistakes, she felt filthy. I asked, "what makes you think every Christian is good and pure?" Because to tell the truth, and this may shock a lot of you, Christians aren't as holy and pure that they may appear to be. Like the song says, they are counterfeit images. Fools gold. Not quite the real thing, but try their hardest to come off that way.
My church in Michigan holds biker rallies a least twice a year and have a biker group called H.I.M. (Hogs in Ministry). Bikers come in from all over the place, wearing their chaps and leathers and get to praise the Lord and hear some amazing preaching. During one of these rallies, a group of bikers accidentally went to the wrong church and were asked to leave. Why? Because they weren't wearing suit and tie. They didn't look like everybody else.
We need to stop comparing who we are to who we want to be. When I see this line, I think that so many people desire to be perfect and holy. Heck, I even have my moments where I'm sad because I'm not as good a man as I desire. But that's not who I am. Who am I? I'm a sinner, saved by grace. I'm not saved because I was a good little boy. I wasn't saved because I spent all those years in ministry serving the Lord. Salvation didn't come to me because I wear suit and tie to church (I don't. I usually wear shorts and a tee-shirt, even in the winter
). No, I was saved by grace. It was a gift given to me by Jesus Christ. It is HIS blood that covers me. HIS sacrifice that took all my sins I'll ever commit and threw them on Himself. He looked dirty to God, so that I'll look clean. He did the work and I have to do nothing but accept it. But I really deserve the punishment.
So when are we going to step out beyond the surface of things? Live outside the box? God never expected us to live by all these church rules and traditions. In fact the only commandments He gave us was to love Him and love people! The veil was torn for us! He didn't say, "come to me, but make sure you dress nice, check yourself at the door, make sure you've been living holy, take your vitamins and if you happen to have pink hair, do not come. Really if you sing to me with other than old time hymns, then you're not welcome in the kingdom of God."
Disclaimer: if this blog makes no sense, I'm sorry
It's early.
