My jaw hurts. Now, that could be from eating too much pizza, which I do have a tendency to do; but I don’t think that’s the case this time. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the number of times it has hit the ground in the last two days. Let me explain.
It started while I was relaxing at home after a wonderful Easter service at church, just reading the Sunday paper like I always do: funnies first, sports second, the rest a distant third. Two items in particular caught my attention in “the rest” category.
First was USA Weekend insert cover story about spirituality. Obviously, that’s going to catch my eye, so I dove in. Now I don’t expect the secular media to do an apologetic for the Christian faith, but this was disgusting. It was touting the whole “being spiritual without being religious” mentality, saying that you could just be going about your day when you suddenly “experience the ineffable love and power of God or the higher power that name signifies to you.” God, “or the higher power that name signifies?” On Easter weekend? Really?
Worse yet is that they chose to quote the ravings of one of the nation’s ten “most influential protestant” leaders, who happens to be a hyper-liberal Episcopal priest. And this is who we get to represent Christianity for us? My jaw hit the ground in amazement and disgust.
Then I read an article about a New Jersey teenager who went to a party, sold herself for sex with several men present, and then sold her 7-year-old stepsister for these men to touch as well. That touching led to forced sex where as many as 7 men raped this poor little girl. Hence, the second trip to the floor my jaw made. This one complete with the accompanying nausea that this kind of thing could even be imagined, let alone acted out.
(Jaw dropping side note: The article from the Associated Press ended with a description of the housing complex where the event occurred. They say it is “fronted by a well-manicured lawn and features a colorful playground and a basketball court. An American flag hangs from a pole to the right of the front door.” What does that mean? Why is that included? What does the American flag flying have to do with all this? Are we suggesting that patriotic people are all corrupt at heart; or simply that this happens in the heart of Americana? Just struck me as an odd way to end the article)
Then I wake up this morning to the truly jaw dropping story of a Maine March for equal rights. Nothing so unusual, you say; marching for equal rights? Well the “right” we’re talking about here is the right for women to walk about in public bare-chested the way their male counterparts do. Seriously? Are we so ignorant that we see no difference at all between shirtless men and women?
To add insult to my already injured jaw, the organizer of this little march had the nerve to complain about the passer-bys who stopped and stared and even took pictures. Really? She was offended that men would dare ogle her bare chest that she was flaunting in public? Sorry, I can’t speak any longer with my jaw dragging the floor.
Folks, I know this isn’t truly a Christian nation. We may have been founded on Biblical principles, but as much as I would love to see us return to those foundations, we haven’t been a “Christian nation” for quite some time. Still, do we have to be Christian to have common sense or common decency? I guess the answer is, apparently, yes.
From a theological perspective this is a good reminder that the human heart is truly wicked and sick; and apart from the saving work of Christ, will act on that depravity and wickedness to its full ability. (I believe I wrote about that recently)
From a patriotic perspective, this is a reminder of what one of my heroes, Ronald Reagan once said: “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
Here’s praying that the church in America will wake up and stop playing games by trying to “accommodate the culture” and focus again on seeing men, women and children transformed by the power of the Gospel. And let’s hope the nation can hold its breath long enough in the meantime, lest we finally “go under” for good.
It started while I was relaxing at home after a wonderful Easter service at church, just reading the Sunday paper like I always do: funnies first, sports second, the rest a distant third. Two items in particular caught my attention in “the rest” category.
First was USA Weekend insert cover story about spirituality. Obviously, that’s going to catch my eye, so I dove in. Now I don’t expect the secular media to do an apologetic for the Christian faith, but this was disgusting. It was touting the whole “being spiritual without being religious” mentality, saying that you could just be going about your day when you suddenly “experience the ineffable love and power of God or the higher power that name signifies to you.” God, “or the higher power that name signifies?” On Easter weekend? Really?
Worse yet is that they chose to quote the ravings of one of the nation’s ten “most influential protestant” leaders, who happens to be a hyper-liberal Episcopal priest. And this is who we get to represent Christianity for us? My jaw hit the ground in amazement and disgust.
Then I read an article about a New Jersey teenager who went to a party, sold herself for sex with several men present, and then sold her 7-year-old stepsister for these men to touch as well. That touching led to forced sex where as many as 7 men raped this poor little girl. Hence, the second trip to the floor my jaw made. This one complete with the accompanying nausea that this kind of thing could even be imagined, let alone acted out.
(Jaw dropping side note: The article from the Associated Press ended with a description of the housing complex where the event occurred. They say it is “fronted by a well-manicured lawn and features a colorful playground and a basketball court. An American flag hangs from a pole to the right of the front door.” What does that mean? Why is that included? What does the American flag flying have to do with all this? Are we suggesting that patriotic people are all corrupt at heart; or simply that this happens in the heart of Americana? Just struck me as an odd way to end the article)
Then I wake up this morning to the truly jaw dropping story of a Maine March for equal rights. Nothing so unusual, you say; marching for equal rights? Well the “right” we’re talking about here is the right for women to walk about in public bare-chested the way their male counterparts do. Seriously? Are we so ignorant that we see no difference at all between shirtless men and women?
To add insult to my already injured jaw, the organizer of this little march had the nerve to complain about the passer-bys who stopped and stared and even took pictures. Really? She was offended that men would dare ogle her bare chest that she was flaunting in public? Sorry, I can’t speak any longer with my jaw dragging the floor.
Folks, I know this isn’t truly a Christian nation. We may have been founded on Biblical principles, but as much as I would love to see us return to those foundations, we haven’t been a “Christian nation” for quite some time. Still, do we have to be Christian to have common sense or common decency? I guess the answer is, apparently, yes.
From a theological perspective this is a good reminder that the human heart is truly wicked and sick; and apart from the saving work of Christ, will act on that depravity and wickedness to its full ability. (I believe I wrote about that recently)From a patriotic perspective, this is a reminder of what one of my heroes, Ronald Reagan once said: “If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
Here’s praying that the church in America will wake up and stop playing games by trying to “accommodate the culture” and focus again on seeing men, women and children transformed by the power of the Gospel. And let’s hope the nation can hold its breath long enough in the meantime, lest we finally “go under” for good.
2 comments:
This was a great post. I especially say, "Amen" to the part about the church in America waking up. Paul said that the spiritual gift we should want most is the gift of prophecy so that any who enter our midst will be convicted and repent. I think that is biblical relevancy. The other kind of relevancy (doing what is popular with the masses) does nothing to strengthen the body. My two cents anyway.
Your 2 cents are welcome anytime.
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