There are times where you take a critical look at things, and discover that two competing world views come together that really shouldn't be combined, but nevertheless get mashed together. Usually, when that happens, one will overpower the other, or both will get twisted and mangled to the point where neither one is readily recognizable.
Over the past decade or so, I've come across any number of books by Christian authors that have demonstrated how being American and being Christian are two very different things. Yet, one of the problems that Christians in our nation face is that so many of our churches try to be both. And yet, when we take a critical look at the basis of each of these worldviews, we find that there are many respects in which the two simply cannot exist well together.
As Americans, we are taught that our individual lives, rights, and freedoms are foremost. While this may not necessarily be what the founding fathers of this nation intended, the current day reality is such that individualism is highlighted. The role of the community is minimized, as is our responsibility and accountability to one another. We are taught that we can do whatever we want, we can achieve whatever we want, and what we do is our business and not any else's.
Contrast that, now, with the Christian worldview that comes to us from God's Word, the Bible. In there, we are taught that we are our brother's keeper. We are taught that the two things of most importance in our lives are to love God (who loved us with a great, sacrificial, giving love that goes far beyond emotion) and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As part of the community of faith, we are told that the community should be of the foremost importance, even to the point of laying aside our rights, considering the needs of others as greater than ours, and in sacrificing for the good of others. We are responsible for one another, accountable to and for one another, and utimately, our lives are not based upon achievement, but upon what God has achieved for us in Jesus.
Just reading those two paragraphs should highlight how much these two clash when they encounter each other. This conflict gets played out in many different ways in our nation and time. Matters such as worship become more about our personal preferences than in the building up of the community. Bible study becomes less about building each other up, and more about attaining greater knowledge and understanding on a personal basis. We tend to sacrifice less for the good of God's community, and put a much higher priority on our own personal comforts.
I have no desire to repeat what has been written about so much in our Christian bookstores. I am thankful that the call is going forth to bring awareness to this, and to bring about changes. Such changes are difficult, especially when you consider the difficulty of changing a person's world view. In the next few blog entries, I'll be focusing a little bit on this.
Over the past decade or so, I've come across any number of books by Christian authors that have demonstrated how being American and being Christian are two very different things. Yet, one of the problems that Christians in our nation face is that so many of our churches try to be both. And yet, when we take a critical look at the basis of each of these worldviews, we find that there are many respects in which the two simply cannot exist well together.
As Americans, we are taught that our individual lives, rights, and freedoms are foremost. While this may not necessarily be what the founding fathers of this nation intended, the current day reality is such that individualism is highlighted. The role of the community is minimized, as is our responsibility and accountability to one another. We are taught that we can do whatever we want, we can achieve whatever we want, and what we do is our business and not any else's.
Contrast that, now, with the Christian worldview that comes to us from God's Word, the Bible. In there, we are taught that we are our brother's keeper. We are taught that the two things of most importance in our lives are to love God (who loved us with a great, sacrificial, giving love that goes far beyond emotion) and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As part of the community of faith, we are told that the community should be of the foremost importance, even to the point of laying aside our rights, considering the needs of others as greater than ours, and in sacrificing for the good of others. We are responsible for one another, accountable to and for one another, and utimately, our lives are not based upon achievement, but upon what God has achieved for us in Jesus.
Just reading those two paragraphs should highlight how much these two clash when they encounter each other. This conflict gets played out in many different ways in our nation and time. Matters such as worship become more about our personal preferences than in the building up of the community. Bible study becomes less about building each other up, and more about attaining greater knowledge and understanding on a personal basis. We tend to sacrifice less for the good of God's community, and put a much higher priority on our own personal comforts.
I have no desire to repeat what has been written about so much in our Christian bookstores. I am thankful that the call is going forth to bring awareness to this, and to bring about changes. Such changes are difficult, especially when you consider the difficulty of changing a person's world view. In the next few blog entries, I'll be focusing a little bit on this.
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