Christians
So it strikes me (and I already appreciated the irony of this blog) that Christians just love to find problems with things, the other week the bishop was quoted on the front page of the Sunday Telegraph condemning something pathetic such as ‘not recycling’ as a sin, we had the Da Vinci code where Christians leapt up in arms saying ‘It’s not true, stupid book trying to be against our beliefs’, Christians love to moan!
The back of the Tab Church in Yarmouth is full of moaning ‘Why Catholics are wrong’, ‘why reading Harry Potter will get you to hell’ and other up in arms stuff like that.
The great band Relient K once said ‘We see the problem and the risk, but nothing’s solved.We just say, “Tisk, tisk, tisk, and, “Shame, shame, shame.”.
We seem to spend a lot of our time complaining about things and being negative, we tend to be cynical of even Christian things, so we don’t see someone healed and think ‘Wow God is good’ we think ‘Hmmm, not sure I believe that, it’s just for money’, we might see a Church Charity event or worship service and not think ‘Good they’re reaching out, looking after people as Jesus commanded’ but instead think ‘I bet they just want money, or numbers in their church’.
The fact is that cynicism doesn’t help our relationship with God, yes it’s good to be aware that there are false prophets out there and things not of God but if we analyse everything in a negative sense it just makes us negative, we might even get to the stage where we don’t look at a beautiful sunset and admire God’s creation but think about something which takes away it’s beauty (I Dunne what that would be).
Last night I went to Awesome, and I admit I went in a negative mindset, expecting something that would annoy me, or make me question however I was very pleasantly surprised and it was great (I refuse to say awesome!), I think too often we think of things negatively, sometimes if we see someone up the front with a lot of personality we think they want credit because they’re being ‘Extravagant’ or have ‘Stage Presence’ or whatever you wanna call it, but why are we judging them? They could just as easily be up there in all sincerity because it’s what God has caused them to do, the bible says that through all things God works for the good of those who love him, when we look through the bible we see that God used all kinds of characters to do his jobs and he still does!
I think that negativity isn’t necessarily bad, it can be a good thing to be wary but when you question the motives of say a church service or the leader surely it distracts you from worship, last night at awesome I could have quite easily spent the time thinking ‘now why is he jumping? is it for show? why is he drumming that heavy? is it for show?’ but if I’d done that I wouldn’t have been able to worship God through the music because I’d have been distracted, the point I am trying to make through this whole blog and yes some of you may disagree is that when we come into the presence of God or hear about God’s work somewhere is if we are negative about it it just doesn’t help anyone at all. It doesn’t help our relationship with God to be bogged down with negative thoughts it kinda distracts us, and bloggers that is my wisdom for this evening, agree or disagree as you please and yes I agree that churches in the past have hurt people by either being completely wrong deliberately or merely making mistakes but at the same time church has helped so many people more than the ones it’s let down, the church is made up of humans, we screw up, we make mistakes, we’re selfish but it’s God we can trust.
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Mark mentioned I might take exception to this blog, but I honestly couldn’t agree more wholeheartedly.
Cynacism is horrid and does cloud our vision of the happyness that God has inherantly inspired in us.
But awareness is key to avoiding the sick perversions of holiness to which La’s mum seems to be party, or the misguided hedonistic approach to church that Awesome seems to yip up to.
Yes cynacism is unhealthy, but IMO, it’s less healthy to be strung along worhipping saints, putting faith in Benny Hinn etc.
yes awareness is the key to avoiding the thing La’s mum is involved with, however awesome being misguided? I’m really not convinced, I’ve kinda been up and down with the whole awesome opinion, there have been times when I’ve thought ‘what did he just say’ or questioned their approach but at the same time as blogged previously I think much of it is style, I have no doubt after last night of the sincerety of Owen in particular, you could see the way he and the whole band last night were leading worship by the spirit.
I think awesome is different but certainly Godly, and definately with God as the centre piece, the main focus.
you can see the spirit? that’s impressive.
I’ve outlined my issues with Awesome in my e-hyper domain space arena circus forum… it’s only the Maoist (Communist) approach of the church that annoys me - everything else draws back to that, and unfortnately, a lot builds from that.
I don’t feel comfortable talking about Owen without his viewing this, but I share your opinion that he lacks no sincereity… if only he were jsut under a pastoral leadership that doesn’t encourage such herecy and misplaced enthusiasm.
Imagine Shaun leading a church. It would be sincere, but would it be right for such unrefined actions to slide in the face of evangelism?
That’s not a negative question, it’s posed in the negative mirror, but the answer, ultimately is positive.
IMO, that changes the emphasis from pessimism to at the worst, worst-case-scenario-realism
Guys
I am curious why you keep having a go at this Owen from proclaimners. The only reason I have come around to reading your blogs is from the message convo Ben had with Owen.
On the face of it the conversation seemed rude and not very nice - but without context its very hard to say.
I agree with this blog though that a careful and considered approach needs to be taken about various issues and agree we should not be strung along on a whim and a ride as it suits. Questioning is good.
I might not have meant proclaimers, but Awesome ( as an aside its an annoying word in itself ).
Owen’s a chap I always have had a loit of respect for him.
i just feel his enthusiasm and talent could be better channeled with a leader who doesn’t sniff glue
There is a tension between being positive people and people who are aghast at the things that happen in our world. I agreed with the Bishop who was looking at the responsibility we all share in looking after this earth of ours. Society doesn’t like to be told something is wrong, let alone a sin but with the balance of planet teetering on the edge, people need to be told. I blogged on it in my green blog. I guess the idea behind it is to be known for what I stand for and campaign positively rather than pointing the finger and moaning. So in that respect, I agree with you that’s what Christians should be about.
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Mark Tiddy
In his spare time Mark plays several instruments and enjoys song writing.
Read more about Mark here
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