I finally recieved my Tori Amos limited Edition Comic Book Tatoo Anthalogy. In the back of the book Tori posted an afterward and in it she talks about how art is the portal to freeing the mind from religious bondage. This is true to some extent, but still there is a danger in freeing the mind too much.
The coolest thing has happened to me recently. Anytime I start to struggle with an issue, inevitibly I find my answer in one of Pastor Scott's sermons. Lately I've been struggling with whether or not I'm being a good Christian or a bad influence. Am I listening to the wrong kind of music, saying the wrong things, wearing the wrong things. Perhaps I should immerse myself in Christian Pop-culture and that I would be an effective Christian Witness. Ah but alas, I digress.
God created me. Eph: 2:10 "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." He created me with all of my idiosyncracies, likes, dislikes, etc. To be an effective Witness and lead others to Jesus I really just need to by myself. That's not to say that I should behave and act any way I want which would be to be selfish, unkind and greedy. I should work to exercise the spiritual gifts of kindness, patience, love and generosity.
The sermon this past Sunday was about making the message of Salvation and of Jesus Simple. For Jesus came for the spiritually sick Matthew 9:9-12. Salvation is not based on the fact that we as Christians don't drink, smoke, swear or listen to rock music. The Salvation message is based on love and entering into a personal relationship with God.
It's so simple really, and yet some Christians want to make it so complicted. They want to make it about self righteousness which inevitibly leads to hypocrisy. No one is without sin. The Bible tells us this and we all know it is true.
I'm not suggesting that I'm now free to do and say whatever I want. However, I am free to be myself, to grow in my relationship with Christ, and by so doing help lead others to Christ. This is what Jesus' life on earth was all about - leading people to God and into a relationship with Him. His life was not about telling people to quit smoking, drinking or swearing.
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jess says...i like what you say about freeing the mind too much. it's funny, b/c if you don't keep everything in a godly perspective, when you go too far one direction, you are actually right back into having the closed mind you had before. you've just replaced wrong with another wrong. like...yes, there is religious bondage, but you don't correct it by fighting against religious bondage. all that does is create a new bondage. as pete townsend of the who says, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." and i think you hit the nail on the head. the problem is instead of putting the real God in control, we call "God" a human concept, so...we replace that "people controlled God" with a "people controlled fight against God."
it's a vicious circle with no answer, unless you put God where He belongs. i learned the same thing recently, that...i think xians stress too much about "doing God's will" when God's will is merely that we do all to His glory. do you realize how freeing that is???? (i know you do, i was being hypothetical.) :) so as long as we are glorifying God, we are free to do whatever we want. amazing concept.
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