I am not an angry person. In fact, when I was visiting the Hughes family, Jennie was trying to explain to Hannah what a temper is. Hannah asked, "Does Tricia lose her temper?" and Jennie replied, "Well, no, I don't really think she does."
Which is true, mostly. I tend not to get angry. With people, at least. Ideas are a whole different matter.
Today I got into a passionate one-sided rant with my grandparents, in which I lambasted Americanized Christianity, and the stupidity with which many churches throw away their money on frivolous expenditures instead of funding people to go into the world and proclaim the glory of God to those who don't know Him. (See how I ended up going on and on in a run-on sentence? Written anger!)
Talk to me about any issue where theology and sociology collide, and chances are I will get angry.
Many years ago in Greece I said, "I am optimistic about people specifically, but I am very pessimistic about the world generally." I realize that this is the same with my anger.
I believe I'm exactly the opposite of what you've stated. General ideas are things that in my head I can't change and I can't do anything about, so I don't let myself get worked up about them (frustrating you yet?). Specific people, or actions that people take, can make me extremely angry. I tend to take things very personally, so if a specific person does a specific action and it relates to me, then it's about me and they're not considering me in that action (can you tell where I struggle with pride?). General topics and problems aren't offending me personally, so they do not anger me to the same degree. I find the differences in people so intriguing.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, perhaps I should post on my own blog instead of inserting mine into your comment section. Your self awareness really struck me, by the way.
Interesting thoughts both about your anger and lack thereof at some things and about the observation of American Christianity. My question is always "what can I do to change it?" No great Holy Joe stuff here but we are concerned that the Muslim population will come to know Jesus, that anyone who is lost will find Him as the Lord of their lives. So, what about the people who are religiously so "into themselves" that they are missing His provision of salvation. How do I impact their lives? Many are just as lost as those who blatantly deny Jesus. Are all the BIG churches missing the point? Probably not all. Are all the pastors of those churches leading their people astray? Probably not. Are all those attending the BIG church missing the point? Probably not. But,yes, many are soaking up, enjoying, using, imbibing in the ease and comfort of some really debatable religious process and provision rather than living in a serious relationship with the Lord. As missionaries, our concern must be "how do we reach them?" Is this a mission that should be considered? These religious "up and outs" are a tough crowd. Jesus dealt with a bunch of people just like the ones we are discussing. He told them the same truth that He told the tax collector. Maybe I should be doing the same. Those with whom He dealt crucified Him. Far easier to reach out to those on the south side of Peoria than those who are drastically wrong in a big beautiful church building. Far easier to work in Pennsylvania than to head to a "worship time" in a big church with the idea of sharing the Truth. Far easier to go to Africa than to take on those wealthy people living all around us. This is a real dilema. I would suggest that we, I, not lose our "anger" at those misconstrued aberations of His direction and salvation but that we funnel our anger toward leading those LOST to know Jesus as well. Am I ready for this? Maybe tomorrow. Would I rather go to Africa? Any time. It's easier to love that group of lost people in Senegal than an arrogant wealthy pseudo Christian. Will I join you as we reach out to a mega church with thoughts of evangelism and mission work? I would prefer to go to Pennsylvania or maybe have a root canal.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased to be a Christian in America. I'm thrilled that God has allowed me an air conditioned sanctuary with musicians and Joel Newton to share and lead our worship time. I soak up God's goodness and graciousness every Sunday morning. Never can the comforts be takenk for granted and never may I become demanding or lethargic as we share these with the people around us. Never can we become possessive of our carpet and comfortable pews. When we do, we have joined "them" and will be failing miserably. It's all ours to use, wear out, replace, share, give away, but it is never ours to keep from those who would enjoy our comfort on their way to know Jesus.
Both Jennie and I use your blog as our blog quite well. Later.
Bill
I'm kind of reminded of the Roman emperors who kept their subjects content with free bread and circuses. A lot of churches do this as well.
ReplyDeletePeople will complain about a church that doesn't met their expectations, they will say they are "not being fed". If you could see inside you might see "not being circused" as well. Many churches are just like many corporations, they measure their success not by concrete results (i.e. number of widgets produced, number of salvation decisions) but by the size of the budget and the magnificence of the building. It is easy to increase the size of your church...provide a better circus in a nicer facility. It is a lot harder to win souls for eternity.
I guess I would need to know what you consider frivolous expenditures before I could really comment on the argument you had with your grandparents. Clearly a church cannot spend all its resources on missions, it must keep the church going as well. Somebody had to pay the clergy and the light bill. Some funds must be saved to pay for emergencies.
How much should a church spend for missionary activities? And where should these efforts be focused? If my memory is correct, Woodland allocates 17% directly to missions, and more besides.
For me, an even more important issue is where should these funds be expended? In Senegal where the success rate may be 1 new Christian per $10,000, or in South Peoria where we might achieve 20 new Christians per $10,000? The engineer in me says to focus on South Peoria because the return is higher. But oftentimes I am the odd man out in this opinion, because we certainly don't spend 17% of our funds in South Peoria. Bringing souvenirs back from South Peoria to display in a mission trip report is nowhere near as interesting as items from Africa or Asia.
Tricia, Bill is right. We are using your blog to vent our own frustrations as well. See what a great service you are providing us?
Please never stop writing and never stop thinking beyond the obvious and outside the box. You are like a drink of cool water on a hot day.