"Everyone's a Christian, but nobody knows what it means to be one.... the world has been made Christian at the cost of secularizing the Christian religion as never before" -Dietiech Bonhoeffer
"The early church used to be small, with a huge influence... turning the world upside down. Now it is huge with almost no influence on our society at all." -American Pastor
"I'm phat, and I'm gettin' phatter!" - Gilbert Brown, Reebok Commercial.
In December 2010, I let my job know I was taking most of 2011 off to do some writing - mainly to try to organize some thoughts on paper I believe God has been putting in my head over the last several years. I knew I would probably have trouble holding myself to this (I've quite enjoyed my busy, but admittedly "easy" life over the past few years of parking cars, shooting hoops, playing ultimate, and traveling the world with various friends) so I intentionally began telling friends and family I was taking the year off to do some reflective writing, to try to hold myself accountable to do so. I figured if enough people kept asking me about what I was writing and wanted to read it, I'd eventually have to come up with something to keep myself from looking lazy.
After only 4 months, I'm truly convinced that anyone who says they're a writer or wants to write IS inherently lazy. We really don't do a whole lot. I sleep in as long as I want, have no appointments other than the occasional basketball or frisbee game; I've even parked cars (valet) a few times just to hang out with my co-workers. On most days if nothing comes to me I just shut down the laptop and go to the gym or hang out with my roommates for the rest of the day. It's interesting that you hardly ever find a career writer. Most prolific authors today originally started out in a demanding field (law, business, politics), then after burnout decided they wanted to become a writer... so that they don't HAVE to do anything. They really just want to sit around in their pajamas all day, surf the internet, and maybe entertain the occasional speaking engagement or book signing if they get famous. If you get one good book publication, you're probably set for life - it will continue to provide residual income and everyone will buy everything you write in the future, even if you're churning out pure garbage. I wrote many lengthy research papers in school with only 2 pages worth of relevant info, and teachers still "bought it" because I was known as an A student. The problem with becoming a writer is that once you've embraced the lifestyle, it's hard to change back and do anything remotely productive because you've gotten used to having no real demands on your life. It's an easy life, but because you're really not doing anything you start getting fat, and unless some life situation shocks you from your revelry, you just get fatter.
Enter the American church. We're the most spiritually (and physically) fed group of Christians that have ever walked the planet. We have all kinds of Christian books, radio programs, seminaries, talk shows, seminars, conferences - you name it. We got a little bit of everything on the buffet. Spiritual food IS inherently good - Hebrews talks of newborn Christians needing "milk", and the apostle Paul chides certain churches for not maturing from milk to meat. We (the American church) have plenty of both with a plethora of junk food as well. This is all fine and dandy (not the junk), but the problem is that it all makes you fat if you're not getting any exercise. Enter our American political system, the greatest enabler of Christian obesity that has ever existed.
Strictly politically speaking, I have a very Ron Paul-esque Libertarian mindset with a penchant for Adam Smith economics. I think big government is bad on all levels. However, as our government has continued to grow, the greatest harm is not what it's doing to our political or economic system, but what it is has done to the American church. Big government in a democratically elected society makes us lazy because it gives us easy, non-relational ways to do church work. It's much easier to "pencil-in" a ballot box vote for certain candidates running on a pro-life, anti-gay marraige platform than to approach the single un-wed teenage mother, start an orphanage and adoption service, or invest in the lives of homosexual neighbors by befriending them and fearlessly doing our best to present Christ to them and lead them out of a destructive lifestyle. We get used to having federal agencies like FEMA and the National Guard to respond to emergencies of our fellow citizens (here and abroad), and love to criticize them when we think they haven't responded adequately or in a timely manner. Why does this surprise us? Historically, government has always done a remarkably poor job of doing work that God desires His church to do, and likewise, His church has historically become extremely corrupt, ineffective, and lazy when given too much political power or influence. That to me, is the biggest problem with American politics and our "big" democracy in general - it allows us (the church) an avenue, or medium if you will, to engage our culture by "forcing" our beliefs onto them, instead of attempting to use the power of the gospel to change their lives. In the early days of the church, killing babies (child sacrifice), homosexuality, homelessness, poverty, and hunger were just as (or even more) prevalent in the world as they are in our society now, but you never saw the apostles or church leaders running to their secular governments for help, or attempting to use them as an avenue to change society. The apostles weren't interested in creating God's kingdom on earth through legal or military force, they intended to do it by directly engaging their culture with the intent to change the hearts and souls of men.... the only way that produces lasting results.
Throughout history, in any society, as the church has gained political power or influence, the temptation has ALWAYS been to try to change society through that "power" (top-down approach) instead of through relationships with people (bottom-up approach) as Christ exemplified. It's amazing to me to see how many "conservatives" argue against big government, but continue to try to use that very avenue to accomplish the things that they claim are closest to their hearts. Church work is always much more cost-effective, personally rewarding, and spiritually gratifying when done hands-on. It would take only a few rich Dallas folks selling off their Bentleys to start an orphanage, provide free sonograms and birthing services, and offer free adoption services for anyone wanting to adopt a child in Dallas, perhaps saving thousands of lives... but instead, they would seem to rather spend millions of dollars to elect politicians, lobby for pro-life judges, and combat gay activists in the public sphere, without changing or saving any lives. It appears our concerns are more for creating our own little heavens on earth instead of attempting to rescue others from an eternal hell.
Try this experiment for yourself: Begin asking random people where we went wrong as a nation/culture or who is to be blamed for our society's glaring problems. You'll typically get responses ranging from government policies, to certain political leaders, to homosexuals pushing gay rights agendas, to big bankers, to "greedy" wall street executives and CEOs, and even "lazy welfare" people. I'm sure all these groups have a reason to be blamed, but it's interesting that, if you study the Bible, it's rare that God ever directs criticism for a society's failures on any secular institutions or unchurched people. Instead, God directs almost all of His criticism and blame at religious leaders (teachers, priests, prophets), the church itself (us), and parents. If you ask the above question, even in a church setting, you'll rarely hear anyone blaming these last few because, in essence, they would be probably be condemning themselves.
I've been in many churches that encourage members "to get out and vote" but few that focus on training people how to confront such issues in our society such as unwanted pregnancies, homosexual lifestyles, cycles of homelessness, or genuine poverty and hunger. Our bloated democracy gives us the idea that we can better our society by putting people in the right positions of power; as their reach is expanded it only feeds the idea that we should try change society through our government. We're fat, and we're gettin' fatter. (Vote Ron Paul in 2012)
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