Most of the world notices the atrocities that Christians have committed. The crusades, Old Testament events, and even modern day justifications for a child’s upraising is among the most notable. Is Christianity to blame for what its claimed followers have done in its name? I for one say no. Christianity is not to blame what a few have done because of a few misguided principles or because of their own desires.
The Bible is not an absurd, unreasonable, or illogical thing to trust. True, some have been illogical in how they present their belief; indeed, many have made claims that have only assumptive basis about the Bible- like the idea that it is God’s Word (when John 1 states that Jesus is God’s Word). However, that does not make the Bible itself illogical.
But enough about logic and justification. What is the Bible about? To properly paint the picture, let me reference Ted Dekker’s Circle trilogy. In this trilogy, there is a concept known as the Great Romance, and this Great Romance is just what it sounds like- romance, or love. This love, in the book, is engaged in between God’s (or Elyon’s) followers and God/Elyon, and God/Elyon and his diseased creations. This love is the basis for the entire book and is the central part of every follower. Similarly, this love and romance is what a Christian’s love should look like between themselves and God, and between themselves and non-Christians. One would have to read the trilogy to understand this point.
But here is where I expand on it. As Christians, we [should] think it is an awesome thing when people show God’s love. In fact, it should be so essential that we should be throwing parties to celebrate this love. Yet the only time we do this is around Christmas or Easter. That is a complete load of excrement, to put it mildly. God is a party animal. The Jews, in their supposed legalism, have more parties and festivals than we do.
And as if that were not enough, people find it suspect when a man decides to show his love for kids (one could easily say ‘God’s love for kids’) rather than sitting around conversing with people his own age. But one must ask in that instance- where are the parents, and is it not their job to love their children? Why should they be suspicious of a man loving on their kids when this man has been part of their church for some time now? Why should his struggle with an unrelated issue cause them to prevent him from ministering? The answer to the last two questions, of course, is that it should not happen among Christians. We show love, we accept love, and we celebrate love.
Indeed, we spend so much time arguing over little snippets of excrement that are so low on the priority list that it is a wonder we even get anything done as a body of believers. Things like ‘what will the sermon be’ or ‘which ministry should I be involved in’. Sometimes even what kind of music to play. The reality of any of those questions is that everyone is different, and we need to be leaning on the Lord for answers. If we actually are seeking God in prayer we will not even need to have meetings or councils or boards.
The God we espouse on Sunday mornings is the same God that wants us to show love to his creations- his people, all throughout the week, not just on Sundays. If we truly wish to call ourselves Christians, we would do better in the simple matter of loving people. It is easy. In fact, let me write a quick how to.
Loving starts with letting go. We let go of our worries of what people will think, we let go of our questions of ‘what if it doesn’t make a difference’, and we let God work through us. For some who have grown up in the church, it is difficult to figure out if ‘love’ is real or if it is just what we are supposed to do. Actions speak louder than any thought or words we might let loose in our worlds. Because of this, loving is something that we do not do intentionally- it is something we let ourselves do. We just do it. It is automatic. In the case of children, it has nothing to do with how it looks. You just go play with them. If they jump on you and it hurts, you simply tell them that it hurts. It does not mean you stop playing and having fun, it means you lay down boundaries so injuries are avoided. The only reason that I mention working with kids is because it is what I, the author of this ‘rant’ do best.
The next step in love is letting those who express doubt about your ability to lead, teach, have fun, or whatever it is you are doing when you are expressing love think whatever they want to about you. Yes, that is hard. But it does not mean we should be constantly fretting about what people think. This brings me to another point in this ‘rant’.
As Christians, we should be different than most. We should stand out, and we should be following Jesus, no matter what the cost is. This cost might be a few people we might otherwise consider friends. If that is too hard, then that person needs to either find out how to deal with it, or leave the Christian faith. You cannot separate Christianity from standing out.
As a final point in this rant, I would like to point out that Christ was persecuted. Christ had insults hurled at him. He was even killed for what he believed in. If any Christian is not willing to actually follow what Jesus did and is not willing to associate themselves with the kind of love Jesus displays for everyone, then they should immediately leave the church. The reason is simple- they are going to do more harm than good, and they will hinder people from achieving who God wants them to be.
The Bible is not an absurd, unreasonable, or illogical thing to trust. True, some have been illogical in how they present their belief; indeed, many have made claims that have only assumptive basis about the Bible- like the idea that it is God’s Word (when John 1 states that Jesus is God’s Word). However, that does not make the Bible itself illogical.
But enough about logic and justification. What is the Bible about? To properly paint the picture, let me reference Ted Dekker’s Circle trilogy. In this trilogy, there is a concept known as the Great Romance, and this Great Romance is just what it sounds like- romance, or love. This love, in the book, is engaged in between God’s (or Elyon’s) followers and God/Elyon, and God/Elyon and his diseased creations. This love is the basis for the entire book and is the central part of every follower. Similarly, this love and romance is what a Christian’s love should look like between themselves and God, and between themselves and non-Christians. One would have to read the trilogy to understand this point.
But here is where I expand on it. As Christians, we [should] think it is an awesome thing when people show God’s love. In fact, it should be so essential that we should be throwing parties to celebrate this love. Yet the only time we do this is around Christmas or Easter. That is a complete load of excrement, to put it mildly. God is a party animal. The Jews, in their supposed legalism, have more parties and festivals than we do.
And as if that were not enough, people find it suspect when a man decides to show his love for kids (one could easily say ‘God’s love for kids’) rather than sitting around conversing with people his own age. But one must ask in that instance- where are the parents, and is it not their job to love their children? Why should they be suspicious of a man loving on their kids when this man has been part of their church for some time now? Why should his struggle with an unrelated issue cause them to prevent him from ministering? The answer to the last two questions, of course, is that it should not happen among Christians. We show love, we accept love, and we celebrate love.
Indeed, we spend so much time arguing over little snippets of excrement that are so low on the priority list that it is a wonder we even get anything done as a body of believers. Things like ‘what will the sermon be’ or ‘which ministry should I be involved in’. Sometimes even what kind of music to play. The reality of any of those questions is that everyone is different, and we need to be leaning on the Lord for answers. If we actually are seeking God in prayer we will not even need to have meetings or councils or boards.
The God we espouse on Sunday mornings is the same God that wants us to show love to his creations- his people, all throughout the week, not just on Sundays. If we truly wish to call ourselves Christians, we would do better in the simple matter of loving people. It is easy. In fact, let me write a quick how to.
Loving starts with letting go. We let go of our worries of what people will think, we let go of our questions of ‘what if it doesn’t make a difference’, and we let God work through us. For some who have grown up in the church, it is difficult to figure out if ‘love’ is real or if it is just what we are supposed to do. Actions speak louder than any thought or words we might let loose in our worlds. Because of this, loving is something that we do not do intentionally- it is something we let ourselves do. We just do it. It is automatic. In the case of children, it has nothing to do with how it looks. You just go play with them. If they jump on you and it hurts, you simply tell them that it hurts. It does not mean you stop playing and having fun, it means you lay down boundaries so injuries are avoided. The only reason that I mention working with kids is because it is what I, the author of this ‘rant’ do best.
The next step in love is letting those who express doubt about your ability to lead, teach, have fun, or whatever it is you are doing when you are expressing love think whatever they want to about you. Yes, that is hard. But it does not mean we should be constantly fretting about what people think. This brings me to another point in this ‘rant’.
As Christians, we should be different than most. We should stand out, and we should be following Jesus, no matter what the cost is. This cost might be a few people we might otherwise consider friends. If that is too hard, then that person needs to either find out how to deal with it, or leave the Christian faith. You cannot separate Christianity from standing out.
As a final point in this rant, I would like to point out that Christ was persecuted. Christ had insults hurled at him. He was even killed for what he believed in. If any Christian is not willing to actually follow what Jesus did and is not willing to associate themselves with the kind of love Jesus displays for everyone, then they should immediately leave the church. The reason is simple- they are going to do more harm than good, and they will hinder people from achieving who God wants them to be.
