So, there's a new movie coming out. Before you read this blog, you might want to watch the trailer. Just click here.
We live in a strange, difficult, and dare I say "wonderful" season to be a God-follower. It seems that there was a time when bashing religion and those who believe in something unseen was only done in a small number of circles within a minority of lecture halls of hardly any Universities. That is no longer the case. Multitudes of people are not satisfied with merely walking away from formalized religion, but are dead-set on exposing it's perceived falseness to the world. Hours upon hours are exhausted in this pursuit, and in some cases millions of dollars are spent.
How do we stand against such an onslaught of cynicism?
Perhaps a better question is, "How can we expect our children/the next generation to stand under this barrage, when it seems to only be growing rapidly by the day?" Fast forward ten years. What is Christianity going to look like? Who'll be left that's under 30?
I've been working nights at a second job. I'm blown away by how many young people come into my workplace that I know. You see, a number of years ago I taught at a local Christian School in the town that I am now working (Excelsior Springs, Missouri). The school was ultra legalistic and my wife and I felt we should pull our kids and that I needed to distance myself from it. A few months later the entire school just went away for other absurd reasons (but that's another story). Anyway,... I'm seeing all these students that I used to teach. They walk in and recognize me and we begin talking about where they are at. Do you know that I have not met even one that is currently attending church. Three that I've met are living with their boyfriend/girlfriend. All of them are pretty much done with God. These were 'Christian' kids.
I suggest that what we've done... what we're doing... isn't working.
I know. Let's try and make Jesus 'cooler'... more 'hip'... more 'relevant'. Oops, wait a second... we tried that and now the skeptics are making fun of us too. Whether its in their late-night cartoons (ie. 'The Simpsons', 'Family Guy', 'Southpark'), their stand-up routines, or their 'mockumentaries' (ie. Bill Maher's 'Religulous') we're taking quite a beating.
Listen to these quotes from the aforementioned Bill Maher:
"Faith means making a virtue out of not thinking. It's nothing to brag about. And those who preach faith and enable and elevate it are intellectual slave holders, keeping mankind in a bondage to fantasy and nonsense that has spawned and justified so much lunacy and destruction."
"Religion is dangerous because it allows human beings who don't have all the answers to think that they do. Most people would think it's wonderful when someone says, 'I'm willing Lord, I'll do whatever you want me to do.' Except that since there are no gods actually talking to us, that void is filled in by people with their own corruptions and limitations and agendas."
Do you hear how certain he is? How he comes off sounding like the garbage coming out of his face is fact? Do you see why I use words like 'barrage' and 'onslaught'? Our generation is not just being bombarded with a message to 'sin'... they're being stormed with a message that God is not only a figment of imagination, but you're an idiot if you believe in Him.
So what do we do?
I'm not sure, but I've got some thoughts. I know I'm not going down without a fight. I know I'm not letting my kids and future grandkids get sucked into this without preparing them for the battle that lies ahead for them. I know that I need help. I know that I need to pray more than I do. I know that I need to stop screwing around with the unimportant and wake up to the fact that the enemy of God is kicking our ***. I know that being authentic and having a genuine relationship with Jesus - that supersedes a mere facade - is desperately needed to be what is seen in me by my kids.
So yeah... I do believe it is a strange, difficult, and even "wonderful" season to be a God-follower. I think that because in the midst of all of this, God has been showing His great love and care for us by interrupting our lives and admonishing us to wake up, grow up, man up and walk this thing out like never before,... like lives actually depended on it.
The thing is, gang: They do.
Good post. The thing about Bill Maher is that he can't separate his bitterness from his rhetoric. That seems to be the common factor in most guys like him that want to "enlighten" us by exposing the seedy underbelly of world religions. It's the same thing with bands and people that come against the beliefs of others. They cannot do so without spewing venom and displaying their obvious agitation with people who have some joy and peace in their lives as a result of their connection with the creator. That informs me that they are sad, lonely, disgruntled and probably had an experience that was less than stellar with the church. 9 times out of 10 this is the case and it's also the case with the motorcade of kids that keep coming through the doors at your night gig. My hope is that they are introduced to the reality of God's love and truth before they get to the point where they are bitter.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. It brings alot of things to my mind about how I will raise my kids. Not in just having my kids know my religion or faith, but that my children will love my God in their own faith, not mine.
ReplyDeleteOne of the greatest things I have taken in from being at DC is the passion that comes from a love for God and love for others. Starting with those on the pastoral staff and passing through the elders and the people of this congregation.
Passion is what makes faith strong, vibrant and possibly contagious or…revolting. So, what kind of passion is the key? As Bill Maher so clearly points out in Religulous is that there are alot of passionate people that end up appearing ridiculous in their religion. Maybe like the clanging symbols that Paul talks about?
You can have all sorts of passions, but the greatest passion is for the commandment to love God and love others - Matt. 22:36-40. I believe that by having this great passion with my children they will truly see the joy and peace that Pastor B. points out above.
As a few of us discussed last Monday in our DC Ironman group, the future of the faith of our children are in our hands as father’s discipling our children. First, we must live a life with God’s commands in our heart, and second, we must share with our children those truths in our daily lives and activities - Deuteronomy 6:6-9.
For me, I enjoyed Bill Maher's Religulous for several reasons: 1. It made me aware that when “loving God and loving others” is not your passion, you end up with passions like: hate (islamists/christians), fear (legalists), pride (self-righteous), greed (tv evangelists), and sexual depravity (priests). These come from the movie if you watch it closely, not necessarily me. 2. It told me that Bill Maher is a man who has been completely confused by religion. It started from a spiritually broken home, based on the first part of the movie with his mom and sister. In the doc I feel he reveals the seed of this confusion which is religious humanism in my opinion. That is, deciding what religion is, based on your own ideas. Bill totally exposes the disunity in religion and the disunity that existed in his own family his documentary and belief system is the result. I pray for Bill M, because I was where he was at years ago.
After watching that documentary, it was obvious that it was a screw job to religion, but it was also obvious that he has a lot of pain and confusion about religion. Exactly what Satan wants and the opposite of what Jesus wants, which is joy and peace.
So, to your point Michael, if we as parents or even as the "body of Christ" are not unified in that the greatest passion which is to love God and love others at the start, we will pervert the rest of our theology and become religulous. JMHO
~If we all walked in the same Spirit, would He take us in different ways?