ugly legalism rises out of the sea of self-righteousness
A NEW WAVE OF CULTURE BASHING
There seems to be a new wave of culture bashing in the name of Jesus. I am sick and tired of it. Certain folks seem to take delight in crucifying George Lucas for the violence in “Episode 3.� How soon the extreme violence of “The Passion of the Christ� is forgotten. When was the last time these folks read the book of Joshua or the book of Revelation in the Bible (containing unparalleled blood baths). It seems to me that Star Wars is about the battle between good and evil. Its depiction of spiritual struggle really connected to the culture (as demonstrated by the largest box office ever). The real issue is: Why has the culture responded as it has to a story of spiritual struggle?
Additionally and more to my point, Christianity is being paraded as conservative politics. In the last U.S. Presidential election Fox News scored the vote as “Blue States, Red States, and Evangelical.� I was shocked. It gave the appearance that “believers in Jesus� were a political group campaigning to get their particular agenda forced on everyone else. Is there any one out there besides me that finds this disturbing?
I am pleased to be a part of a Christ-centered website that finds great value in all people; that seeks respectful dialogue with people of all political views, faiths, opinions, backgrounds, and ethnicity. Being “Christ-centered� means following the pattern of Christ. Jesus hung with all types including “wine bibbers, lepers, sinners, tax collectors, and the “wrong kinda� women at the well. The only hard words Jesus had were for the self-righteous religious systems of his day that was forcing its agendas on others. But even then Jesus took time to dialogue peacefully with its members, such as the religious ruler Nicodemus (John 3).
A message to all my non-Christian friends: Often Hollywood Jesus is mistaken as part of some religious right political group. It is not. It is about viewing pop culture with spiritual eyes. It is about Jesus and following his teachings, such as “love your enemies� “do good to others� and “do not judge others.� Following Jesus is the path to God that is life giving. It is not a political agenda. You are welcomed here.
Below is an excellent posting at HJ from a follower of Jesus that expresses some of the concerns I have:
“The following comments are made from a Christian deeply concerned for the wellbeing of the Church as well as how we as Christians are to be held accountable by our peers in the faith.
“Certainly the Church and the community of believers need to be held accountable for the way they show their religiosity and often negligence for the actions taken unheeding the word of God.
“However first of all this sin-slinging game amounts to a mudslinging contest between two politicians: about a ten foot pile of crap. I'm sick of it, the church doesn't need any more of it, and scripture doesn’t condone it. Accountability has nothing to do with finger pointing. Jesus' teaching and time of discipleship with the apostles, who stumbled and failed to grasp the overwhelming depth and wisdom of Jesus' message countless times, never forsook or ostracized them, nor divided them against Jesus.
“...Here’s a small suggestion to you if you really need a "Wakeup call" to restart your Christian life: pick up the nearest bible you can find, sit down and read the Sermon on the Mount very carefully and you'll find very quickly that a lot of your attitude towards your life is something less than what it should be. Then read the part where it says Jesus has taken our burdens away (meaning the law) that we are fallible, but ya know hes been there and he loves us, and in the end that’s the final rule anyway so we're good to go, loving him with our whole being is good enough for him, and so now we should love others and be accepting of them just as he has to us...�
I am interested in how you feel:
There seems to be a new wave of culture bashing in the name of Jesus. I am sick and tired of it. Certain folks seem to take delight in crucifying George Lucas for the violence in “Episode 3.� How soon the extreme violence of “The Passion of the Christ� is forgotten. When was the last time these folks read the book of Joshua or the book of Revelation in the Bible (containing unparalleled blood baths). It seems to me that Star Wars is about the battle between good and evil. Its depiction of spiritual struggle really connected to the culture (as demonstrated by the largest box office ever). The real issue is: Why has the culture responded as it has to a story of spiritual struggle?
Additionally and more to my point, Christianity is being paraded as conservative politics. In the last U.S. Presidential election Fox News scored the vote as “Blue States, Red States, and Evangelical.� I was shocked. It gave the appearance that “believers in Jesus� were a political group campaigning to get their particular agenda forced on everyone else. Is there any one out there besides me that finds this disturbing?
I am pleased to be a part of a Christ-centered website that finds great value in all people; that seeks respectful dialogue with people of all political views, faiths, opinions, backgrounds, and ethnicity. Being “Christ-centered� means following the pattern of Christ. Jesus hung with all types including “wine bibbers, lepers, sinners, tax collectors, and the “wrong kinda� women at the well. The only hard words Jesus had were for the self-righteous religious systems of his day that was forcing its agendas on others. But even then Jesus took time to dialogue peacefully with its members, such as the religious ruler Nicodemus (John 3).
A message to all my non-Christian friends: Often Hollywood Jesus is mistaken as part of some religious right political group. It is not. It is about viewing pop culture with spiritual eyes. It is about Jesus and following his teachings, such as “love your enemies� “do good to others� and “do not judge others.� Following Jesus is the path to God that is life giving. It is not a political agenda. You are welcomed here.
Below is an excellent posting at HJ from a follower of Jesus that expresses some of the concerns I have:
“The following comments are made from a Christian deeply concerned for the wellbeing of the Church as well as how we as Christians are to be held accountable by our peers in the faith.
“Certainly the Church and the community of believers need to be held accountable for the way they show their religiosity and often negligence for the actions taken unheeding the word of God.
“However first of all this sin-slinging game amounts to a mudslinging contest between two politicians: about a ten foot pile of crap. I'm sick of it, the church doesn't need any more of it, and scripture doesn’t condone it. Accountability has nothing to do with finger pointing. Jesus' teaching and time of discipleship with the apostles, who stumbled and failed to grasp the overwhelming depth and wisdom of Jesus' message countless times, never forsook or ostracized them, nor divided them against Jesus.
“...Here’s a small suggestion to you if you really need a "Wakeup call" to restart your Christian life: pick up the nearest bible you can find, sit down and read the Sermon on the Mount very carefully and you'll find very quickly that a lot of your attitude towards your life is something less than what it should be. Then read the part where it says Jesus has taken our burdens away (meaning the law) that we are fallible, but ya know hes been there and he loves us, and in the end that’s the final rule anyway so we're good to go, loving him with our whole being is good enough for him, and so now we should love others and be accepting of them just as he has to us...�
I am interested in how you feel:
