...Nor any thought to think.
It seems like every time I turn around, someone is boycotting something, protesting something, or at least asking me to get some company to change it's behavior by complaining. If it's not Will & Grace, it's Brokeback Mountain, or even Kraft Foods (actually, I think I’m seeing a pattern here). Have we found our voice? Is this what it means to be a Christian? Is this the way we are salt and light? We organize? Call your TV station if you think something is bad on TV. Call your Senator if you find this law in contrast with your moral views.
Don't get me wrong here - I'm not against Christians taking a stand on moral issues, and I appreciate the fact that we live in a democracy that allows us to exercise freedom of speech and have a say in what goes on. But what concerns me is that lately this seems to be the primary way of sharing what we believe. Maybe if we organize, we can force other people to live how we know God wants.
The thing is, our activism seems to be only about personal morality. Let's force people to not be able to watch things we find morally reprehensible. Let’s figure out ways to legislate how people behave.
Are we not concerned with the bigger picture? Why does everyone know us for what we are against, instead of what we are for? Why does it seem like celebrities are doing more than believers to stop human suffering? (Not that the two are necessarily mutually exclusive.) Do we really think that getting the local Carmike to stop showing a movie about gay cowboys will make the world a better place? More so than finding ways to help people in poverty? I actually did something this week to help someone - I got out of my box for a change, got out of my selfishness, out of Jim's World, and helped someone who needed it. The strongest thing I can remember thinking is, this is what following Jesus is all about.
My wife Krista thinks that until we become consistent in our morality and in the stances we take, no one will hear our voice (...hey, after picketing Brokeback Mountain, let's go see Date Movie). I'm not sure I agree. I think no one's going to hear us until we start figuring out what Jesus was really all about.
And that's why next, I arrogantly answer the question: What does God really want?
Certainly. We should stop jumping at every new development and just stand firm in what we know from the Bible. There's no use trying to get at the symptoms of the problem if we don't tell people that they do have a problem (sin that leads to eternal condemnation) and the solution to the problem (the glorious gospel).
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to sit in our ivory towers and point fingers.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to get out in the world and do some actual work.
BTW, I love your post about Bono - my wife recently turned me on to some of his views...an interesting surprise.