Pendulum
I worry about Christians today.
It seems that we, as a whole, have a hard time being sensible. We seem to oscillate between extremes. As a church, we either embrace whole heartedly legalism and being Pharisees, or we fly the other direction and shun anything that looks like a firm opinion about right and wrong. Hard shells or free spirits. All rules or no rules. Neither are right. Neither are what we should strive for. And neither look like Jesus.
I grew up under the thumb of legalism, and never even questioned it till I was an adult. Everything was sin. Don't do anything, like drinking or getting tattoos or dancing or listening to secular music, or voting Democrat, because it's all sin, and believers are supposed to be totally alien in this world.
There was no room for the Holy Spirit there.
But now, I've seen a great exodus of my peers that have flooded to the other camp. They spend more time complaining about the church than worrying about finding out what God's Word really says. There's a sort of bitterness throughout that their fellow Christians can't do anything right. They're tolerant of everyone but Christians.
There's no room for Christlike love there.
Why do we have such a hard time with this? Both camps like to cherry pick verses to make the other side look foolish and make themselves look more righteous. Both camps are frustrated and disappointed and ashamed of their counterparts. There's probably a good portion on both sides that truly believes the majority of the other camp isn't going to heaven.
It frustrates me to see elders making biting or violence embracing political statements. It grates against me to see my generation showing absolutely no respect toward their elders. I hate the back and forth of pride that plays into these discussions, the subtle "I'm right and you're stupid" implications, and whoever can come up with more randomly selected verses is holier.
And thanks to social media, people can parade their arrogance like fools for the rest of us to see. There's a quote on Pinterest I see all the time that goes "You don't have to show up to every argument you're invited to."
Why do we think we need to comment on every facebook status we disagree with? Why does everyone have to have the same political ideals and Biblical convictions as we do? Why do we abuse the Bible to suit our arrogant needs? Why do we have to accuse and belittle fellow brothers and sisters over petty little differences of opinion?
Our time would be so much better spent in quiet, careful Bible study of our own, taking the Bible as a whole and tracking who God is throughout generations of recorded history, not just whatever hot button issue we want support for at the moment. That's not a relationship with God. That's Bible abuse.
There are some middle Christians. The people that have learned that wisdom isn't the same as being able to look more awesome in an argument than everyone else. They are quiet, steady, not rocked by the world believers who are more interested in knowing and being like Jesus than having their opinions justified. They are the ones that have spent countless hours seeking Jesus, weathering the pages of their Bibles, spending entire nights in prayer, loving with gentleness and meekness and being humble, even when they are right and are accused of being wrong.
These are the ones I want to be like. These are the ones that I respect. Instead of being tumultuous and angry all the time, I can sense peace among these. Common sense. Unwavering faith. It's not that they don't change or that they don't have opinions that evolve over time. They're just not noisy about it. They don't have to belittle everyone they don't agree with. Their responses are even and sensible, not filled with emotion or arrogance. They are quite refreshing to be around.
I am determined to pursue a life like these few middle believers portray. Because quite honestly, I see Jesus the most in them.
It seems that we, as a whole, have a hard time being sensible. We seem to oscillate between extremes. As a church, we either embrace whole heartedly legalism and being Pharisees, or we fly the other direction and shun anything that looks like a firm opinion about right and wrong. Hard shells or free spirits. All rules or no rules. Neither are right. Neither are what we should strive for. And neither look like Jesus.
I grew up under the thumb of legalism, and never even questioned it till I was an adult. Everything was sin. Don't do anything, like drinking or getting tattoos or dancing or listening to secular music, or voting Democrat, because it's all sin, and believers are supposed to be totally alien in this world.
There was no room for the Holy Spirit there.
But now, I've seen a great exodus of my peers that have flooded to the other camp. They spend more time complaining about the church than worrying about finding out what God's Word really says. There's a sort of bitterness throughout that their fellow Christians can't do anything right. They're tolerant of everyone but Christians.
There's no room for Christlike love there.
Why do we have such a hard time with this? Both camps like to cherry pick verses to make the other side look foolish and make themselves look more righteous. Both camps are frustrated and disappointed and ashamed of their counterparts. There's probably a good portion on both sides that truly believes the majority of the other camp isn't going to heaven.
It frustrates me to see elders making biting or violence embracing political statements. It grates against me to see my generation showing absolutely no respect toward their elders. I hate the back and forth of pride that plays into these discussions, the subtle "I'm right and you're stupid" implications, and whoever can come up with more randomly selected verses is holier.
And thanks to social media, people can parade their arrogance like fools for the rest of us to see. There's a quote on Pinterest I see all the time that goes "You don't have to show up to every argument you're invited to."
Why do we think we need to comment on every facebook status we disagree with? Why does everyone have to have the same political ideals and Biblical convictions as we do? Why do we abuse the Bible to suit our arrogant needs? Why do we have to accuse and belittle fellow brothers and sisters over petty little differences of opinion?
Our time would be so much better spent in quiet, careful Bible study of our own, taking the Bible as a whole and tracking who God is throughout generations of recorded history, not just whatever hot button issue we want support for at the moment. That's not a relationship with God. That's Bible abuse.
There are some middle Christians. The people that have learned that wisdom isn't the same as being able to look more awesome in an argument than everyone else. They are quiet, steady, not rocked by the world believers who are more interested in knowing and being like Jesus than having their opinions justified. They are the ones that have spent countless hours seeking Jesus, weathering the pages of their Bibles, spending entire nights in prayer, loving with gentleness and meekness and being humble, even when they are right and are accused of being wrong.
These are the ones I want to be like. These are the ones that I respect. Instead of being tumultuous and angry all the time, I can sense peace among these. Common sense. Unwavering faith. It's not that they don't change or that they don't have opinions that evolve over time. They're just not noisy about it. They don't have to belittle everyone they don't agree with. Their responses are even and sensible, not filled with emotion or arrogance. They are quite refreshing to be around.
I am determined to pursue a life like these few middle believers portray. Because quite honestly, I see Jesus the most in them.
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