It's pretty much a standard for young people in mainstream Christian culture these days, having been through the all consuming, fire and brimstone, tears and laughter filled mountaintop experience.
But what happens after you descend down the rocky mountain side and begin your new life as a follower of Christ?
A friend of mine had this, but once he began attending church regularly after giving his life to Christ he became conflicted, his beliefs of his previous life fighting for control with the new ones which were being spoken to him from the Bible.
Some stuck, most did not. As a fellow Christian, I begin to question my own newer beliefs which have become a part of my heart as much as my love for Christ.
Jesus Christ died for our sins, but only if we accept Him into our lives as our Saviour we are given a new life free of sin.
But what happens when the new morals and beliefs of our new life with Christ conflict with those that we've held onto for so long, or when society tells us that what He is saying is wrong?
My friend says that he doesn't hate God, he hates 'religion' because it tells him what to believe. To a degree, I both agree and disagree with this. I agree that some institutions of religion can be misleading and it is up to us (with the help of God) to recognize these misconceptions about life as a follower of Christ (Matthew 7:15).
But I also disagree with my friend. The Bible is the Word of God and teaches us many things. More than anything the church is for fellowship, but along with that fellowship comes guidance and a community in which one should be able to find not only protection and love but also friends who will call someone out if they aren't living the way they're supposed to (1 Timothy 5:20). Society as a whole may not agree with what the Bible says, some of your old beliefs may not coincide with what the minister was talking about in church last sunday, but if we are to have a true relationship with Jesus than we need to jump into our new life with both feet and leave behind our old selves.
You can't just dip your toe in to test the temperature, God wants you to full on cannonball into His love.
1 comment:
Mike Frost and Alan Hirsch's stuff on centered-sets vs bounded-sets helps me make sense of this. Bounded-sets are defined by a boundary. You're in if you wear the right clothes, use the right language, worship on the right days, assent to the right doctrines, listen to the right music, etc. They're Alberta ranches, with fences around them to keep the cattle in. Centered-sets are defined in relation to the centre, and ask questions of devotion, growth, direction, commitment, life change, and learning. They're Australian stations, where the unfenced cattle roam freely within walking distance of a central watering hole.
In so much as religion is a bounded-set, I agree with your friend. However, all of us need a centered-set community if we're to follow Jesus, and very often the best place to find this is in a religious context like church (campus ministries are my personal favorite. ;) We need people who will come alongside us not to insist that we conform, but to walk with and guide us as we grow and explore.
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