39 posts tagged “christianity”
I believe in my last post I mentioned how I was bored and at home. Well, I'm not really either anymore! I decided to take a few days and head back down to my college's town to visit all my friends who live here in the summer. Man, I love this town, and also the fact that I have high speed Internet down here! Yay! So I figure that since right now the friend I'm staying with is asleep (and probably will be till noon or so) I should go ahead and blog. So with that, here goes.
It's really interesting, and a little sad, to hear some conservative Christian commentary on the recent decision by the California Supreme Court remove the ban on same-sex marriages. Now, in general, I have to say I disagree with the court's decision. Even taking personal opinions out of the mix here, I feel there was little legal basis for their decision and it went against the will of the people of the state of California... not to mention that their decision to allow same-sex marriage, but not allow plural marriage, sounds more like a "because we say so" than anything else. There didn't seem to be any logical sense to how they could remove one of the prerequisites for marriage (opposite genders) but not another (two people), and they didn't take time to bridge that logical gap. They just said so. I'm not usually a fan of the slippery slope argument, but let's face it, the court left themselves pretty wide open here.
But anyway, that's not the point of the post anyway, so before any of you decide to throw chairs at me, hear me out (especially if they are nice chairs). I have been increasingly saddened by the seeming inability of many Christian commentators to talk about this issue with grace or concern for homosexuals. I think one podcast by James White brought it home for me. Yes, there were plenty of good points made about the sinfulness of the sins involved, and the missteps that the court took in order to reach its decision. But still, I'm just frustrated... is there no way to talk about those things without having to resort to idiotic statements? I can't tell you how many faulty statistics and assertions I've heard around the Internet (i.e. "gays don't want marriage," "they have multiple partners a month," etc.) And don't get me started on broad, over-reaching, and unflattering (not to mention largely untrue) statements like "gays are selfish" or "gays are trying to destroy America." Seriously, it just blows my mind that Christians are still talking like that. It makes the ignorant hiccups (like references to "deciding to be a homosexual") really pale in comparison (though they are no less annoying, I've found).
Is it really too hard to imagine that commentating on things like same-sex marriage might actually be a good opportunity to reach out to homosexuals? I mean, the two just seem to go hand-in-hand to me, because Lord only knows how many gay men and women read and/or listen to these commentaries. But how can you reach out to a group if you lie about them, and just assume that the worst statistic you've read about them is true? How can you reach out to a group if you haven't taken any time to know where that group has come from? Choosing to have homosexual sex is one thing, but no one decides to be a homosexual, and hearing that little nugget is enough to turn people off (even people like me, who are conservative), because it shows that we're just not being listened to. I mean, it really makes me wonder if they actually care. I can't think of any other sin (short of murder, perhaps) that so many Christians just don't seem to be able to be gracious about.
It's especially sad when a lot of this commentary is coming from writers, like James White, that I really respect and who are usually a breath of fresh air in terms of their thoughtfulness and intelligence (especially when compared to other Evangelical commentators). I was at least hoping for some effort to reach out to homosexuals in that podcast, but nope, nothing. Even if the effort had been wrapped in bad, NARTH-style jargon it would be better than nothing. It would at least show that they, you know, care about us. It's frustrating, I guess, but it also makes me reflect and wonder if there are any sins or struggles that I am callous about. Is there any group that I am unsympathetic to? Are there any people whose actions I rightly know as sin but who I nevertheless fail to reach out to out of my own prejudices? I can't be a total victim here, because usually the things we dislike in others are mirrored in ourselves. If I can see what doesn't help when witnessing to homosexuals, maybe I can use those things to see what doesn't help when witnessing to others.
Christ's peace to you,
Jay
Recently, I've been thinking about the concept of guilt and what relevance it has (if any) in our lives as Christians. We've all felt guilty about something at some point in our lives. Usually it's a good thing, because it lets us know what we've done wrong, and gives us some incentive to think about our actions and not repeat them. Other times, of course, guilt can lead to despair and allow us to think of ourselves as worse off than we are. That type of guilt is self-centered, and can lead us away from Christ instead of closer to Him.
It's finding the balance that is the problem. For example, I would really like to feel guilty every time I sin. Often times, I'm sure I sin without even realizing it (like when saying a sarcastic remark that could hurt a person's feelings, or perhaps entertaining some not-so-wholesome thoughts in the back of my mind, or perhaps some other habitual behavior of mine that I don't even recognize as sinful). The guilt could clue me in to what I have done wrong, and give me a chance to repent more earnestly and strive to live more faithfully in the future.
At the same time, I've had the experience of being overwhelmed with guilt before, and it's not very nice. Perhaps for certain sins a lot of guilt is appropriate (mainly sins that hurt others). At the same time, if that guilt makes people unable or unwilling to talk to God and have confidence in the fact that they are, indeed, forgiven for their sins, then it isn't a good thing. Every Christian should be aware of when and how they sin and work against the sin in their lives. However, if the guilt they feel makes them believe that they are unworthy of God's love or are not, after all, saved, then it is not healthy, and needs to be put in check.
That's really all the thoughts I have on the issue. It's just a random musing going through my head. Feel free to talk and discuss. I should be around. Hope you're all having a good day!
There are many things I enjoy about the generation I am a part of. It is more open-minded, more willing to accept change and those of different viewpoints, more engaging, more creative, more confident, and more diverse. I know many older Christians fear for the young people of this generation, and I will be the first to admit that my age group certainly has its problems. However, when I think about the young devout Christians I know and love, I have the overwhelming sense that when these Christians grow up and start becoming leaders in the Church, the Church is going to rock more than ever before.
At the same time, there is something about my generation that I do not like at all. When I think about it, it is really hard to be an individual nowadays. Sure, we all have our Facebook pages and our blogs, listing every detail of our personal lives and our likes and dislikes. We all know how to dress in the way that best "expresses ourselves." We all have different play lists on our iPods and have neurotic personality quirks that we share with the whole world through a variety of means (for example, it's common knowledge amongst my friends that I don't drink coffee, but still have a fondness for coffee shops). All of this, however, really doesn't mean anything. These individual characteristics that we think make us special are often used to simply categorize and compartmentalize us, and that makes it hard to really have some individuality.
This constant desire to label everything and make it all "nice and neat" is something that really drives me crazy about my generation. I know we often blame stereotypes and bigotry on older generations, but it's not really the case. Just check out any Facebook group: "You might be Cuban if...," "You might be a lesbian if...," "You might be from Boise if...," "You might be a Methodist if...," etc. Then watch all the stereotypes roll. I know it's all done in fun, and sometimes those groups are really funny, but at the same time I think they're indicative of a generation that is fine with individual differences as long as those differences fit within a specific range.
I guess what I'm getting at here is that it's hard to fit in when you live a bit on the fringe like I do. There are no Facebook groups for "guys who are celibate and deal with homosexual attraction although they have reservations about labeling themselves as 'gay' even thought they usually do it for clarity's sake anyway." There are no denominations for "Calvinists who still like the traditions of the United Methodist Church and have an affinity for Catholic Mass as well." There's no ethnic community that describes an "Irish-French-German-English man who might be part American Indian, has an Southern accent with a hint of Outer Banks brogue and speaks in Spanish to his brother." Yet those are things that I am (and before you ask, I don't really speak Spanish well. I wish I could take more courses but my majors don't really allow it).
At the same time, I think a lot of the people who do label themselves are just as unique and don't fit into their labels as neatly as everyone else (or perhaps they themselves) would like them to. It's just strange then, to me, for them to keep the label at all. I've just gotten to a point in my life where I want to be an individual, not a statistic or a label. I don't want to be treated as a demographic, but as a person. That's why I hate it when people like Sally Kern speak out against "homosexuals." They aren't taking people like me into account. Heck, they aren't taking anyone into account except for the promiscuous, unhealthy, depressed people who fit into their statistics and what they think it means to be "gay." Don't worry, I get equally mad when some liberal hotshot starts talking trash about "Christians," all the while revealing how few he or she has actually met.
So I guess it's just a choice to make. I can either not label myself at all and really not fit in with anyone, or I can label myself but make sure I list all the reasons I might challenge people's perceptions of what it means to be gay, Christian, a Southerner, an artist, a writer, a student, etc. It's confusing and it's a little tiresome, and I guess the only real thing I've said in this post about being an individual is that, well, it's not easy. Take care, everyone!
If there's one subject that SSA-strugglers seem to write about a great deal, it's loneliness. I suppose when the potential for a spouse and children seems dim, people tend to put a great deal more worry into whether or not they will end up alone. This certainly isn't exclusive to SSA-strugglers. I have several straight friends (my age, even!) who, for one reason or another, worry about ending up alone and unloved. Worrying about loneliness is simply a human problem, and sometimes very bad decisions come out of a desire to simply not be alone (if you've ever known anyone who can't go two weeks without being in a relationship, you know what I mean.)
I've often heard sound Christian advice given to those who deal with loneliness (of all orientations and walks of life.) It usually goes along the lines of, "Let Christ be your companion in lonely times. Let Him fulfill your desires for intimacy." Now, like I said, that's very good advice. When one feels lonely, instead of turning to despair and cynicism, they should turn to the Bible and meditations on Christ instead. That sounds a lot simpler than it really is (trust me, I know!), but if the advice is truly taken to heart, it works. However, there are other ways to let Christ be your companion, and they don't all involve sitting at home with your Bible in hand.
Over Spring Break, I spent most of my time at home. None of my old friends from high school were on break at the time (and I seriously fault the UNC system for not synchronizing the Spring Breaks of its many branches.) My parents were in and out, and remember that I live in a very isolated neck of the woods, about a mile and a half from the main road on an old farm. Needless to say, I was very lonely and bored.
I realized that my grandmother, who has been widowed now for more than a year (from her husband of 60+ years), might want some company. I visited her, and I have to say I really enjoyed the experience. She's a very tough old woman, but she's sad and lonely for the most part nowadays. Yes, she gets regular phone calls and visits from my mother, father, aunts, and uncle, but apart from that she spends her time alone in her old house, attending to daily chores that she's performed for years and years. I can relate to that type of loneliness in some ways, because I've imagined (in moments of fear and doubt) that it could happen to me. However, can I say I've actually experienced it? No. Not at all.
So I visited with my grandmother and tried my best to ease some of her loneliness. At the same time, I found that my own fears and doubts about ending up old and alone were calmed. The thing is loneliness is a fact of life, at least for those who grow old. You have to deal with it, and I think one of the best ways to deal with it is to find others who are also lonely. It's an elementary solution, if you think about it. I'm sure any Christian knows that helping others often helps the helper as much as it helps those that were helped (enjoy that sentence, why don't you?)
But you can't just sit around and wait for people to find you and fill your life. Sure, my grandmother doesn't get out much, but at the same time she's elderly and many of the people that she would visit have passed on. If I'm lonely, however, there's nothing stopping me from calling a friend or family member. There's nothing stopping me from being there for someone else when they need me. Whatever you do, it will be done back to you. So, if you don't want to end up alone and unloved, then you had best get to easing the loneliness of others and loving others.
To be fair, these ideas aren't all mine. Hitch was noticing my slightly reclusive nature and, frankly, was getting a little annoyed by my constant worries about the future. There's only one future, though, and that's the one I make. I can't whine about being lonely when I'm sitting home alone, unwilling to go out and visit people. He was right there, and I hope to take his advice to heart and spread it around. Take care, everyone!
And with a new theme, to boot! What do you guys think? Did you miss me?
I have to say my Lenten fast went rather well... Granted, I cheated several times, but the point of the fast wasn't some legalistic endeavor to stay away from cyberspace. It was more or less a chance for me to let go of some things that were tying me down to a certain extent. I had become so wrapped up in an online social world that I forgot about the one that was right next to me! The Internet will always be there. College won't, so I figured I had to try and live a little more.
I had a wonderful time and a great Spring and Easter Break. I spent time with my family and friends, and in general the past 40 days have felt very good. Like any other season, there have been trials and struggles and sins and mistakes... and it's been kind of liberating for me, not feeling obligated to write about them all here! That being said, I'm glad to be back now, and I have plenty of things to write about.
I just have to figure out what I'm going to say now. Over Lent, I had several nice meditations about family, loneliness, calling, marriage, the Church, and the creative process (by the way, I'm starting a new novel. Asher of the Desert, love it though I do, is on indefinite hiatus). I can't wait to start putting my pen down some more and speaking my mind. A little silence was good for me, but that's only because I can now contrast it with my voice.
Hope you all are well, and still realize that I'm around despite the break. Comment and say hi, and tell me what (if anything) interesting happened over the past 40 days!
As many of you know, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the often-neglected season of Lent in which Christians spiritually prepare for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. Usually, this preparation is symbolized by "giving up something" for the forty days and nights that make up Lent.
This year, I've decided that the Internet, when used for purposes other than scholarship and direct communication, has been somewhat distracting in my relationship with Christ. So, though I'm sure this may upset some readers, I'm deciding to give it up for forty days starting tomorrow. Yep. That means no blogging, no online debates, no Facebook, no AIM, nothing. The only thing I'm going to use the Internet for is e-mail.
Oh... and watching episodes of the new season of Survivor on YouTube. I would watch them when they air on Thursday nights if I could, but my Campus Crusade meetings are at the same time, so...
So, what will I be doing instead?
Well, I will mainly be taking more time to read my Bible. It's great to hear other people's opinions on Scripture through the blogs and through online sermons and such, but I haven't even read through it myself, and I need to fix that. I'll also be trying to make my social life more active. Online communication is great, and I've made lots of great contacts with really cool people, but I think I need to focus on my real-life friends. They're the ones that I can be a more effective witness to, and who, in turn, know me well enough to be great accountability partners and spiritual guides.
I realized if I didn't have the Internet, then I really wouldn't have too many friends... and that wasn't exactly a good thing. I'm not going to try to make a ton of really deep, personal friends in the next forty days, but making a few couldn't hurt. And without the Internet around, I might have more time to hang out, go shopping, play tennis, swim, watch movies, work out, read books, write in my novel, play Guitar Hero, volunteer, etc. Simply put, it's been a little hard living a life for Christ when I've been spending so much of my time in a virtual world (great though all you folks in here are).
Now, I won't be out of touch completely. I would love to get e-mails from all of you guys telling me how you're doing or what's on your mind, and I'll try to respond to them as much as I can. I almost wish I could correspond with all of you people in pen and ink like people in Victorian England used to, but alas... the Internet will just have to do.
Other than that, I hope you all have a great Lent. I still get comments via e-mail notifications, so tell me what you think of my Lent plan, and also let me know what you're planning on giving up (if anything). I can't say I'll comment back, but I'll definitely read. God bless you all!
I'm not sure if I've written about this before or not, but I love new beginnings. Doesn't matter if it's a new day, new month, new week, or new year. I just love the feeling of starting over, even though it's mostly an illusion. Life is a continuum, not a chapter book, but the latter is how I treat it a lot of the time.
I suppose I simply like the idea of having life all neat and tidy and in clear-cut stages. I have a tendency to live my life like it's a chapter book. I'll be on a spiritual high where I'm feeling good and am relatively pure, then I'll have a moment of weakness and sin in a "major" way that will make me sulk around for a few days or weeks while I doubt my own salvation and whether or not God has really worked any transformation in my life. Then some new week or month will roll around and I'll perk up, and the whole cycle will start over again.
Now, I know that the Christian life has spiritual ups and downs. C.S. Lewis wrote extensively on this in "The Screwtape Letters." However, I feel that my spiritual ups and downs are too frequent and too extreme. Compared to what, you might ask? Good question. I really don't know. My mind says "other Christians" but, to tell the truth, it's not like other Christians would really be able to tell if I was on a spiritual low. It's really a personal thing, and from all sources I've read it's relatively normal to experience. How a Christian deals with it, I gather, is the important part. Frankly, I don't know how.
I just don't like the lows. I enjoy and am at the most wonderful state of peace and strength when I am on a spiritual high -- when I'm connected to God, overcoming temptations easily, praying like I've never prayed before, and truly desiring to be deep in God's Word. When the lows hit, though, it can be devastating. I become truly desperate for God and the slightest glimmer of evidence that He's working in my life. You've probably seen the cycle play out in this blog several times before.
Right now I'm entering a new month with "new" resolve to be pure and obedient to Christ. Hopefully it will last, and even more hopefully I'll be able to reflect on the experience in a way that is Christ-centered instead of self-centered.
Of course, I'm not the only person who likes new starts. Trendy female singer-songwriters like them too, and of course, knowing me, I have a song and a YouTube video for every occasion. Enjoy Yael Naim and the song "New Soul," from the most recent MacBook commercials.
So, my home computer doesn't like Vox, so the posts I wrote over Christmas Break weren't posted here. Here are links to them from blogger. I only wrote two. Here's one, and here's the other. If you'd like to comment on one of them, either comment on Blogger or comment on this post. Just clarify what you're talking about or it will get really confusing. Sigh, it's good to be back at college, if only just for the Internet!
The other day I was reading La Shawn Barber's blog and stumbled upon this piece about evangelism. I found it very interesting, and it raised a lot of questions about the emphasis that I put on evangelism in my Christian experience. Needless to say, I find straight-up evangelism a little awkward and difficult. So do most Christians my age, it seems. The Campus Crusade conference I attended was full of seminars on how to evangelize. They gave us tons of tips, tricks, and icebreakers to use, but in the end it all seemed too complicated for me. I've always felt that evangelism, like other aspects of Christianity, should be relatively simple when you get down to it.
But evangelism isn't simple, at least not for me. It's hard to share the Gospel with unbelievers, especially if they are friends. Some people will smile politely and tell you how flattered they are that you care about them, but then will say they think you're wrong. Others won't even be polite, but will get downright offended. Honestly, it's hard dealing with that kind of rejection. For a Christian, the Gospel is a part of you, and when someone rejects it, it's not hard to take it personally.
I think a lot of Christian kids look for "easy" ways to deliver the Gospel, in an attempt to share it truthfully but without people getting offended. I'm not sure there is such a method, though. Aside from that, they can get a little too caught up in wanting to see the fruits of their work immediately. Sure, it's great (and not too difficult) to say, "Christ died for us while we were yet sinners." A lot of people will believe that, actually, but will they take it to heart? Will they ask Him into their hearts? Will they be saved? Will they start going to church and getting involved? Will they start spreading the Gospel themselves?
Those kinds of questions can be difficult. I think if one thing has bothered me more than my own assurance, it's the assurance of people I know and love. Simply put, there are many people that I don't want to be missing from Heaven, and I can get too caught up with whether or not they are saved that I don't focus on my own salvation enough.
Later on in her post, Ms. Barber made this remark, which I liked: There is no such thing as failed evangelism. If we don’t “win the soul” of the person we’re sharing the Gospel with at a given moment, we have not failed. It’s God’s business who he saves.
This is very true, and I suppose I have to remember that just because I never see a person come to Christ, that doesn't mean they never will. Like I said, some Christians I know have a problem, in that they share the Gospel once and then then throw their hands up in the air if they don’t see immediate results. Sometimes, I suppose, our evangelism is just a small link in a chain of Christ’s calling, the full effects of which might not be felt in that person’s life until years later... After we've moved on.
I know I’ll probably always struggle with friends of mine who continue to be nonbelievers despite my evangelism. I hope and pray that they will one day come to Christ… That He will call them to Him. And I continue to share the Gospel with them at every appropriate opportunity. Perhaps I’ll never in this lifetime be assured of their salvation, but I can’t lie and say that there aren't people I care for deeply who I really want to see in Heaven!
This past weekend, Hitch and I went to go see the controversial new fantasy film, The Golden Compass, based on the novel Northern Lights by Philip Pullman, the first book in the author's His Dark Materials trilogy. Knowing ahead of time the author's atheistic worldview and intent, but not having read the book itself, made the experience an interesting one.
I like to start off talking about the things I liked, and there were many things about the movie to like. Nicole Kidman did a great job playing the icy villain Mrs. Coulter (any possible relation to Ann, I wonder?) The visual effects were awesome. The world of The Golden Compass is full of airships, pirates, ice castles, semi-Victorian architecture, witches, gypsies, you-name-it. It's a joyful fantasy world, and the film did a good job of rendering it beautifully and realistically.
Also, filmmakers are just getting better and better at making talking animals, and watching The Golden Compass makes that clear. In the film, every humans soul is on the outside of their body, represented by an animal spirit called a "daemon." So, in every scene you would not only have actors, but an equal number of CGI dogs, birds, wolves, foxes, cats, hares, etc. The great thing is that the filmmakers did this exceptionally well, and by the end of the movie you really don't notice anymore, and you wonder why everyone around you doesn't have a daemon with them. I like the concept of daemons, and on the movie website (linked in the first paragraph), you can take a personality quiz to determine what kind of daemon you would have. Turns out mine is a female chimpanzee named Azaria. Cool. :)
Now... On to the bad. Aside from the controversial stuff, there was a lot of stuff in the movie that bothers me about movies in general today. Sure, there were a few admirable performances (Kidman was great, and Daniel Craig was good as well, but he had far less screen time than advertised), but most of the actors were just a little over the top. I don't mind it so much from Dakota Blue Richards, who plays the young heroine Lyra, but from everyone else I just found far too much drama, and all that did was make the movie a little hokey for me after a short while. Hokey is not always a bad thing, of course, but when you consider some of the serious matter of the film (not to mention a particularly violent scene) it just comes across as inappropriate.
... And then there's the religious stuff. Like I said, I have not read the books. I've read a few articles on Wikipedia but even they don't necessarily show how anti-Christian the books themselves are. The movie itself did not really portray anything anti-Christian in itself. The Catholic Church, which is the villainous organisation of the books, is called an alternate title in the film: "The Magisterium." God is simply called "The Authority," and in the film there is no mention of the Authority being a God-like figure at all. For all we know as viewers, he could be a living man hiding in the shadows like the Emperor from Star Wars. There are no references to church, prayer, worship, or anything religious. When Mrs. Coulter (who, needless to say, works for the Magisterium) explains what it does, she simply says, "It tells people what's best for them." It's sad that that is all some people view religions as, but it is a valid point to criticise the Church for being legalistic. I'm all about that.
I guess I would be careful about taking an impressionable child to see the film, not because there is anything too anti-
Christian in the movie itself, but because by all accounts (including Pullman's himself) the books are an atheistic answer to C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. As someone who is somewhat mature in my faith (I hope) I think I could read them to understand Pullman's views and not be tempted into believing his message. However, if I was younger, it could be different. I almost turned atheist after reading Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, and though I still think it's a great book, I don't like how it made me doubt my faith. Then again, a faith that has gone untested could be weak at times. I just don't think it's okay for the entertainment industry to actively try to test people's faith. Let them do it on their own. It usually works out better that way. :)
Oh, and just to make people jealous...
It's December 10. Christmas is 15 days away. And today, Hitch, myself, and my roommates all went to the beach. It was sunny, gorgeous, and a lovely mid-70 degree temperature outside. I love North Carolina... and maybe even Global Warming?
I was bumming around the blogosphere the other day and somehow followed a blogging trail from Randy Thomas to La Shawn Barber to Pam's House Blend to Joe. My. God. to this piece of indecency from MassResistance. I had intended to write a piece about the article, but I realized that neither my stomach or heart could take thinking about it for too long. I suggest you take a look at MassResistance so you can get a feel of what real hatred looks like. I can't understand how anyone could tolerate that kind of slander and vitriol, and I hope that any ex-gay organization with ties to MassResistance will cut ties with them. They do not treat homosexuals with dignity and respect in any way, and they do not need to be supported (least of all by Christians).
Anyway, like I said I'm not going to spend a long post dwelling on them. I get too angry when faced with injustice and hatred. I can deal with people who disagree. That's nothing, and it's healthy to debate with those who disagree. But some people are just so disrespectful and un-Christian that all I want to do is scream at them. Then I remember that my God is "compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." (Psalm 103:8, NIV) I really want to be like Him, and I want to know when "angry" is "too angry." There are plenty of things to be angry about with groups like MassResistance, but I can't make their mistake and treat my opponents like sub-humans. These people have families, jobs, homes, and they do think what they are doing is right. So even though their words disgust me, I can't forget that God loves them as well. They deserve the dignity that they refuse to show.
Turning the other cheek is really harder than I thought. Have a good day, everyone.
