Cornucopia

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Persecuted? Or just a jerk?

Haters gonna hate. 

Have you ever had a conversation that goes something like the one below?

You: “I was listening to a great podcast by (some christian author) the other day—“

Friend: “Whoa..(some christian author)?  Careful, man, (some christian author) has some pretty iffy beliefs”

You: “Yea, I’ve heard, but this podcast really was quite good.  They were talking about (insert compelling topic here) and had some really interesting perspectives.”

Friend: “Hm.  I don’t know.  I heard (some christrian author)’s not even a pastor.”

Or perhaps you’ve had a conversation that has gone more like this one:

Friend: “I just have no patience for talking to non-christians about faith.”

You: “Why’s that?”

Friend: “Every time I’ve tried to talk to someone about being a Christian they’ve just called me judgemental”

You: “Why do you think that is?”

Friend: “They’re just ignorant and need Jesus.”

These are pretty dumbed down examples, but you get the idea. 

Living in Christian circles has forced me to have these types of conversations all my life.  Lately it has been bothering me more and more, and I think I may have finally figured out why.

There seems to be an incessant need amongst the Christian community to point out what is and isn’t worth believing or subscribing to, as well as a need to dictate what is and isn’t good theology, and who does or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.  I could write plenty about this being the result of an insecurity in our personal faith, but instead I’ll do this:

In his lifetime, Jesus is recorded as confronting and challenging many things about the Jewish faith of his day.  As a result, combined with his persecution/crucifixion and resurrection, we have modern Christianity. 

At first glance, this makes it seem that when we challenge, confront, or disagree with people or organizations who appear to sway from ‘the truth’ we are living like Jesus.  We think we are following Christ’s example when we confront others and are treated poorly for our faith. 

But let’s take another look. 

When Jesus challenged the religious leaders of his day, was he calling them out for being too forward thinking, or too religious?  When Jesus was persecuted, was it for being too religious, or too heretical? 

One of the most common words that gets thrown around when I hear my Christian friends criticizing well-known thinkers is exactly that: heretic.

I am by no means suggesting that every single author or speaker to come out with some new and challenging idea about God and Christianity is following after God’s heart, but what I am absolutely suggesting is that perhaps we have it backwards. 

Perhaps we are calling ourselves persecuted when we are actually just being a jerk and being treated as such.  Perhaps we are calling public figures heretics when they are in fact being persecuted for challenging us to stretch our religious bubbles.

Perhaps we think we are being like Christ, when in fact we are being much more like Pharisees.

“You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?  When one of you says, “I am a follower of Paul,” and another says, “I follow Apollos,” aren’t you acting just like people of the world?

After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News.”

- 1 Corinthians 3:3-5 (NLT)

Something to Say

I hate that I’m doing this.  

I swore off blogging a few years ago.  There are a lot of reasons for that—some good and some bad—but that’s not what I’m here to write about.

Blogging is such a wonderful thing when it’s done well.  The best blogs I’ve read are ones that make observations on life, offer a possible take-away, and send you on your way.  Naturally, this is what I tried to do in the past with my own blog.

The trouble with taking my own observations and writing them down for others to read is that somehow, for one reason or another, once I had spent several hours trying to capture an observation and make it accessible for others it had turned sour: Every time I tried to help others grasp what I was grasping, I found I could no longer grasp it myself.  Not only that; I had no more desire to grasp it in the first place.

What part of writing precious observations down turned them sour? 

A couple weeks ago was Easter, and for a few weeks before that was the season of lent.  This year, for the first time in my life, I decided to partake in lent: I was giving up video games and social media for forty days.  The only social media outlets I would allow myself to engage in were ones that enabled actual, necessary communication with others(i.e. Facebook messenger).

To avoid going off on an unnecessary tangent, I’ll simply say that the reasoning for abandoning these things was because I felt I needed a good, long break from them.  Plain and simple: I felt like my life had an anchor around its neck labelled, ‘video games and social media’.  

I’m still unpacking the things I learned in that ‘lenten season’.  I won’t try to explain them to you.  See above.

Instead, I’ll do this:

There is a quote that floats around writing societies which has become a common phrase.  You may know it.  It goes like this: 

“You don’t write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”

- F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Social media and blogs gave me the impression that I had something to say, and I’m fairly convinced I’m not the only one who gets wrapped up in that illusion.  

What I found when I partook in my lenten fast is that I certainly do have lots of good things to say; I have lots to say about love.  I have plenty to say about God.  I have so much to say about joy.  I have loads and loads on how our society could be so much better.  But when I took away the ability to say those things on a computer, I discovered the ability to say them without talking about them at all.

Rather than try to explain how deep and complex the love in a marriage is, I made dinner with my wife.  

Rather than try to explain how God is found in the low places, I spent time with people in low places of life.

Rather than attempt to capture joy in a sentence, I ate meals with good friends.

Instead of telling society what was wrong with it, I started asking strangers how their day was going.

Did you catch it?

What am I saying about marriage or love when I make dinner with my wife?

What are you saying about God when you spend time with people in “low” places?

What are we saying about joy when we laugh with friends?

I want to write so much more; to bottle up what I’m trying to communicate in a perfect little package, but I can’t.  

I think that’s because the things really worth communicating are far, far bigger than words.