Leggo My Ego!
One of my professors recently said the biggest hurdle to authentic Christianity in Western culture is the idol of “personal autonomy.” We see it everywhere. Self-fulfillment is the foundation for much of what drives our society. The slogan for a new casino in St. Louis, is “Whatever turns you on.” Pick a political issue. At its core, it is a disagreement between personal autonomy/choice and perceived government control: abortion, gay marriage, Second Amendment rights, national security, etc. It’s even in the Declaration of Independence: the common rights to “life, liberty (personal autonomy), and pursuit of happiness (self fulfillment).”
Because there exists such emphasis upon the priority of the self, or “Ego,” we tend to reject concepts that emphasize submission to authority or that communicate judgment. Even community service and charity is marketed to the ego: “Feel good about yourself for doing the right thing.” Heaven forbid that we do the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do!
To say the Bible cuts against this grain is an understatement. Read more »
God in Your Story
In my last post, The Truth of the Gospel, I shared my story of being saved from suicide and subsequently coming to faith. I also talked about how when I became a Christian, I realized that God was with me even in those horrible circumstances. I realize that many people share stories similar to my own, and many have stories of far worse things happening to them. It is very tempting to ask, either during or after, where God was in those times. While it may seem as though God abandoned you to be raped, beaten, neglected, depressed, empty, etc and chose to love others by blessing them with talent, good looks, money, opportunity, intelligence, friends etc, there is another question that my personal experience has lent me to ask:
Why wasn’t it worse?
Why wasn’t I molested?
Why wasn’t I cut on?
Left in a ditch for my parents to discover?
I said before that my still being alive is evidence of God’s work in my life, and it is, but all the evil things that didn’t happen to me are further evidence. Read more »
The Truth of the Gospel
Many articles I write and discussions I have in the blogosphere are academically oriented. This is because I believe Christians shouldn’t surrender their intellect; the more you mine the depths of the Bible, the deeper an impact the truth of Christianity can have on your soul. However, I have noticed these conversations lead me away from the personal nature that characterizes the pursuit of God (and discovering His pursuit of us). I wanted to share a personal story of God’s relentless pursuit of me, and why to me this continues to be deep-seated evidence of His existence and character. Read more »
Towards a Biblical Masculinity (Part 1)
Genesis 3:1-6
(1) Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (2) And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, (3) but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.”
(4) But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. (5) For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
The Fall is often blamed on Eve, who listened to the serpent’s lies and ate from the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. Some feminists have argued this passage has been used to justify oppressive treatment of women in the church, and conclude that Christianity is misogynistic and abusive towards women. I would agree, but come to a different conclusion. Read more »
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