Christianity - A List of Rules?

"Christians just always seem to get hung up on the cross."

This statement was made to me a few weeks ago, and it has kept me thinking. Though it seems like a heretical statement, the more I think about it, the more I think it is semi-true. When something, like this statement, seems so obscure, it keeps my mind ever-churning to understand the implications of it. Why would that person have said that? What have Christians done to make that person say and think that? I'm not really a self-conscience person until it comes to Christianity. As soon as Christianity comes up, I'm all ears to hear what that person thinks about it and why. Some of the time the person thinks what they think because we live in a fallen world, and they have not been renewed. Sadly, however, most of the time what they believe to be Christianity is the result of Christians getting in the way of the true Gospel.

Okay, I'll back up. A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with my Favorite Victim about sin. He told me that he just couldn't understand why Christians make such a huge deal out of sin. To him, it seemed that the only thing Christians did was to go around and tell the world that they're sinners because they did _____ and _____. After that, they go on to tell them that they need to go and repent and start doing _____ and _____. To him, it seemed odd that all Christianity was about was replacing one set of deeds with another, thus the statement about how Christians get hung up on the cross. It's the Christian's own fault that the world thinks that the only thing the cross means is Jesus dying for your sins and you having to replace your own behaviour with another set of behavioural laws. Though some of this may be true, there is so much more to the Gospel. When conforming yourself to a new set of standards is all there is to Christianity, no wonder people can't understand why people are so dogmatic to insist that they have the only true way. After all, Hindus, Buddhist monks, Muslims, and all other religious groups have to conform themselves to a list of rules too.

So what does the cross really mean to Christianity? Why is it even important to Christianity? The answer is not all about Jesus dying on the cross to save you from your sins, though this is true. It means so much more, and if the world knew what it meant, they wouldn't make statements about Christians getting hung up on the cross. The cross means the renewal of all things. The perfect, shalomic world in a perfect relationship with God had been shattered. We were estranged from God. This is the worst thing ever to happen, and all sin was, was a result of this estrangement. Sin is an act, but it speaks only to estrangement. All throughout the Old Testament, promise after promise had been made to renew this perfect relationship. Finally, Christ came and did what had been promised for so many years. He died on the cross, but he didn't just die to save us from our sins. In fact, it seems rather shallow and seems almost light-hearted to say that is the only reason he died. He died to end estrangement. He died to restore that perfect relationship between God and his image-bearer. Remember when the veil in the temple split when Jesus died? The temple had been the place where God would meet his people. The veil separated God from man, but when it split, it signified that God was no longer separated from his people. Estrangement was at an end, and it still is! Sin is still in this world, because the final consummation of all things has not come, but sin is no longer an issue. Sin is defeated because estrangement is defeated. That is what the cross is truly all about. Our relationship we so longed to have and kept trying to reach up to God for had finally been restored -- not because of something we did but in spite of everything we had ever done. The cross is not just about Jesus dying to save us from our sins. It's about so much more!

Because so many Christians don't understand what sin really is, the true meaning of the cross, and what it has accomplished, they live with 5,000 laws to show the world they are Christians.

When people try to replace one set of living standards with another in the name of "Christianity," they are actually being a hindrance to the Gospel. People see them and think Wow, look at them. They must be Christians. Thank goodness I'm not a Christian. I wouldn't want to have to act like that. They might even see a Christian's standards of living and think Oh, that wouldn't be too hard to do. I'll just do _______ and _______ and "earn" my way to heaven. Is that any kind of good witness to the world? No, I don't think so. Now please, pleeease, not for one moment think that I'm being antinomian. I am not saying that we should go out and start showing the world that Christians are immoral. Christians should live the law of love. We hear this all the time, but what does it really mean? It means that because of what Christ has done and because of his renewing work in our life, we should live into who we are as his image-bearer. This doesn't mean conforming yourself to a set of standards. Anyone can do that - yes, even the world. Living the law of love means living in a way that shows our love for God and for others. Living the law of love does not mean forcing the Gospel down someones throat - even in the name of trying to save them from hell fire. It does not mean forcing your set of standards on other people. It means showing them the love of Christ in your actions, words, and deed but not doing it in a way that makes people see your self-righteousness. I think that self-righteousness is one of the biggest stumbling blocks there are. We are to live as the fragrance of Christ. I can not stress enough how this does not mean to conform yourself to something. The fragrance of Christ means loving others (yes, even non-Christians), and allowing Christ's light to shine through us. Christ's light is not to shine through us because of something we are doing, but it is to shine through in spite of us. We and our self-righteous "hey everyone! Look how good I am" attitude is the biggest hindrance the Gospel will ever face.

Perhaps if Christians would live out the fragrance of Christ instead of saying Do this, Don't do that, people in this world would see the true light of Christ shining in us, and they would not wonder why Christianity is a list of rules.

So Father, help us!

All Men Are Created...Equal...?

As much as people (particularly in America) like to say it, I'm becoming more and more perturbed at the inequality that I see. No, I'm not just talking about illegal immigrants getting to live for free. I'm talking about Christians attempting to fulfill the Great Commission.

What? Aren't Christians (if anyone) supposed to live the law of love and realize that one is not better than the other? And yet, in the modern mission movement, this seems to be the opposite of what really happens. There are several steps to convincing people they should be going on mission trips. The first is to to convict them and make them feel very sorry for all those poor people that live in the slums. Now as good as this may, they go about it in a completely wrong way. Instead of telling these people, "Hey, guys, these people (notice people) are in need of help. There are Christians there that are living without food, shelter, or clean water, etc.", they show pictures of children with bloated bellies and people that have suffered from leprosy. They put the title "The poorest of the poor don't know Christ. Wouldn't Jesus have wanted you to help them?" Okay, fine. Maybe Jesus would have wanted you to help them, but put yourself in their shoes. They're living. They know they're poor. They're continually being ignored. Yet, don't you think they want some independence? Do you really think they want to be on websites with degrading titles over them? Do they want to have to depend on "those rich Americans who just throw money around"? How would you like to get your picture taken and a few months later find it on websites with big letters over it saying "The poorest of the poor..."? Wouldn't you feel just a tad bit used? Maybe even a big looked down on?

This is always something I think about as I'm looking at books with these "poor, helpless children" and am watching something about a different country. It's something that really bothers me how Americans (I'm just using 'Americans' as a generalization for anyone who fits what I'm talking about) can't take part in those poor peoples' lives. Just in the way they talk about them suggests that somehow they're superior. They don't actually want to know each person's story. In fact, they don't really care about them. They just send the money off, knowing they have done a good deed for the poorest of the poor and check it off their list. This is something I run across time after time as I look at websites, books, or even watch things on TV about poorer countries. People can't be bothered. All they want to know is that they're doing their good deed for the day. Particularly in short-term mission trips, people will not take a part in anyone's lives. They'll pay money to go there, do their good deed each day by fixing a church roof or painting a school. They will then go on to gawk at the people who are living in such terrible conditions, feel kind of sorry for them, go to their 5-star hotel for the night, and go home with their hundreds of pictures of the poorest of the poor living in terrible conditions. Now I'm not saying that no good has come from any of these trips, but so many people go on them with a completely wrong attitude. They go on their "holy trip" to somehow make themselves feel like they're done something worth their taking up space on this earth. And these poor people? They're used as the object by which these people gain their holiness.

It's not right. It is just not. Do you think that these people really want to have pictures taken of them and be shown at home where people will 'humm' and 'haaa' over them, or do you think that they just want to be shown a little love - true love? The kind of love that they actually feel like they're worth something and that the people that are there with them really truly care about them and want them to know the love of Christ? For myself, I honestly don't think that these people who are going to these poor countries are being much of a good witness to the people. These people don't want to be gawked at. They want to be treated like normal people.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Steve! Not only do you get the honor of having a post congratulating you on your long journey around the sun for the twenty-fifth (?) time, but it's also the first post on my blog for this year! Don't you feel honored?

Here are nine new extremely useful words to expand your knowledge of the English language.

carperpetuation - the act, when vacuuming, of running over a string or a piece of lint at least a dozen times, reaching over and picking it up, examining it, then putting it back down to give the vacuum one more chance

elbonics - the actions of two people maneuvering for one armrest in a movie theater or airplane

lactocartomangulation - man-handling the "open-here" spout on a milk container so badly that one has to resort to using the other side

phonesia - the affliction of dialing a phone number and forgetting whom you were calling just as they answer

aquadextrous - possessing the ability to turn on and off the water of a bathtub with your toes

disconfect - to sterilize the piece of candy you dropped on the floor by blowing on it, assuming this will somehow remove the germs

frust - the small line of debris that refuses to be swept onto the dust pan and keeps backing a person across the room until he finally decides to sweep it under the rug

Peppier - the waiter at a fancy restaurant whose sole purpose is to be walking around and asking diners if they want pepper

telecrastination - the act of always letting the phone ring at least three times before you pick it up, even when you're only six inches away

I hope you find many meaningful times to use these words in the years to come.

Yes, It's Bad

Yes, the blog is getting work done to it. That's why it looks so bad...

What Do You Represent?

Like I've said in the past, I am a member on a debate forum. I don't post on it very often because there are about twenty atheists for every one theist. If you say anything that sounds the slightest bit theistic, you will have about ten people picking apart everything you say within about five minutes. It's pretty hard to keep up with it all, and if you don't reply, they assume you've converted.

One thing I've noticed over and over is how they will pick on one thing someone says and immediately apply it to every person of that religious group. If someone uses incorrect punctuation, they'll start picking on that. If someone says anything that anyone can twist into being illogical, they'll pick on that (never mind the fact that atheists can be just as bad about it). One thing that really makes me upset, though, is how so many atheists will say that they're so tired of Christians telling them they're going to hell. So many Christians don't know anything more to say than, "Jesus died on the cross because you're a sinner. He loves you, so you should pray 'this pray' and believe Christ. After that, you need to obey this list of rules." Though there is nothing wrong with this, it misses so much. It talks nothing of our depravity from God and how Jesus is the one who fulfilled the Old Testament and ended estrangement from God. One of the biggest issues people have on the forum is why Christians think that they can force their moral standards from their 'holy book' on people who are "free?" Just recently, I saw this post:

"There are certain words that should be avoided by atheists, rationalists and free thinkers in their writings and conversations. They can, however, be frequently found in the writings of theists, the irrational and those who prefer not to think.

This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list. I’m simply suggesting the most common words I encounter in religious and philosophical discussions. They reflect a certainty about reality that thinking people don’t accept. I’ll present them without comment, but please feel free to provide your own.

1. Truth
2. Absolute
3. Proof
4. Right
5. Wrong
6. Immoral
7. Unconditional
8. Unquestionable
9. Undoubtedly
10. Never
11. Always
12. Sin
13. Evil
14. Damned
15. Certain"

Though this may show how theists "reflect a certainty about reality that thinking people don’t accept," I think it shows even more how someone who is still estranged from God has a natural mind, and without the Holy Spirit cannot see what the world really is.

Lately, however, One of my biggest "pet peeves" is how they will go around looking for extreme beliefs that some Christians hold, and they will apply it to every single Christian. For example:

"Salvation Army
I never realized these folks had such an odd requirement. But I have no doubt they can produce a Biblical passage that supports their rule."

Of course, there is nothing that says that every single person (or that even one person) in the Salvation Army is a true Christian, but just because the Salvation Army is supposed to be run by Christians, they assume that all of its rules reflect Christianity. Unfortunately, this happens way too often. People will make rules that don't actually have anything to do with living into their identity as the children of Christ, and they will say (or show to others), "I do this because I am Christian." As soon as that happens, people will immediately assume that you represent all of Christianity, and they will assume that every single Christian believes that same thing. No wonder people think that Christianity is just a huge list of rules...

Do you live out the fragrance of Christ by living out of love, or do you live a life that people look at and see a rule book? If you live a life of love, people will see the person of Christ - they won't see a list of rules. They will see you living into who you are and being content in it. If you don't live into your identity, people won't see Christ. What will they see? You. You keeping a list of rules because that's what your "religion" requires of you. At that point, you might as well be apart of any religion - Hindu, Buddhism, Islam, you name it. There is something common with all of those religions - they all require you to keep lists of rules! Christianity is about living by faith and living by the law of love. No, don't mistake me for being antinomian. Living in faith and by the law of love will cause you to live in a way that truly shows your love for Christ and others.

Hi, Ben -*chomp*-

Olga sends her greetings to you, Ben.

Recessive Genes Galore!

Go ahead and groan. It's another post on genetics. Yes, it is the sad truth, but I'll try to make this one short and snappy.

A couple months ago I took in a family of gerbils who had been dumped at a pet shop. There were three pups plus the mom and dad. One pup was lilac, and the other two were black. Both of the parents were black, and it wasn't really any surprise that they happened to have the gene to make a red-eyed gerbil. I figured I might as well take them in, considering I've sold so many other gerbils in the past. Their colors weren't particularly neat or highly sought after, but I figured I might as well do it since they were free. Here are the genetic codes for the parents:

black - aaC-D-E-G-Pp <---I know the parents carry recessive 'p's because the lilac pup that came in the litter had red eyes.

lilac:

Nothing particularly exciting. Nothing very out of the ordinary.

If you don't want to end up with lots and lots of gerbils, you have to separate the female and male right before the female has a litter. Obviously, the male and female hadn't been separated, so she was due to have another litter. She had it. Six squirmy pups - four with black eyes, two with red eyes. I figured there were four blacks and two lilacs. Here is one of the black-eyed new-born pups:

At about five days, I started noticing that there seem to be a few different colors.

And then they started getting their peach fuzz:

They then started to look like gerbils at about ten days:

They finished getting their fur, and I could finally tell what colors they were:

nutmeg - aaC-D-ee-G-P-

black - aaC-D-E-G-P-

lilac - aaC-D-E-G-pp

sapphire - aaCc[chm]D-E-G-pp - sapphire is actually lighter than lilac, though it's hard to tell in this picture.

burmese - aac[chm]c[chm]D-E-P-

What the burmese will turn out to look like:

Maybe no one else gets all that excited about genetics, but I found it extremely fascinating to see that two black gerbils could produce all these colors - in one litter. Just knowing what their genes are, I know that they could have even more colors. Because of the colors of pups they had, I now know that both black parents have a lot of recessives:

aaCc[chm]D-Ee-G-Pp