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I’ve been avoiding sermons at the church I still attend. Mostly this is by attending less, but sometimes it is by being late, or being occupied during the service (for instance, I sometimes cook for the evening service meal). And sometimes I can’t really avoid it, like yesterday when I was rostered on to play in the service.
The message was about Church Discipline and by a guest preacher (story for another time). He used the familiar passage in 1 Corinthians about Paul’s admonishment to the church at Corinth. Most of the message was fairly predictable, and the guest enlivened it with some good anecdotes (being somewhat itinerant probably helped him do that). The last point he made, though, was quietly bothering me for quite a while. It was about how Christians need to spend time with other Christians so we encourage godly habits amongst each other – not his actual words, but I wasn’t taking notes.
I’ve only just realized what was bothering me about this. Christians need to be out in the world, too, or they get insular and disconnected from the world. Bill Hybels knows this: that’s why he said in his “Walk Across The Room” seminar that in a social setting Christians should be outnumbered by two-to-one. And I bet everyone here knows this, too! It is, of course, the insularity of Christian groups which made me look outside.
Community is good, of course. But it can be deadly, too. Radical beliefs of any sort flourish with the strong positive feedback of a closed, focussed community.
I wish the guest preacher had had time to leaven that part of his message.
Wade.
Its exactly the same thing I have noticed within churches that turned me off them. That they are essentially cut off from the rest of the world and view other groups with ignorance, almost like anyone who isn’t a Christian to be viewed with suspicion. I got this impression just via the sermons I was listening too, and how the preachers would make these grand generalisations about non-Christians and their sinful habits, and how Atheists are this and do that and everytime I thought, have you even spoken to Atheists? Do you have friends who are Atheists? The answer is no, because their friends tend to be Christians, people who can bounce their beliefs off constantly and get validity. You can’t speak about the greater things above humanity when you have no connection to humanity itself, no connection to God’s children and the world he created.
AnonymousYes, it is so ridiculous to imply all non-Christians are immoral party animals hell-bent on pressuring Christians into ditching their faith, moral compass, family, and job, and to imply all Christians will encourage them towards more Godly behavior. Both groups have a wide range of people. The atheist blogs I have read and the atheists I have talked to online usually have a stronger moral compass than the Christians who make excuses for immorality in the Bible or their conversion tactics.
Also, that quote would have bothered me because it doesn’t necessary imply a healthy relationship dynamic. It makes me think of Christians guilting/shaming each other into doing or not doing things, of Christians trying to control each other. It is helpful to have people who can encourage me to do good things, but this can easily cross the line into codependency. Not only are quite a few Christians controlling, but I’ve also seen Christians BEGGING other Christians to tell them what to do because they are so used to following orders.
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