Revive Us

the paragraph below was written by my pastor (jeff harris) last week. it's something that has been on my mind for quite sometime, but his example hits the nail on the head.

"I was caught in traffic the other day and saw some window stickers on the back of a truck. Behind the passenger side was the picture of a little boy kneeling at a cross. Behind the driver side was the picture of a screaming boy with the caption that said, “Life is short, party naked.” I am no longer surprised that in our world both of these sentiments are expressed and lived by the same people. We seem to have a two-tiered view of our lives. We love Jesus and yet we see no disconnect in living ways that are contrary to Him and His way. I recognize this in my own life and yet I still see it as problematic—a clear dissonance—but to the emerging culture these are not seen as conflicting or problematic, only that’s just the way it is. Our view of following Jesus has been mixed into our cultural norms and we have adapted Christ to us rather than conforming to His image and shaping the world around us. We kneel at the cross on one side and “party naked” on the other and it’s all portrayed as a composite whole. The confusion of what it means to follow Christ gives way to a confused message and a confounding lifestyle."

i guess for some reason people feel they can just make up His rules as they go along...deciding which ones are important and which ones can just be thrown to the side...because they don't apply to them. believe me, i know...because i lived many years this exact way (and i guess in some ways i still do). now, in no way am i passing judgement (don't judge lest i be judged, right), i'm just trying to point out the obvious...and that is that mankind as a whole is selfish and hypocrital.

below is a chart pointing out just that. this information was provided following extensive research by the barna research group. what it showed really suprised me.

like i said, when i first saw these numbers, i was shocked. how could so many people who call themselves Christians have so many "unChristian" qualities in their lives? now, the things listed aren't just "little nothings" either, but huge lifestyle choices. like pastor jeff said, our views of what it means to follow Jesus and what society calls normal have mixed together. people are picking and pulling which characteristics Jesus calls us to live and applying to their lives only the ones that are convinent...merging with the traits that will cause the least amount of resistence amongst their peers...the ones that make them feel good. like my buddy wes said the other day, "this isn't burger king. you can't have it your way". so why do we all think we can?

another interesting insight on the chart above... if you notice, 93% of Christians think it's wrong to use the 'f-word' on broadcast television, but less that half feel that cohabitation and sexual fantasies are wrong. what an age we live in... an age of convinence...revive us...