Tuesday, August 16, 2005
The Christian Paradox
Using my StumbleUpon button this fine afternoon I happened across this exerpt from Harpers.org called The Christian Paradox. In don't really have time to comment right now but I thought it was some interesting food for thought. Maybe I'll sit down later and voice some opinions but knowing me, I probably won't. I guess we'll see......
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5 comments:
Ah. The link is now corrected.
Mc Kibben says, "...in the days before his crucifixion, when Jesus summed up his message for his disciples, he said the way you could tell the righteous from the damned was by whether they’d fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the prisoner."
MG, I think this was a very interesting article. Honestly, I think we (from here on out till the end of the comment used in the sense of most, not all), as Americans, are used to not having to make an effort to get the fundamental things in life, like the stuff on Maslow's heirarchy (food, shelter, love). We have had many priviledges handed down to us through generations like a silver spoon. we've forgotten what struggling for basic things feels like. We beleive we are entitled to them and so when others try to take things away from us, whether it be our "cloak", tv, car, money, self-respect, by means of higher gas prices, stealing, or degradation, our initial reaction is not one of compassion or questioning, but rather "it's mine!" We do this to one another as well as to outsiders. Over time, humility and compassion have given way to ego and selfishness. Now "egotistical" and "selfish" are very strong words that no-one would want to own up to, but really now, I think we are just so wrapped up in ourselves we don't even realize how much! Each individual's needs and beliefs seem to be most important to them (the idea of Constitutional Rights combined with individualism, out-of- control). When we are all wrapped up in oursleves, we cannot possibly find the time to think about others outside "our world". It's easy to ignore people crying for help in other countries, or even down the street when it has seemingly little affect on our everyday lives.
I'm not just accusing Americans as a whole, I'm accussing myself as well. Many times, I look the other way about things I am uncomfortable with simply because I don't know what to do and because I can get away with it. I know I am self-serving and spend a majority of my time worrying about "my" future and what "I" want. Yeah sure, it's easy to cover up, especially as a Christian when I've learned how to merely "say" what I'm supposed to truly "mean", but the question is do my actions reflect that?. This is why I really think it's important to get out and minister to others...because the longer we are stagnant and naive about the rest of the world, the harder it is to believe the real truth...which is that there are many diverse people in the world going through many different types of struggles and they are just as valid to God as we are.
I am taking advantage of the fact that my post could be as long as I want...because I know I could never say all this in succession in an actual conversation with MGam! :)
LB
A thank-you to everyone who's commented so far. All these thoughts are very interesting, and I agree and empathize 100%.
Something that we humans (I'm thinking specifically Americans and Germans, since those are the two cultures I have experience with) forget is one important fact of our fallen nature, our reality:
We have no rights.
As the sinful, imperfect creatures that we are, we have no rights. Yes, certain man-made laws give us rights....But these are what they are: man-made, imperfect, temporary. These laws and so-called rights mean nothing, *are* nothing, in the face of eternity. With this in mind, "It's my right" is a stupid statement, at best.
We humans have no rights. None of us. All we have are privileges which God has decided to give us. And he can take those privileges away at any time he chooses to be the right time.
We humans have privileges.
God has rights.
I must say that I am in awe of the comments so far. I think Pound probably has carpal tunnel after typing that, and I hope she does since she took that shot at me! ;-)
But to the point...
The problem is that we DO have "rights". And that's the cause of such distraction to us. I just see Satan preying on our minds through these. He has convinced us that these "rights" are more important than anything else and as Christians we should be the one keeping the eternal perspective, but we don't. We are as guilty as any for crying foul when something happens to us that we don't like. We will take others to court to right wrongs and take care of ourselves. How often to do we really put into practice the claim that loving our neighbor is how we show our love to God. Of course we do if we like our neighbor but not if it's someone we don't like and someone who has violated our "rights." Mom, I agree totally that God doesn't have an interest in our happiness, but somewhere we missed that point, at least our lives seem to show that.
Of course I'm speaking in generalities but isn't that what we do? We turn Christianity into a lesson or practice of morals rather than actually applying what God would have us do. We say "Don't practice this" or "Don't live like that" rather than exhibiting God's love in our lives. I mean do we really practice Acts 2:42-47? I know I sure don't.
I completely agree with posted comments. Laura, great insight! We as this “Christian” nation do seem to get a lot of things wrong. Life experience has taught me that we have done a very poor job of doing the very things that Christ commanded us to do. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39. The command that Christ gave us can not be separated, to love God we must love our neighbor and to love our neighbor we must love God. Many people claim to love God, but they do not express in actions toward their “neighbor.” The attitude of most of our society is “I want what I want and how I want it right now, no matter what the cost.” With the nature of my job, I have seen and been given many opportunities to live out this commandment. I am not saying that I do it every day, far from it. But I see coworkers and clients alike that will call themselves followers of Christ, but showing the love of God by loving their neighbor is something that is rarely if ever practiced. I stepped back the other day from a situation and started asking myself if I was doing what it was that God would want me to do. I was shocked and ashamed of how unloving I had become. God has given us all so many opportunities to fulfill His commandment and yet how many of us just glaze over and don’t even realize how unloving and unfeeling we have become? I could excuse this away for myself and those that I work with as professionalism, but commands from God far exceed that which man has given us. The commandment that God gave us is not impossible; in fact it’s quite simple. God just asks us to look for the opportunities He has given us and act upon them.
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