Hello!
It was pointed out that I really didn't answer the question posed in the headline: "Church: Go or No Go". Good point.
Again, I have no problem with church or someone going to church. My thoughts that speak against the direction the church has gone stand. I don't think churches should be spending thousands and thousands on high-tech facilities while more modest means while simultaneously more help to others could be sought. I don't think churches should become consumed by legalism that they thrust law (or their interpretation of it) in front of compassion and love.
With that being said...if you find a spiritual connection to God through church...GREAT! If so, then I would actually suggest that you go whenever the doors are open and camp out in the parking lot the night before. There is nothing like that connection. If you don't experience God through orthodox faith...GREAT! Find whatever works for you to enhance your own intimate relationship with the Sacred. Whether it be a walk in the park or random acts of compassion, find it and much will find you.
Keep the E's comin'...
True
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Church: Go or No Go
First of all, thanks for the e-mails of both support and criticism. All are certainly appreciated. Support affirms. Criticism challenges. Both bring growth. This is an initiative that cuts against the grain to a great extent so I certainly expect nothing less. Keep it coming and I will, as always, try to respond to as many questions as is possible. The more common inquiries I will blog about...
One of the questions that get routinely is: Are you opposed to organized religion?
The answer: No, not at all. I think churches have a wonderful role to play in our world. However, I am very troubled by what I see from much of organized religion today.
Churches seem more preoccupied with self-preservation and competing in the religious marketplace than living Jesus' message of love and compassion. This creates an uncanny resemblance with the Temple System that Jesus so adamantly opposed. To him, such a system was spiritually dysfunctional. It had created a group of haughty, self-righteous hypocrites more so than a people poised to lead as the Salt and Light.
I see the same thing today as churches spend thousands, even millions on new facilities in order to compete with the Church of the Jone's across the street. What could be done with that money if Jesus' message was wholeheartedly lived? Health care and health insurance programs could be established to aid those with little or none. Food to the hungry. Mentoring and job programs that could help families reach self-sufficiency. Programs that could keep kids active in healthier pursuits and off the streets. The list could go on and on.
My bottom line is simple: churches should begin to see a renewed mission that helps people connect with God while helping the community it serves. That mission does not involve bringing in more and more "believers" to guarantee self-preservation while being able to spend $X on a nicer this or that. After all, if people are in it to be surrounded by the best and most luxurious that man has to offer, they've probably missed the point altogether.
One of the questions that get routinely is: Are you opposed to organized religion?
The answer: No, not at all. I think churches have a wonderful role to play in our world. However, I am very troubled by what I see from much of organized religion today.
Churches seem more preoccupied with self-preservation and competing in the religious marketplace than living Jesus' message of love and compassion. This creates an uncanny resemblance with the Temple System that Jesus so adamantly opposed. To him, such a system was spiritually dysfunctional. It had created a group of haughty, self-righteous hypocrites more so than a people poised to lead as the Salt and Light.
I see the same thing today as churches spend thousands, even millions on new facilities in order to compete with the Church of the Jone's across the street. What could be done with that money if Jesus' message was wholeheartedly lived? Health care and health insurance programs could be established to aid those with little or none. Food to the hungry. Mentoring and job programs that could help families reach self-sufficiency. Programs that could keep kids active in healthier pursuits and off the streets. The list could go on and on.
My bottom line is simple: churches should begin to see a renewed mission that helps people connect with God while helping the community it serves. That mission does not involve bringing in more and more "believers" to guarantee self-preservation while being able to spend $X on a nicer this or that. After all, if people are in it to be surrounded by the best and most luxurious that man has to offer, they've probably missed the point altogether.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Superman vs. Batman
"Do you think that Jesus is the Son of God?" That is one of the questions that I am asked through the Compassion Revolution and especially because of Revolution II The Parables. It is a valid question and one that serves as a foundation to the Christian Faith. To answer that question I turn to two super heroes: Superman and Batman.
I grew up a big fan of both. From the ages of four to seven, I could routinely be found with a towel safety-pinned around my neck as I would take on the role of either hero. They were my clear-cut super favorites! A comparison of the two also helps me answer that lead question.
Growing up I was essentially taught that, like Superman, Jesus came from a distant realm to save us while possessing super-human qualities and super-natural abilities. However, the more I studied the life of Jesus of Nazareth, I began to realize that perhaps, Jesus was more like Batman.
In the DC Comic, Batman was a man, like any other (bank account withstanding) who became a man like no other. He had a vision that was greatly impacted by the injustice that he experienced and witnessed in the brutal world around him. With that motivation, he went to work to make that vision a reality. In the process, he developed super-human abilities that served that vision. It's easy to see how one could swap out Jesus' name in the statement above and have a very accurate and telling description. I believe that Jesus, as a man...like many others, developed a unique bond to God that accelerated him to a point of being a man like no other.
So, Yes...I believe Jesus to be the Son of God in a special sense that exceeds most, if not all mankind. Not necessarily in that Superman sense that I was taught as a fundamentalist, but in a sense that is far more meaningful to me.
I grew up a big fan of both. From the ages of four to seven, I could routinely be found with a towel safety-pinned around my neck as I would take on the role of either hero. They were my clear-cut super favorites! A comparison of the two also helps me answer that lead question.
Growing up I was essentially taught that, like Superman, Jesus came from a distant realm to save us while possessing super-human qualities and super-natural abilities. However, the more I studied the life of Jesus of Nazareth, I began to realize that perhaps, Jesus was more like Batman.
In the DC Comic, Batman was a man, like any other (bank account withstanding) who became a man like no other. He had a vision that was greatly impacted by the injustice that he experienced and witnessed in the brutal world around him. With that motivation, he went to work to make that vision a reality. In the process, he developed super-human abilities that served that vision. It's easy to see how one could swap out Jesus' name in the statement above and have a very accurate and telling description. I believe that Jesus, as a man...like many others, developed a unique bond to God that accelerated him to a point of being a man like no other.
So, Yes...I believe Jesus to be the Son of God in a special sense that exceeds most, if not all mankind. Not necessarily in that Superman sense that I was taught as a fundamentalist, but in a sense that is far more meaningful to me.
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