I am an angry man today. I lost interest in Christian radio long ago, but I decided to give it a whirl again this week and see what's changed. This morning I stumbled onto a new station I've not listened to before. The music was what you'd expect, no surprise there. Some of it was pretty creative, some of it was pretty tired. The station promos though...Arrrrgggghhhh! Every half second they promoted themselves using the words safe and positive (safe alternative, safe for the family, positive music, positive force...). Extreme nausea.
One of the songs they played this morning kind of summed up the problem. The line in the song declared that this world isn't our home. It explained that we don't belong here and that we're just waiting for heaven. The implications of these kinds of thoughts and theologies cause me to mourn for the church. Since when did Jesus tell us to save people and then stash them in a Christian subculture/ghetto so that they won't get sullied by the "real world". It's a theology that says people are saved so that they can go to heaven.
I thought Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God had arrived HERE (not some ethereal future elsewhere). I thought Jesus was teaching us to live a Kingdom lifestyle HERE. I thought Paul was fleshing out how to live this Kingdom lifestyle HERE. I even thought Isaiah was describing how beautiful the Kingdom could be HERE.
So much for thinking.
One of the songs they played this morning kind of summed up the problem. The line in the song declared that this world isn't our home. It explained that we don't belong here and that we're just waiting for heaven. The implications of these kinds of thoughts and theologies cause me to mourn for the church. Since when did Jesus tell us to save people and then stash them in a Christian subculture/ghetto so that they won't get sullied by the "real world". It's a theology that says people are saved so that they can go to heaven.
I thought Jesus declared that the Kingdom of God had arrived HERE (not some ethereal future elsewhere). I thought Jesus was teaching us to live a Kingdom lifestyle HERE. I thought Paul was fleshing out how to live this Kingdom lifestyle HERE. I even thought Isaiah was describing how beautiful the Kingdom could be HERE.
So much for thinking.
1 comment:
I reached a similar conclusion regarding Christian radio liners/promos. My complaint is if Christian radio is so good then it should just be good without brainwashing listeners into thinking it’s good. Basically if it’s so good then people should be able know it’s good without them saying “Hey look how good we are” between every other song. That’s my take on it: if it’s good then it shouldn’t have to convince/remind people of such.
About the this world not being our home idea, I don’t know if I’ve heard the song to which you refer, but I’m still wrestling with that—the idea has even come up recently in a Regent lecture. There’s a traditional song “This world is not my home, I’m just passing through,” and honestly where I am right now I like what the song is saying because it acknowledges the tension we experience now juxtaposed with the hope we embrace as Believers.
I think the problem for me is that the Kingdom of Heaven is here and now and some how mysteriously it’s simultaneously not completely. There is still something to be resolved: I do not understand what I do, for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do; also: He will finish the good work He began in the day of Christ Jesus.
There’s something different from this world and the New Jerusalem, and in NJ is everything for which we hope.
So for me it’s not a problem for a Christian to rejoice s/he is not at home in this world (and we’re just passing through it), because this world deals with the coexistence of sin and the holy KoH, but there is hope of a future world/home without sin. The problem for me is when (as you said) this belief is interpreted to signify this world/existence holds no purpose/value because it’s not our home—therefore we can just wait it out in the mean time and not care for this creation because it’s all going away anyway. Although this is one possible conclusion I do not think it is necessarily implied from the belief that this world is not our home—although it may be a popular interpretation.
I think as a youth worker who has spent many nights in hotels you may appreciate this analogy, which brings it home (heh) for me. A hotel room/bed only imitates your room/bed at your real home; no bed can really replace sleeping in your bed at home. Occasionally you find yourself in a hotel room knowing you have a better bed somewhere else in this world—a bed at home. This knowledge does not automatically provide you with a right to destroy your hotel room or avoid paying your bill just because it’s not as good as your bed at home. You are expected to use the hotel room/bed respectfully, responsibly, and thankfully, even though it’s not yours and there’s a better one out there to which you will later return.
So yeah that’s where I am on that subject right now: I think it’s okay for Christians to consider this earth not home in light of our hope—as long as this is done so without abandoning our present purpose of transformation. I know it is your complaint that Christians are using this information to form ghettos, and I completely agree with that criticism; I just don’t think the abandonment of responsibility is necessarily implied from a view that this earth is not my home.
Yeah.
Robots and stuff.
davidloti=davidloti
Post a Comment