Something to Talk About
Well, in response to Joanna's marching orders for the VRCC kitchen class, I thought it necessary to give y'all something to comment on, but first a couple of quick thoughts related to my weekend trip to Fredericksburg.
1. Cooper's Bar-B-Que rocks!- I learned this weekend that I am old. A relatively short (by Texas' standards) drive can wear me out. Our first night there, I slept more than twelve hours straight. Jennifer woke me up to tell me that the group was heading to Llano for BBQ. I nearly told her that I needed a few more hours of shut eye and "the group" could go without me, but I didn't want the conversation at lunch to be how lazy Jennifer's good-for-nothing husband was, so I pulled myself out of my coma and went to lunch. Man, am I thankful for social pressure! Cooper's is what Boi Na Braza would be if it were going for the "Dive" ambiance and sold its meat by the pound. It is apparently the preferred BBQ of Pres. Bush and, regardless of your political views, the man knows his Bar-B-Que. (Side Note: Shirt and Tie is never appropriate BBQ attire, even if you are Commander in Chief and you are having a photo op).
2. Fine, I surrender! (part two)- While in Fredericksburg, we discovered that all of Jennifer's friends were part of this whole Facebook thing. In the face of such formidible odds, Jen and I cracked and finally signed up. I can't tell you I get the whole thing yet, and I will probably offend some of my newfound "friends" since I have not yet learned the customs of this new and strange culture, but I'm here and trying.
Okay, the real point of the post, which would have been the thrust of my post even with out Joanna's upcoming lesson, has to do with a struggle I've been facing lately that you might help me work through. I am a big believer in "authentic Christianity". I think Church should be a place where we are who we really are, not the place where we put on our "happy Christian" faces and pretend that all of our struggles and problems evaporated off of us along with the baptism water. It is only by sharing our struggles with one another that we can hope to gain perspective on them and ultimately overcome them.
Recently, however, I have had several encounters with those who use this "authentic Christianity" as a pass on their sins. I've had someone tell me, "My church is great! They know all about my X (sin) and they think it's just fine!" I've seen that same attitude in others around me as well. It has become a theme the last few days. My question is: as great as authentic Christianity is, is there no room in it for a "transformative" Christianity; a faith that calls us to become better than we are?
Now don't get me wrong. I've seen first hand how destructive our faith can be when it is applied judgmentally; when the threat of "disfellowship" is used to make sure we lambs walk in lock step, and a moment of weakness is forever held against you. I am thankful that I found a place like VRCC that always errs on the side of love, but I'd like to think that if I dared call night day, or my sin righteousness, one of y'all would slap some sense into me!
It reminds me of the Romans passage, "Shall we continue sinning so that grace may abound?" Paul's answer on that is pretty clear. We don't take the grace that Christ died for and use it as an excuse to wallow in our wayward ways. We stumble; we fall, but we don't do so gleefully, and we certainly don't stay fallen , especially if there are those of the community of faith around us to pick us up.
It is one of the things that I treasure most about my dearest friends. They lead me closer to Christ. They encourage me to be better than I am. The lust, anger, arrogance, and the countless other sins in my life seem as pointless as they really are when I am in the midst of my Christian family.
I feel like I am rambling, which is probably a good sign that I need to wind this up. So, it's your turn: Can we find a balancing act between authentic Christianity and transformative faith?
1. Cooper's Bar-B-Que rocks!- I learned this weekend that I am old. A relatively short (by Texas' standards) drive can wear me out. Our first night there, I slept more than twelve hours straight. Jennifer woke me up to tell me that the group was heading to Llano for BBQ. I nearly told her that I needed a few more hours of shut eye and "the group" could go without me, but I didn't want the conversation at lunch to be how lazy Jennifer's good-for-nothing husband was, so I pulled myself out of my coma and went to lunch. Man, am I thankful for social pressure! Cooper's is what Boi Na Braza would be if it were going for the "Dive" ambiance and sold its meat by the pound. It is apparently the preferred BBQ of Pres. Bush and, regardless of your political views, the man knows his Bar-B-Que. (Side Note: Shirt and Tie is never appropriate BBQ attire, even if you are Commander in Chief and you are having a photo op).
2. Fine, I surrender! (part two)- While in Fredericksburg, we discovered that all of Jennifer's friends were part of this whole Facebook thing. In the face of such formidible odds, Jen and I cracked and finally signed up. I can't tell you I get the whole thing yet, and I will probably offend some of my newfound "friends" since I have not yet learned the customs of this new and strange culture, but I'm here and trying.
Okay, the real point of the post, which would have been the thrust of my post even with out Joanna's upcoming lesson, has to do with a struggle I've been facing lately that you might help me work through. I am a big believer in "authentic Christianity". I think Church should be a place where we are who we really are, not the place where we put on our "happy Christian" faces and pretend that all of our struggles and problems evaporated off of us along with the baptism water. It is only by sharing our struggles with one another that we can hope to gain perspective on them and ultimately overcome them.
Recently, however, I have had several encounters with those who use this "authentic Christianity" as a pass on their sins. I've had someone tell me, "My church is great! They know all about my X (sin) and they think it's just fine!" I've seen that same attitude in others around me as well. It has become a theme the last few days. My question is: as great as authentic Christianity is, is there no room in it for a "transformative" Christianity; a faith that calls us to become better than we are?
Now don't get me wrong. I've seen first hand how destructive our faith can be when it is applied judgmentally; when the threat of "disfellowship" is used to make sure we lambs walk in lock step, and a moment of weakness is forever held against you. I am thankful that I found a place like VRCC that always errs on the side of love, but I'd like to think that if I dared call night day, or my sin righteousness, one of y'all would slap some sense into me!
It reminds me of the Romans passage, "Shall we continue sinning so that grace may abound?" Paul's answer on that is pretty clear. We don't take the grace that Christ died for and use it as an excuse to wallow in our wayward ways. We stumble; we fall, but we don't do so gleefully, and we certainly don't stay fallen , especially if there are those of the community of faith around us to pick us up.
It is one of the things that I treasure most about my dearest friends. They lead me closer to Christ. They encourage me to be better than I am. The lust, anger, arrogance, and the countless other sins in my life seem as pointless as they really are when I am in the midst of my Christian family.
I feel like I am rambling, which is probably a good sign that I need to wind this up. So, it's your turn: Can we find a balancing act between authentic Christianity and transformative faith?
posted by Phylemon at 7:05 PM
3 Comments:
I can't answer your deep reflective question yet. That one takes more thought time than just read and write. However, seeing those pictures of the barbecue place, tells me I've got somewhere else to try the next time we're in the hill country.
It is one of the things that I treasure most about my dearest friends. They lead me closer to Christ. They encourage me to be better than I am.
That sums up what you call "authentic Christianity" for me. It's hard to find that, really, because there has to be openness in both directions, and a lot of people (particularly a lot of men) do not want to let their guard down. (I consider myself fortunate that I have had people in my life who are willing to be open, and they have really been the ones who spurred me on.)
I guess what most people (at least those whom I know) think of as "transformative Christianity" has to do with trying to change through willpower alone. ("I shouldn't do this.") The only problem with that method is IT DOESN'T WORK. By concentrating on your not doing whatever it is you don't want to do, you remove God from the picture and make it all about yourself.
With that said, sin is sin, and as a child of God, we want to do what God says because of our love for Him, which comes from His love for us. And so there has to be ongoing transformation from the old man of sin into the new man of God. In my experience, the transformation goes hand-in-head with "authentic Christianity", so I wouldn't say it's a balancing act; I would say you can't have one without the other.
Was it better than Harold's?
I wonder what "Transformative Barbecue" would be like? And would it be better than "Authentic Barbecue"?
"Disfellowship Barbecue" on the otherhand is probably more like the barbecue that guy sold out of his homemade trailer thingy next to the PoND (after we moved out).
--Don
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