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November 29, 2007
Finding Depravity in Nobility
Lately there has been a huge movement in the Christian church towards social justice. Missions trip after missions trip, inner-city outreach after inner-city outreach, local churches like Rock Harbor and Soul Survivor are doing everything they can to enact the gospel. This is a good thing. However, many have overreacted. The overreaction has not come by way of action, but by way of paradigm and worldview.
I hear a lot of talk about the poor. And I have a question: who are these people? Who is poor in this country? By what standard are we qualifying "poor" in America? Allow me to reference lyrics from a new song by my friend Tyrone:
"Take all the medal and wood / used in the waging of war / and teach the men who made those weapons / to build a shelter for the poor"
I think that this is a pretty common sentiment amongst people my age. We're tired of our government misbehaving, and we're heartbroken over injustice in the world. But I think we're also tragically naive. I submit to you that it is VERY difficult to be "poor" in this country. Even with all of our laws and regulations, we're still the freest society that this world has ever seen, and generally speaking, if you want something, you can have it. But you must work. Many if not most homeless people are homeless by choice. Go talk to them! Seriously! They know that they can live off of the charity of our government and the philanthropy of our citizens.
I think that this is the reason Jesus' talked about taking care of orphans and widows. Because they are the one's who really get screwed, and may not have a way out. But as far as I'm concerned, if someone can work and choses not to, screw 'em. I feel no sympathy for them. But for those who get screwed, I do.
What has developed because of our naivety in the church is a piety we've not seen recently. There is a general attitude of malice towards those who are not outwardly passionate about social justice. And so once again we have replaced the gospel with legality. Because when it comes to legality, who is in control? Not God! WE ARE! And control is what we're all really after.
I guess it just really annoys me to hear christians talk about things they know nothing about. Poverty is a very, complicated issue, and the reality is that it will never go away. It's part of the deal. Secularists call it human nature. I call it depravity. Please don't misunderstand me. Philanthropy is good. Helping those in need is good and indeed what we are asked to do as Christians. But I'm just wanting us to get out head on straight about it. Why are we doing it?
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
November 14, 2007
Faith Like A Child
Sometimes I think about being a kid. Once in a great while, I get the feeling of being a kid. That feeling that anything is possible and the world is exciting and new. That feeling of wonder in it's truest sense. "Who cares about all that adult stuff? Have you tasted how good candy is?" "Who cares about money? Have you felt how much fun it is to jump on a trampoline?" "Worry? What is worry?" I think that this is how we were created. I think that this is how heaven is. And I also think that there is much to be learned from Jesus saying "Have faith like a child". I get there, sometimes. I get there when I am trusting in God, finding my worth and value in the fact that he loves me. I get there when my wife and I have conversations on our couch, and find ourselves laughing really really hard. I get there when I live in reality, and contextualize everything with our common need for love.
And then, Christopher Hitchens happens. On youtube. And I'm back to my introverted, stressed, slightly depressed self. And it is there that I saw the need for salvation in the first place. The irony is that this tension I feel in the realm of religious hatred and debate is the very thing that led me to Christianity in the first place. But it's foolish to trust God. It's foolish to believe in a philosopher who lived 2000 years ago and did a whole bunch of stuff that a lot of other guys did. It's foolish to think that the human race is "flawed". There is no such thing as "flawed". Everything just is what it is. Right?
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 07:50 AM | Comments (0)
November 07, 2007
Sometimes
Sometimes I feel completely lost. Like I really have no idea what the truth is. I go down so many roads in my mind, and when I feel like I've finally arrived somewhere, another idea or fact or event comes into reality and blows everything apart again. I love doing business. I love creating a company that will one day be large and generate a lot of profit. And then I read the Bible. And I feel that the two are diametrically opposed. I really do love God though! Jesus says so many hardcore things. So many. Sheep from goats, wheat from chaff, narrow road to life, with few finding it. And these things REALLY stress me out. Because I so badly want them to not be true. I really don't even know what they mean in the first place, but I know how the feel, and I don't like it one bit. I don't get it. I don't understand why God did it this way. I don't like that God did it this way. And so I come back to this place of partial agnosticism, mostly because I just can't think about it anymore. I just throw up my hands and say "i don't know!". Because I really don't. And it feels so much better to just go about my life and play with these little things that I can control. It feels so much better to hope in a "good life" for my family. Because I can do that! I can make that happen! But my condition, that's a whole 'nother story. I can't change my condition. I can only change my actions. Feel exhausted? This is where i'm at.
Posted by chriscoxmusic at 05:42 PM | Comments (0)