Sunday school was starting off as usual today. Given the fact that I had not been to church in about 2 weeks (perhaps longer) I worked myself up to realizing I'm probably going to get little kid syndrome. You know, where its as if it were a heightened anticipation just walking through those oh so familiar doors. Well, that's what I thought I'd experience. What did happen though was I was able to walk into there more so as a consciousness objector. Repetition was out the door and bright observant, no holding back, mind was entering in. What I found in Sunday school was an observation that I have made before, but was reminded of again.
Regular class began with us just talking about whatever, and the whatever topic of the day was Star Wars III. My teacher, who's son was the one who brought it up, started to dive into the old force talk, about how it has to much new age in it and that it should never be ran as a parallel against Christianity. After that there was talk about current events, as they have been dubbed 'updates.' First off, I was participating much more verbally than usual, because the league of absence had allowed me to soak up a lot of information. Second, I was much more observant. I was not paying attention to the annual right-wing conservatism coming from my teacher and his wife's mouths. (Allow me to be more clear about my stance on this a couple of blogs from now, or just click on the next-wave link to find out where I am coming from). Instead I saw old friends, people whom I have come to know over the years, even if it has been just a Sunday morning relationship.
This view that I was seeing was one of personality. We all have one. And how about this: we all have different ones! (what a breakthrough statement.) But as I have been able to figure out so far in 19 years and change, I can tell that there are groupings of personalities. Well, to get to the point, I saw my teacher and his wife in the light of who they are. They are sinful people who are trying their best to alter this nature by following God.
Now wait, isn't that what all Christians are trying to do? Yes. But the point here is that I saw just that, people who have life experiences, who have an embedded personality, who have more years behind them than me. And what they have decided is to follow Christ, which means every word or phrase that comes from your mouth you have to double check, which means that every action you make you make it as if you were doing it for the Lord, which means that every enemy that you have you love them. If these people are republican conservatives, it is because they have a different personality, they have had different environments growing up in, and they have been told different things by different people. Its not their fault they are who they are!
Which brings me to my main point. I am different too. I have a more eccentric approach to life, I have views more like a hippy, I don't think inside the box (though I have tried, only to come to find there is no space inside of it, too many people are in it). All of which I am thankful to God for. My attack here goes then not to my teachers, as it may have sounded through this whole spiel, but against separatists who separate because some theological difference is bothering them so much that they must declare revisionism. I find the Emerging church to be where my mind-set falls under the most, but when I still attend a Baptist church, I get to experience things that are considered taboo by the Emerging church. Sure I'm going to vote Democrat whenever possible, and sure I'm going to keep purchasing Don Miller (bluelikejazz.com) books as well, but I'm not going to go taboo against people who are doing the same thing that every Christ follower is trying to do; Follow Him and throw away the old self. Easier said than done!
Which is why our differences lie only in the pre-existing mainstream following (or in the case of the Emerging church the still developing following) that we say to ourselves "hey, I like those guys, they are Christian, and they have the same brain wave-lengths as me." The part of that that needs to be stressed, is "hey, those guys want to follow Jesus (i.e. be a Christian) just as I want to, I like those guys, I want to help them take the log out of their eye, and hopefully they will take mine out as well!"
Regular class began with us just talking about whatever, and the whatever topic of the day was Star Wars III. My teacher, who's son was the one who brought it up, started to dive into the old force talk, about how it has to much new age in it and that it should never be ran as a parallel against Christianity. After that there was talk about current events, as they have been dubbed 'updates.' First off, I was participating much more verbally than usual, because the league of absence had allowed me to soak up a lot of information. Second, I was much more observant. I was not paying attention to the annual right-wing conservatism coming from my teacher and his wife's mouths. (Allow me to be more clear about my stance on this a couple of blogs from now, or just click on the next-wave link to find out where I am coming from). Instead I saw old friends, people whom I have come to know over the years, even if it has been just a Sunday morning relationship.
This view that I was seeing was one of personality. We all have one. And how about this: we all have different ones! (what a breakthrough statement.) But as I have been able to figure out so far in 19 years and change, I can tell that there are groupings of personalities. Well, to get to the point, I saw my teacher and his wife in the light of who they are. They are sinful people who are trying their best to alter this nature by following God.
Now wait, isn't that what all Christians are trying to do? Yes. But the point here is that I saw just that, people who have life experiences, who have an embedded personality, who have more years behind them than me. And what they have decided is to follow Christ, which means every word or phrase that comes from your mouth you have to double check, which means that every action you make you make it as if you were doing it for the Lord, which means that every enemy that you have you love them. If these people are republican conservatives, it is because they have a different personality, they have had different environments growing up in, and they have been told different things by different people. Its not their fault they are who they are!
Which brings me to my main point. I am different too. I have a more eccentric approach to life, I have views more like a hippy, I don't think inside the box (though I have tried, only to come to find there is no space inside of it, too many people are in it). All of which I am thankful to God for. My attack here goes then not to my teachers, as it may have sounded through this whole spiel, but against separatists who separate because some theological difference is bothering them so much that they must declare revisionism. I find the Emerging church to be where my mind-set falls under the most, but when I still attend a Baptist church, I get to experience things that are considered taboo by the Emerging church. Sure I'm going to vote Democrat whenever possible, and sure I'm going to keep purchasing Don Miller (bluelikejazz.com) books as well, but I'm not going to go taboo against people who are doing the same thing that every Christ follower is trying to do; Follow Him and throw away the old self. Easier said than done!
Which is why our differences lie only in the pre-existing mainstream following (or in the case of the Emerging church the still developing following) that we say to ourselves "hey, I like those guys, they are Christian, and they have the same brain wave-lengths as me." The part of that that needs to be stressed, is "hey, those guys want to follow Jesus (i.e. be a Christian) just as I want to, I like those guys, I want to help them take the log out of their eye, and hopefully they will take mine out as well!"
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