Feeling Like I'm Two Steps to Trump Sometimes...
I just got back from a wonderful trip to Quebec City, and I could tell you all about it (if you haven't already been bored to death looking at my pictures/videos on Facebook.
But I just read something that took me slightly aback, not so much about that thing itself, but how much I am *like* it... and it doesn't sit right with me. That's the first step to every problem, right? Realizing it is a problem, right?
The item I was reading was a description of a congregation that proclaims itself "truly Bible-based", "thriving" and has a "growing church orchestra." Sounds good, right? But then you re-read it and see that it holds to the "preservation" of the use of the King James (they say 1611, but we all know it's the 1613 edition at the *very* least...), and that the orchestra has no drumset - they are proud of the fact that they don't use the drum to praise God! And last, but certainly not least, they proclaim that this is "church the way CHURCH was Meant to be." [sic] And...
Whoa, pump the brakes there...
So, (sez I to myself) you're pointing at people who are pointing at other things that they are calling foolish and idiotic and wrong and, what, calling them foolish and idiotic and wrong? Aaaaaand this makes you different how? "Better" how? No, really, please tell me how calling people foolish who call other people foolish wins lives and souls for Christ!
It doesn't.
But it feels so good (I sez to me)! They have a "fault"! They have a "flaw"! Their theology is misaligned because they say they're the only congregation that really knows The Way! They refuse to use newer translations with (what, with better theology behind the translation?)... well, with clearer language, anyway! They put down using a drum in church (you don't use a drum in church, either, doofus!)! And... and... and...!
And what (sez I again, chuckling softly)? What, they send around the gospel of John, which you love most to read of the four gospels; they send around Paul's letter to the Romans, which is the highest written evolution of Paul's theology; they say that God is the answer to all of life's questions and that His Spirit fills the hole in our hearts that nothing else can; they point to specific verses that answer specific theological elements, and you're going to run them down because they don't line up perfectly with your way of thinking the gospel should be shared? You agree with 95% of what you looked at, yet you'll die on that 5%, fight kicking and screaming over that 5% that God Himself probably doesn't care about?
*sigh*
I found myself doing other "judging" on the trip - getting pissed over things that I shouldn't have gotten pissed over, looking at people and finding a reason to hold them in contempt that may or may not have been valid in anyone's mind but my own, misdirecting scorn instead of finding ways to laugh at it. (I did find one - the 14-year-old boy who thought it would be fun to roll down the slippery sand-and-ice-covered cobblestones of the lower Old City, I guess rather than risk the fall; I said to The Kat, "His mother's going to be pissed at him." She replied, "But somehow I doubt she'll be surprised." But I digress...)
Mr. Trump prides himself on calling things as he sees them. He doesn't go through the THINK process (Is something you want to say True, Helpful, Informative, Necessary or Kind?) but just blurts it out for the world to hear! Many people vilify him for this, but how far off are they from his way, actually? Not his position, perhaps, but rather his way, his method? We run down those with whom we disagree. We point at those we do not wish to emulate or have emulated and enumerate their flaws. We tread heavily on the line between discernment and judgement - one we have been called to, the other most definitely NOT! And we will pay for it, one way or another.
I disagree with some people on some issues. For a few, I can usually agree to disagree. For some others, they may indeed become hills to die on. And for those that remain, I'd love to find a way (help me with this, Lord, if you would?) to thread between the parts we disagree on and find a way to connect with the things we *do* agree on! Again the Serenity Prayer comes to mind, especially the "wisdom" portion. Lord, help me find that wisdom, because it is *so* desperately needed in this world!
But I just read something that took me slightly aback, not so much about that thing itself, but how much I am *like* it... and it doesn't sit right with me. That's the first step to every problem, right? Realizing it is a problem, right?
The item I was reading was a description of a congregation that proclaims itself "truly Bible-based", "thriving" and has a "growing church orchestra." Sounds good, right? But then you re-read it and see that it holds to the "preservation" of the use of the King James (they say 1611, but we all know it's the 1613 edition at the *very* least...), and that the orchestra has no drumset - they are proud of the fact that they don't use the drum to praise God! And last, but certainly not least, they proclaim that this is "church the way CHURCH was Meant to be." [sic] And...
Whoa, pump the brakes there...
So, (sez I to myself) you're pointing at people who are pointing at other things that they are calling foolish and idiotic and wrong and, what, calling them foolish and idiotic and wrong? Aaaaaand this makes you different how? "Better" how? No, really, please tell me how calling people foolish who call other people foolish wins lives and souls for Christ!
It doesn't.
But it feels so good (I sez to me)! They have a "fault"! They have a "flaw"! Their theology is misaligned because they say they're the only congregation that really knows The Way! They refuse to use newer translations with (what, with better theology behind the translation?)... well, with clearer language, anyway! They put down using a drum in church (you don't use a drum in church, either, doofus!)! And... and... and...!
And what (sez I again, chuckling softly)? What, they send around the gospel of John, which you love most to read of the four gospels; they send around Paul's letter to the Romans, which is the highest written evolution of Paul's theology; they say that God is the answer to all of life's questions and that His Spirit fills the hole in our hearts that nothing else can; they point to specific verses that answer specific theological elements, and you're going to run them down because they don't line up perfectly with your way of thinking the gospel should be shared? You agree with 95% of what you looked at, yet you'll die on that 5%, fight kicking and screaming over that 5% that God Himself probably doesn't care about?
*sigh*
I found myself doing other "judging" on the trip - getting pissed over things that I shouldn't have gotten pissed over, looking at people and finding a reason to hold them in contempt that may or may not have been valid in anyone's mind but my own, misdirecting scorn instead of finding ways to laugh at it. (I did find one - the 14-year-old boy who thought it would be fun to roll down the slippery sand-and-ice-covered cobblestones of the lower Old City, I guess rather than risk the fall; I said to The Kat, "His mother's going to be pissed at him." She replied, "But somehow I doubt she'll be surprised." But I digress...)
Mr. Trump prides himself on calling things as he sees them. He doesn't go through the THINK process (Is something you want to say True, Helpful, Informative, Necessary or Kind?) but just blurts it out for the world to hear! Many people vilify him for this, but how far off are they from his way, actually? Not his position, perhaps, but rather his way, his method? We run down those with whom we disagree. We point at those we do not wish to emulate or have emulated and enumerate their flaws. We tread heavily on the line between discernment and judgement - one we have been called to, the other most definitely NOT! And we will pay for it, one way or another.
I disagree with some people on some issues. For a few, I can usually agree to disagree. For some others, they may indeed become hills to die on. And for those that remain, I'd love to find a way (help me with this, Lord, if you would?) to thread between the parts we disagree on and find a way to connect with the things we *do* agree on! Again the Serenity Prayer comes to mind, especially the "wisdom" portion. Lord, help me find that wisdom, because it is *so* desperately needed in this world!