Too Much
What do you need?
I keep being asked by friends and relatives, 'why don't you go to church?' or 'you need to come to church...' Do I? I am not so sure.
Let's play a little 'what if?' game for a minute.
Let's say all of the sudden (poof!) there were no more churches, no christian tv, no book stores, no bumperstickers and little chrome christian fish symbols.. no more bibles, no more pastors preachers teachers or evangelists . no choirs singing hymns, no praise songs, no christian videos. Nothing left to support your habit. How would you feel? What i described makes some people angry, others it makes them sad, some depressed. Why is that?
Because like most habits they need to be fed. Some habits are counter-productive to faith. And it's faith we think we're talking about when we're talking about church, and songs, and bibles and such but that's not faith - that's stuff. Stuff isn't what it's about. If you didn't have all that stuff, would you still have faith? I can tell you that many would not. They would lose interest in God, because God wouldn't seem so cool anymore. Afterall God isn't something we can see down here, so we have to have faith just to believe He exists. Oddly enough, virtually every tribe and tongue all over the globe has a notion of God, a supreme being, a creator of everything and everyone.
So what's the point of church, songs, preaching, teaching, tv, videos, and all the trappings of western Christian faith? Trappings is an appropriate word to use here. They trap you into a false sense of security, because it's easier to believe something unbelievable when you're in a crowd of like-minded people. When you surround yourself with all the goodies that go along with that brand of believing. But if people were put in a position of not going to church or reading their bible, or listening to radio, tv, cd's or the like with powerful preachers teaching their views, what would you believe then?
It again boils down to a simple faith. Faith in the unseen God. The creator of all things. Some believe it, some don't. And that's ok. Ok then, what about Jesus - the son of God? Isn't He important? Of course. Why? Because He gives us the pointer to the Father of us all. Jesus pointed out in His teaching that He was the way to the Father. But not much emphasis was placed on Himself, He always pointed to the Father. And wanted others to follow His example. Did He die a cruel death on the cross for the wrong-doing of the world as a sacrifice of attonement? I believe He did. Do I need to know anything more than my faith in the Creator, and Jesus? Probably not.
If you stand alone, in the middle of nowhere with no support system, no songs, nothing - will you still believe in the Creator? And will you still seek communion with Him? Evaluate what you really need in this life. Chances are you don't need any of that 'stuff'. Just faith.
Chris
I keep being asked by friends and relatives, 'why don't you go to church?' or 'you need to come to church...' Do I? I am not so sure.
Let's play a little 'what if?' game for a minute.
Let's say all of the sudden (poof!) there were no more churches, no christian tv, no book stores, no bumperstickers and little chrome christian fish symbols.. no more bibles, no more pastors preachers teachers or evangelists . no choirs singing hymns, no praise songs, no christian videos. Nothing left to support your habit. How would you feel? What i described makes some people angry, others it makes them sad, some depressed. Why is that?
Because like most habits they need to be fed. Some habits are counter-productive to faith. And it's faith we think we're talking about when we're talking about church, and songs, and bibles and such but that's not faith - that's stuff. Stuff isn't what it's about. If you didn't have all that stuff, would you still have faith? I can tell you that many would not. They would lose interest in God, because God wouldn't seem so cool anymore. Afterall God isn't something we can see down here, so we have to have faith just to believe He exists. Oddly enough, virtually every tribe and tongue all over the globe has a notion of God, a supreme being, a creator of everything and everyone.
So what's the point of church, songs, preaching, teaching, tv, videos, and all the trappings of western Christian faith? Trappings is an appropriate word to use here. They trap you into a false sense of security, because it's easier to believe something unbelievable when you're in a crowd of like-minded people. When you surround yourself with all the goodies that go along with that brand of believing. But if people were put in a position of not going to church or reading their bible, or listening to radio, tv, cd's or the like with powerful preachers teaching their views, what would you believe then?
It again boils down to a simple faith. Faith in the unseen God. The creator of all things. Some believe it, some don't. And that's ok. Ok then, what about Jesus - the son of God? Isn't He important? Of course. Why? Because He gives us the pointer to the Father of us all. Jesus pointed out in His teaching that He was the way to the Father. But not much emphasis was placed on Himself, He always pointed to the Father. And wanted others to follow His example. Did He die a cruel death on the cross for the wrong-doing of the world as a sacrifice of attonement? I believe He did. Do I need to know anything more than my faith in the Creator, and Jesus? Probably not.
If you stand alone, in the middle of nowhere with no support system, no songs, nothing - will you still believe in the Creator? And will you still seek communion with Him? Evaluate what you really need in this life. Chances are you don't need any of that 'stuff'. Just faith.
Chris
posted by Chris at
8:59 AM
0 Comments
