I often study at a Dunn Bros. coffee shop at the corner of Snelling and Grand avenues. Every night there is live music that provides a needed creative distraction as I sort out ideas for papers. It is a friendly coffee shop with a lot of regulars. You never know who might start talking to you--one night we all played percussion for a visiting band. That being said, I usually like to keep to myself.
A couple of nights ago I was having a creative surge and was trying to finish up a paper that I was working on. I had one hour before I had to be somewhere else. I had noticed a chess player sitting at a table in front of me. He was very friendly--I thought he must have been a regular. He finally asked me if I wanted to play. I told him that I had to finish my paper. This began a sort of dialogue in which he would ask me a question and I would give him a one word answer and promptly look back at my computer screen. Normal people know what that means. I didn't want to talk.
He was fairly loud. I am fairly shy and there were a lot of people sitting around us. He finally found out that I was attending Bethel Seminary and working on a sort of theology/philosophy degree. He appeared disappointed when he found out that I didn't want to be a pastor. That surprised me a little. After an awkward silence he asked me what church I went to. I said that I didn't and looked back at my computer. I had no idea what I was writing about anymore--I was now fully distracted by the Dunn Bros. Chess Player.
Much to my growing discomfort I discovered that he wanted to talk about God...loudly. This is fine I guess. What bothered me was that he was identifying with me--and because he was so loud it was a public identification. He didn't even know me. All he knew was that I went to a seminary. He never asked me a single question that wasn't related to a point that he wanted to make. He was telling me how important it was that we build our lives on the rock of Christ. This meant that we had to surround ourselves with Christian friends and influences. He started telling me about this Christian coffee shop that I should go to--evidently because I was a Christian. He even told me about how Jesus surrounded himself with the 12 disciples who went and preached to the 12 tribes. In the middle of this he asked the girl sitting next to me if we were bothering her. "We!?" I thought. I am not doing anything. I just wanted to write my paper.
Admittedly I was groaning at my inability to love this guy. I was also groaning at being identified as part of what I call 'the Christian cult'. We have Christian music, Christian parties, Christian coffee shops, Christian book shops, WWJD bracelets, 'Got Jesus' t-shirts and who knows what else. The Dunn Bros. Chess Player didn't realize it, but the religiosity of Christianity was about to suck him in and never let go. Why can't I just be normal like the girl next to me who had long ago put her head phones on? Controversial, I know; but I really think that the religiosity of Christianity brainwashes people and then tells them that they must go back into the world to share their faith. Maybe the world is a place they should have never left.
5 comments:
But the Bible says not to be unequally yoked. So we need to yoke ourselves with all that is good, i.e., Christian music, literature, television programs, friends, etc. We need to rid ourselves of nonChristian relationships, impurities and filth!!!
LOL
:: cheeky, wouldn't you say? sarcastic maybe?...just a touch.
I really don't understand mabe you can enlighten me. I thought Jesus commanded us to go into the world but not be a part of it.
My christain friends mean the most to me. Fellowship with other christians is very important.
I don't understand your not going to church. God founded it, Jesus is the corner stone, and said do not forsake getting together.
Love Dad (southern connection).
Dad-Southern Connection, I am glad you responded. We have had this conversation, in part, before and will probably have it again in the future.
'Jesus commanded us to go into the world but not be a part of it...' I do agree that Jesus seems to imply something along these lines. However, there could be much room for discussion here. Obviously a follower of Jesus is different than those who don't follow Jesus--otherwise one would question whether or not their faith was worth much. But how their faith makes them become different from those who don't follow Jesus may vary from person to person. Some generalities probably can be made though. For example, presumably followers of Jesus are not like many non followers of Jesus because they look forward to a new home after death--a heavenly home. In this particular manner they would not share or be a part of much of the world. This belief would also presumably cause them to act a little differently too.
'Fellowship with other Christians is very important.' I agree here as well. I may have understated (or not stated) this in my blog. I think that fellowship with other believers is necessary. It is very difficult if not impossible to maintain a lifestyle of any sort without the fellowship of like-minded people. I concede that many Christians find this fellowship in local churches and that it is difficult to find it in other places.
'I don't understand your not going to church...' I often say that I don't go to church because I don't worship God in a church building. What is closer to the truth is that I do church. When I put my faith in Jesus I inherited a new family of fellow believers. I interact with these believers nearly every day in a variety of ways that many people who attend a church building once a week never do. Church happens in my home, at the bar or restaurant, at the park, while babysitting, cooking for each other or studying the bible. I am a part of church; in a sense, for me, church is a lifestyle rather than a destination on Sunday morning. Jesus may have been influential in how believers interact with one another, but he did not found a church in a building nor did he found a particular way of organizing worship or a particular denomination in which to worship. That part is left up to us.
The concern that I voiced in my blog is with a large part of Christian practice that withdraws so completely from the world that they no longer can relate to a normal person or appreciate what can be found there.
I look forward to our further conversations:)
I think it is immensely important to be in community with one another as Christians. I find that being involved in a church works very well for me in this respect. As so many of us in the USA are not living close to biological family, we can come to rely on our church family for encouragement, challenges to our thinking and support in our daily lives. I find it hard if not impossible to continue to grow and love the Lord Jesus Christ with out regular interaction with others in His famiy. Because he is not here with skin on it is easy to dismiss his teachings or to bend them to fit what I want to do.
Having said all of that, I can totally understand your unease with the Dunn Bros. Chess Player. Being loud and obnoxious will very rarely change another persons opinion of anything for the positive. However he is your brother in Christ and the Lord requires us to love and respect him too even if his approach to the Gospel message is heavy-handed.
The other thing that I identified with is the amount of branded identity items you mentioned in your final paragraph. So much of that is just chaff. Does it help the word of Christ get out to those who need to hear it? Does it feed the hungry? Does it heal the sick? Does it visit a prisoner to buy and wear and display these items? No! But is wrong to do all of these things? That is one thing that each person needs to examine her/his own heart about. So many things in this life come down to motive. I like to have nice artsy things in my home that remind me of Christ and His love for me. Some reminders are appropriate in other places as well but too much of a good thing dilutes the message and then pretty soon that cross is a fashion item not a reminder of one's faith.
judesgirl, it is so good to hear from you! Good words. Your thoughts temper the rather one sided comments that I made and affirm much of the concerns voiced by my Southern Connection Dad. Thanks for checking in.
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