Dive into subculture

Define Christian:

Those people that place Jesus emblems on their car, with the occasional "Jesus loves you" bumper sticker. They are the ones that pray together in huddles in public on the street corners. They have their Christian Music, TV, radio, coffee shops, "how-to" books, planners, journals, blogs, posters, websites, watches, and the endless amount of stuff that say "Jesus" on them. They place their favorite book in their facebook profile as "the Bible" (That's for you Joe). My personal favorite "Christians are those nice people" while other opinions can testify against even that. They have notes of scripture on their mirrors and above their bathroom toilets. They pray before their meals. They spend one day out of the week going into buildings where they all gather to sing songs and then listen to teaching for a half hour before shaking hands with friends and heading back home. Did I strike a nerve yet?

Among all this subculture I find a trend to label all that we do "Christian" and say that we are great with God, because of our boldness to throw a Christian blanket on ourselves. Underneath we are still a broken, whoring, selfish, and unloving group of people that need Christ. Christ still loves us, and only Christ can change that part of us. Stuff never will. Oh how I am super guilty of this.

Where is this community of people that love Jesus and love others? What ever happened to being in the world but not of the world? I feel like we have extracted ourselves completely from the reality that this world is broken and have placed ourselves into the false reality that if we completely submerge ourselves in Christian stuff that we are living like Christ wanted us to. But wasn't it Christ that was known as a friend of sinners? Wasn't he known for hanging out with the people that most Christians today would run away from? I think the reason that the church isn't growing anymore is that the church has failed (including myself) to become friends with and love the people of the world and has decided instead to hate them. People won't see Christ unless we show them who He is. Also, we won't shine Christ unless we realize that we are not God, but need Him and each other.

The Kingdom of Couches

Before I begin blogging about somethings after today I definately want to reference the book in which I have derived a lot of what I will talk about. This book is something that I highly recommend to individuals trying to understand some insight about biblical community. This book is called "The Kingdom of Couches" by Will Walker who is on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Texas. I would have to say it is quite a studly book. It's short, straight forward, and dipped in a pool of heart and knowledge. The book reads like a conversation in itself and flows really well.

Anyways, so lets get to the details. I'll probably try to Blog about all different kinds of things from this book, but I thought it would be a good idea to probably only blog about one thing at a time. I may just read this book two or three times in a row, because I feel that this true genuine community Will talks about speaks directly to where I am at. BTW, I want to give a shout out to Ann Maronik for referencing me to this book.

This is stated on the back of the book:

Along the way I discovered something I didn't expect: people. I realize that people are everywhere. My life began when I came out of a person, and since then, having never resided in Montana or in outer space, I've been immersed in humanity. This doesn't bother me in the least because I like people. I just never thought that I would need them.

We've been pretending, keeping others close enough to enjoy but distant enough to impress. The space between close and distant is the worst kind of loneliness, which is not that of being alone, but of being unknown.

We have been looking at redemption through the lens of individualism- manipulating it for our own gain. Somehow the focus became how much I am loved and forgiven and accepted, period. Somehow the process became one of isolated effort. Spiritual life has less and less to do with relationships, and is effectively disconnected from actual life altogether.

The thing about redemption though--the thing we've lost--is that it takes place in the context of community. God is not just redeeming persons, he is gathering himself a people. So community is both a means and an end. It's where we're going, and it's how we get there.

...and also on page 29 talking about community:

"Community" is a buzzword these days, and for good reason. But buzzwords tend to lose meaning or change meaning, and often community means just another activity, something on the to-do list of the Christian lifestyle. I knew what community was, and even experienced it, but I never believed I needed it until now. My journey in community over the last couple of years has transformed me in all the ways "self-help" never could.

Spirtual growth today is largely undertaken through self-help methods, which are characterized by our tendency to measure maturity by how much we do, how much we know, and how spiritual people think we are. The value we derive from such achievment is short-term at best, and it is ultimately undermined by the impression that one can accomplish spiritual maturity in isolation from other people. If we can grow on our own, even with God's help, then we have something to boast about before others. But if we need each other to grow, then our boasting is turned into humility. This is how community exposes our inadequacies and magnifies the power of the gospel as our only hope for personal and cultural transformation.

I love that. Woohoo! I'm excited for once.

Hear from me about this soon.

Struggling (or lack there of) with struggles

Slap in the face.

Punch in the gut.

Knife in the back.

Whatever you want to call it, I'm frustrated with somebody. This person continually fails me time and time again. I've watched him go completely against God's will countless times, and I'm really getting sick of it. I'm sick of the hippocracy, the lies, and the repeated failures.

This person is myself.

Well, that's where God's grace comes in, and I'm begining to realize how patient God is with me and how big his love is. BUT, I've also come to realize that step one is seeking after God's love, because just going through struggles just to become "better" is actually selfish at heart. I've stumble across this concept that I should live, do good, try my hardest, or whatever you want to call this function of life BECAUSE of God... because of what He has done, the love He has shown me, and that He calls me His son (1 John). I feel like I always try to present myself to God wrapped in my own false holiness and righteousness. Like I have to be purified by what I do all the time and call that "growth". I think that is where a lot of my frustrations are coming in. I'm still really trying to live under the law which is what Christ has set me free from and now I must live under grace (Romans 6).

I'm begining to find comfort in my humility, because it places me right where I should be, in Jesus' arms.