All-in or into everything?
"I am sick and tired of the argument that, “if we are going to reach this fallen world, then we need to engage it and understand it.” Give me a break. Jesus didn’t need to fill his eyes and mind with the trash of this world in order to authentically minister to the sinner. The gospel message is not bolstered a single bit because you have seen the latest Hollywood movie or because you are up to speed on the latest TV episodes.
"I think that the fascination and participation of American Christians with the entertainment of this world is an indication of our errant belief that we can serve two masters; that we can follow Christ while still partaking of the world; that we can be Christians without repentance; that we can become citizens of heaven while keeping our citizenship in the world. This kind of thinking is very dangerous and not characteristic of a disciple of Jesus Christ. We are called to go all-in and forsake all others for Him. Let’s stop thinking we can have it both ways."
posted by Milton Stanley at 8:41 AM
3 Comments:
I'm not "all-in" on this post, since I still see value in getting a read on those we would seek to persuade, but I have to admit that I have seen garden variety carnality justified as cultural literacy and "being real."
Confession time: I still watch way too much HGTV. I used to justify it by saying that there wasn't anything on it that I would have to explain if my kids watched with me. I can't say that anymore.
I have an unnatural fascination with seeing other people's homes. I like stuff too much. Even if there weren't gay couples featured on a lot of the programs or if there weren't television commercials for every kind of stuff on earth, it'd still be a network focused on stuff and self.
At the same time ...
Jesus spent time among sinners. Sinners came to Him. At least one washed His feet, and wiped them with her hair.
Maybe I should be spending less time at the tube and more time doing that.
I can't say I'm all-in on it either. As Keith points out, Jesus spent time at places and with people that respectable religious people considered scandalous. Yet today, too many Christians, including me, are too caught up in the culture of entertainment. I wonder, ironically enough, whether or not Christians ought to be spending less time in respectable places like movie theaters and in front of the living room teevee, and more time in less respectable places like bars and the homes of sinners.
This is, of course, a very old issue, but I think Eric expresses one aspect of it very well. CBunn summarizes it well, too in the idea of "garden variety carnality justified as cultural literacy and 'being real.'" Thanks, Chris and Keith, for adding to the discussion.
Peace.
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