I'm Awake and I'm Not Happy
So its 9:30 in the morning. And I'm awake. I am not happy here folks. Its my day off and I am awake. First my boyfriend comes into my room and wakes me up at 8 and wants to cuddle. I just want to sleep. So I breath my morning breath on him and it scares him away. Then Amanda Shilling calls me at some God-forsaken hour. I forgive her for that because she doesnt do it often and I would have loved to here from her, besides I didnt even hear my phone ring. Wait, were not done yet. Yet again, another phone call. This time its our home phone in the living room so I have to physically get out of bed. Its my mom. Going home today and she just wanted to know what I wanted for dinner, since its 9am and getting so close dinner time. So its apparent that God wanted me up this early for some reason...I assume its to post on my blog...so everybody better darn well appreciate this post cause I am sacrificing a lot here.
Anyways. So I told you I'm reading this Donald Miller book, Blue Like Jazz. I tell Jeff everyday....its amazing. You have got to read it or re-read it if you've already read it. This book is just stretching my mind so much and really giving me this passion. I was reading this chapter titled "Confession" the other day. I think this is the one I've gotten the most from so far because it talks about confessing your faith, and how to come across with it with other people. This is where I always tend to contradict myself or dont know what to do. In the book, he talks about this one time he was doing a radio interview and the DJ (who wasnt a christian) asks him to defend christianity. He replied to the DJ that he couldnt do it and didnt want to because he no longer knew what the term meant.
A few days ago at work I got into this discussion with my coworker about gay rights. She is a hard core democrat and asked me why i was a republican. She asked if it was because i was raised "religious". I cringed at the word but said yes. Her reply was, "Thats why youre so ignorant." She went on and on ripping christianity apart. I said nothing. The thing that has always frustrated me is how to defend Christianity. Here's the solution. I dont. I am done defending Christianity or even trying. And here is why. Nobody, when they ask you about, really wants you to defend it. They set out with the conversation simply to fight and to prove you wrong about everything. They want to point out everything wrong about you. They want to point out all the bad things that have been done in the name of Christ. They dont want to understand or listen to your defense, they want to make you look like an idiot. Like the girl at work. But do i blame her? I mean, if we're gonna start pointing out all the faults about Christians, let me get a pen to take notes. If we're gonna point out all the ways that Christians are hypocrites...then i'll be in line right behind you. And the first to take the blame.(Because I'm a hypocrite and hypocrites always have to take both sides). Not only that, but it seems that any attempt to defend the term would only make people more angry. I'm not going to defend something that lately I haven't been agreeing with or has been frustrating me. I know that sounds heathen, but let me explain. I will put no defense for those who claim to love and then kill in the name of love. Or so on. I will defend the God they claim to be loving. There is no fault with God. There is only truth and grace and joy and love. But as humans, we are dumb and self-centered and the perception of God to non-believers gets so construed. Our actions and our words that do not exemplify and glorify God hinder the truth and beauty of Him to be seen.
Anyways, this was just my thought. I'm not going to defend Christianity. I will apologize to no end for its mistakes and its flaws and the way I most often get caught up in the title and the hypocrisy. I will defend Christ. I will defend His love and His grace and the desire He has for every single person. That there is no mistakes and no flaws and no hypocrisy in Him. God IS love, that has just been pounding and pounding in my head. There is so much to learn from those 3 simple words. Everything we need to live by.
Well, I'm done. I'm gonna go take a shower and hurry home because it is a little after 10am which means its almost dinner time!!! I need to get home for dinner!!
Anyways. So I told you I'm reading this Donald Miller book, Blue Like Jazz. I tell Jeff everyday....its amazing. You have got to read it or re-read it if you've already read it. This book is just stretching my mind so much and really giving me this passion. I was reading this chapter titled "Confession" the other day. I think this is the one I've gotten the most from so far because it talks about confessing your faith, and how to come across with it with other people. This is where I always tend to contradict myself or dont know what to do. In the book, he talks about this one time he was doing a radio interview and the DJ (who wasnt a christian) asks him to defend christianity. He replied to the DJ that he couldnt do it and didnt want to because he no longer knew what the term meant.
A few days ago at work I got into this discussion with my coworker about gay rights. She is a hard core democrat and asked me why i was a republican. She asked if it was because i was raised "religious". I cringed at the word but said yes. Her reply was, "Thats why youre so ignorant." She went on and on ripping christianity apart. I said nothing. The thing that has always frustrated me is how to defend Christianity. Here's the solution. I dont. I am done defending Christianity or even trying. And here is why. Nobody, when they ask you about, really wants you to defend it. They set out with the conversation simply to fight and to prove you wrong about everything. They want to point out everything wrong about you. They want to point out all the bad things that have been done in the name of Christ. They dont want to understand or listen to your defense, they want to make you look like an idiot. Like the girl at work. But do i blame her? I mean, if we're gonna start pointing out all the faults about Christians, let me get a pen to take notes. If we're gonna point out all the ways that Christians are hypocrites...then i'll be in line right behind you. And the first to take the blame.(Because I'm a hypocrite and hypocrites always have to take both sides). Not only that, but it seems that any attempt to defend the term would only make people more angry. I'm not going to defend something that lately I haven't been agreeing with or has been frustrating me. I know that sounds heathen, but let me explain. I will put no defense for those who claim to love and then kill in the name of love. Or so on. I will defend the God they claim to be loving. There is no fault with God. There is only truth and grace and joy and love. But as humans, we are dumb and self-centered and the perception of God to non-believers gets so construed. Our actions and our words that do not exemplify and glorify God hinder the truth and beauty of Him to be seen.
Anyways, this was just my thought. I'm not going to defend Christianity. I will apologize to no end for its mistakes and its flaws and the way I most often get caught up in the title and the hypocrisy. I will defend Christ. I will defend His love and His grace and the desire He has for every single person. That there is no mistakes and no flaws and no hypocrisy in Him. God IS love, that has just been pounding and pounding in my head. There is so much to learn from those 3 simple words. Everything we need to live by.
Well, I'm done. I'm gonna go take a shower and hurry home because it is a little after 10am which means its almost dinner time!!! I need to get home for dinner!!
posted by stacey at 9:28 AM
6 Comments:
i appreciate your post - this MuST have been why God made you get out of bed. it was encouraging to me... i gotta read that book!! i, too, have found myself doing the same thing with my cousin, taylor, who's an "agnostic/pantheistic liberal" (if one must label). but it's hard for her to separate Jesus from christianity because... where else would He go? :) i begged her not to reject Jesus because of what christians do... but in her mind, it's all the same thing. it sucks when it's someone that's so smart and cool and you love SO much, and they hate the very name of Christ.
i just prayed for you and your interactions with the lady at work... that somehow you'll show her through your life and love that Jesus IS life to you, so much more than christianity ever could be. love you, hon... P
paula, whats your address? jeff and i have an extra copy of the book. I'll send it to you if you give me your address.
hey - i emailed my address to jeff, and if he's worth anything he'll forward it to you! ;) thanks, girl!
Defend Christianity? Now that's a bit of a toughie sometimes, but when someone is just scooping out criticism, my typical response is "fine, what do you propose as an alternative?"
They may say "nothing", but there's no such thing. The substitution for not believing in something is believing in anything. This is why you see Dems making peace with radical Muslims and planet worshipers (warmed over pagans). Their criticisms are crap. They don't hate Christianity for it's failings per se, but because they know that belief in absolute rights and wrongs would render most of what they hold dear untenable.
More here
found your blog surfing thru blogger profiles - and wanted to say thanks for this post. yes, we all hate to be woke up too dang early :), and we all get badgered by people who just want to badger. "don't defend" is a good strategy, i think. christianity doesn't need your defense. "be ready to give a defense if someone asks" is one thing - but being attacked means we're to turn the other cheek, which in my case mostly comes out as, "your point?". anyway - thanks again.
Nice.
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