Dietrich Bonhoeffer Life Together:
"Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. In the end all his disciples abandoned him. on the cross he was all alone, surrounded by criminals and jeering crowds. he had come for the express purpose of bringing peace to the enemies of God. So christians too belong not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the midst of enemies. there they find their mission, their work."
i don't understand the idea of Christian music, movies, etc etc. i can find a christian message in pulp fiction or fight club or marilyn manson. is this so hard?! the "secular" movie and music makers don't hide their struggles with their faith. they don't try to separate their faith and their life. too many christians just visit their faith on sunday and leave it in the hands of their pastor and then they get on the beltway and act like a jerk for the rest of the week. i don't understand this separation. it is to me a false separation. people of faith are never separated from it, albiet they sometimes let their emotions get the better of them.
Befriend your enemy, be nice to those who wish you harm.. this is a hard lesson to learn. but just as soon as one learns this, one finds that one has no enemies. if you are constantly turning the other cheek, the enemies cannot harm you. as soon as you love your enemy, that enemy is no longer, but is now a friend.
get out of your confort zones. life awaits you there. this is why kate and i loved the jaycees so much, you're never in your comfortzone. always doing something different and always meeting new people. these people could be your enemies! they could judge you! you're just putting yourself out there for a let down! sure they could be, but they're not.
kate always says, "Dance! Everyone else is too concerned with themselves! Get down!" and she's right. everyone is too nervous about themselves but when someone breaks out of their own self-consciousness and gives themselves the right to have fun, that's when the party begins. so too with faith and all things good. sin is thinking that you're not allowed, that you're not good enough. God loves you, get over yourself and spread the message! volunteer! dance! dress up like leprochuans and run down the street! live like you have no enemies and you won't.
7 comments:
"as soon as you love your enemy, that enemy is no longer, but is now a friend." (Luke)
This is the core meaning of that teaching 'love your enemy' - that we actually should not actively make enemies. Enemies, whether we like it or not, may or will occur - but the active building of that is the area when we 'leap' into sin. If we love them, we may also find the hurt will also subside.
"get out of your confort zones" (Luke)
I am not sure what a confort zone is but I know what a comfort zone is - and yes - if we truly want to live life - we gotta drop the charade we call 'comfort'. I got comfortable for many years - my soul said 'many things have been laid up and stored for years' - and then I found out - I was lying to myself and those around me - and wasn't being honest to myself (or my wife). I got f'n lazy more or less and life passed me by.
Those days have changed my friend - comfort is good - in doses - but we also need to keep growing and moving and learning and experiencing and being 'alive'! Life each day like it's your last - so when the last one comes - it cannot surprise u.
RAWK! Love this post. Right down my ally. All the "Christian" labels in front of other things (music, movies, stores, businesses, etc) is really just a big whitewash project while the wood is rotten underneath. And what's the point of that. You can't change what you don't acknowledge which is where the honesty piece comes in. And the there is comfort. What a problem we have in our society searching for comfort. That Redneck guy on Decon seems to think that the search for comfort is a major goal in life. Hell, comfort is what ends up tearing you apart in the end. I like comfort as much as the next guy but only after I have struggled which seems to make it so much sweeter. If you don't struggle first, then you always have to be looking for ways to increase your comfort just like looking for a bigger hit off drugs or alcohol or porn or whatever. Excessive comfort is just as much a vice as any of those. They all lead to premature death. OK. Off my soap box now.
Doug,
Hey, you did good on your soapbox.
I get a kick out of the enemy thing. I'm not an enemy of Christians. Hell, I've probably sent more Christians off to take a second look at Christianity than all of the average church pew-occupiers combined! I just don't agree with Christians on many things, but so what. I disagree with people on politics, too, and that doesn't make us enemies, so why should it with religion?
But, Luke, if people go out and interact with others and live life, they may start to think they don't know as much as they thought, they may get curious about how other people think...the devil is lurking, just waiting to get them at the first sign of independent thinking....
Blogging with you guys takes me way out of my comfort zone. Sometimes I just have to retreat though. Not because of you but because of those enemies that also visit your blogs.... :D
Life is fun. Live it to the fullest. It can be over in an instant, way too soon. Dance your heart out.
I think one of the biggest enemies in our midst is the labels we use for ourselves. In our search for a creative force dont we ultimately do a dis-service to each other when we name it? Dont I automatically alienate others when I call myself Christian or Jew or Muslim? What I find most uncomfortable is when I acknowledge the fact that I am just like everyone, HUMAN.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvH2KqU4HUs
I am so glad you are writing - and in seminary - my man. It gives me hope. You are grounded, true to Jesus and real. So keep rawking and dancing, brother man. Bonhoeffer is one of my favorites.
The idea of Christian isolationism is baffling. It seems to miss the point, doesn't it?
If we listen to the Bach chorales, or the music of Daniel Pinkham, or something similar, we can appreciate the brilliance of the music and the strong influences of Christianity. We can do so without the silly label, "Christian music." In fact, I doubt that there's much else that can bring one closer to a religious experience -- God, whatever you choose to call it -- than a brilliant piece of music played well.
The label "Christian" is nothing more than a marketing ploy. It makes charlatans like Pat Robertson rich.
so, today, I am sitting here at work... in my Sumo Wrestler blow-up costume with my big floppy bunny ears bouncing around my head, as I slide around in my chair, sideways, to the music of... LIFE!!!! I say... RAWK OUT...of your "Comfort Zone"!!! And jump into the... UNKNOWN!! Say "HI" to strangers... smile... LIFE IS TOO SHORT !! (labels are toooo long) ~<:))
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