What it means to be a follower of Christ...
Interesting post over at Cerulean Sanctum that has got me thinking. Dan Edelen makes this provocative quote:
Wow...the article is asking the question: "What would we look like if we really believed the Gospel?" The church has been so enamored with the American Dream that somehow we have blended that dream with the Gospel. It's an interesting point and it has got me thinking.
Have we re-defined our understanding of the Bible to fit our cultural biases? Concepts such as greed and coveting? I'm not suggesting that I am exempt from this question or that I'm not guilty of doing it. But, is our understanding of following Christ more influenced by western culture (and it's definition of success) then by the Gospel?
Hmmm.... Link
If you and I truly stepped out in faith to live the Gospel we say we believe, it may well be that we would have to drop out of the corporate treadmill, suffer a freefall in the company hierarchy, watch our income plummet, and suffer the American indignity of no longer being able to keep up with the Joneses. It may mean we cannot get our children into the fancy private school, the top division sports team, and subsequently fail to send them to Harvard to mint their perfect future. It may mean that we reject consumerism and globalism, returning to a local economy that celebrates community and works to see that no one suffers at the expense of the richer among us, no matter how difficult it will be and what it will cost us. It may mean that we have to let go of long-time friends who suddenly hate our “class descent” and no longer want to be around us. It may mean that we live among the rejected people of the world (as we have become rejected ourselves). It may mean that we rediscover what the Lord meant by “give us this day our daily bread.” It may mean thousands of profound changes to the way we think and live that put us out of the mainstream and make life more challenging, though in the end we realize the challenge is where Christ Himself dwells.
Wow...the article is asking the question: "What would we look like if we really believed the Gospel?" The church has been so enamored with the American Dream that somehow we have blended that dream with the Gospel. It's an interesting point and it has got me thinking.
Have we re-defined our understanding of the Bible to fit our cultural biases? Concepts such as greed and coveting? I'm not suggesting that I am exempt from this question or that I'm not guilty of doing it. But, is our understanding of following Christ more influenced by western culture (and it's definition of success) then by the Gospel?
Hmmm.... Link
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