Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Has America Become Content With Superficial Christianity?

I'm not a big fan of excessive complaining, and I even consider myself an optimist.  But certain things about the expression of Christianity in America worry me, especially when I start to see them in myself:

Instead of trusting in the Lord, even with our money, we are content with putting “In God We Trust” on our money.

Rather than honoring Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts, we are content with honoring Him on our t-shirts and facebook profiles.

Jesus said to take up your cross and follow Him, but we are content with taking crosses and putting them up on our walls, and following Christian blogs, podcasts, and "tweets."

We were told to be diligent to make our calling and election sure, but we are content with being diligent in electing politicians who are Christians for sure.

When we should be asking if the Lord’s laws are written on people’s hearts and on their minds, we are content with having them written on courthouse monuments and in our nation’s statutes.

Are we becoming content with superficial Christianity?

Monday, June 18, 2012

Ministry

Convicted. That is the word that describes my experience whilst reading "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I will let his words make up the rest of this post.

"We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will constantly be crossing our paths and canceling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed by the man who had fallen among thieves, perhaps - reading the Bible(Luke 10). When we do that we pass by the visible sign of the Cross raised athwart our path to show us that, not our way, but God's way must be done.

It is a strange fact that Christians and ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God's "crooked yet straight path" (Gottfried Arnold). They do not want a life that is crossed and balked. But it is part of the discipline of humility that we must not spare our hand where it can perform a service and that we do not assume that our schedule is our own to manage, but allow it to be arranged by God.

Only where hands are not too good for deeds of love and mercy in everyday helpfulness can the mouth joyfully and convincingly proclaim the message of God's love and mercy."