A friend showed me this clip the other day, and I've thought of it often. This is Chris Tse, a slam poet who has caused controversy with this poem. He didn't intend for that though. He just saw the wrong actions of people who claim to be Christians but strayed somewhere. Before I saw this, I had similar thoughts to the ones he says.
There is so much wrong with us. When I walk past and interact with people who I know claim Jesus as their god, I understand an attitude that is no way compatible with Jesus' teachings. An attitude of arrogance, of pride, lacking empathy and lacking kindness. I see so many people who don't give a shit about anyone else, and they claim to love God above all else. Something's wrong. We've made it too easy. It's too easy to be christian, or at least to claim Christianity and pass off as one in this culture. There is no suffering anymore. We sit in our pews with our atomic family and our friends of the same skin color, singing songs about loving God and giving all we have, then we go out to eat while millions starve, we send our kids to private schools to protect them from the world we're supposed to help, we live in our own house, not knowing our neighbors because we don't have to depend on anyone else to survive. There is no suffering anymore. And yet, we're suffering because we don't know true Christianity. I often fear that the entire nation of America will stand before Jesus after having prophesied, cast out demons, and performed miracles all in his name, and he will say to us `I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME.'
We don't suffer, when suffering is the staple of our calling. That's messed up.
God, show life, true, real life, to the ones who are searching. Let them find the dusty, rocky road that leads to You while all the others are fascinated with the road lined with neon lights and fast food restaurants. Let those dedicated enough to endure suffering find You. And have mercy on the rest.
"I'm sorry that I only hang out with christian friends, and we do nice, christian things like pot luck dinners and board game nights while somewhere, a man beats his girlfriend again."
Thanks Ben, I needed this. Sometimes it feels like by taking the path of most resistance I'm doing something wrong, like everyone else knows something I don't, and because of that, they have more fun. But that's only because
ReplyDelete"We've made it too easy."
So true.