I was just watching a show called "Wife Swap". I've watched it maybe 2 times. It's not terribly interesting, but this episode caught my eye. Anyways, In this show they pick two families, and the wives in those families switch places for 2 weeks. On the first week the wives have to abide by the rules of the family that they are staying with, but during the second week the wives can make any rules, and any changes to the family that they want to for that week.
In this episode the first family were evangelical Christians. The parents did not let their kids date, or go out with friends. The mom would pick out the clothes for her children every morning. And they believed in a "man law" where women stay at home cooking and cleaning, and men go out and work. And there were countless bibles and Christian paraphenalia scattered around the house.
The second family were proud athiests. The parents had countless tatoos, the wife had a shaved head. They had questionable pictures up in their houses, and believed in free expression which also meant that their kids can basically do whatever they please.
Now I found this episode interesting because I almost felt like the Christians gave out a bad message. It felt like their bibles, and their crosses and Christian posters actually held more significance than Jesus Christ and the their realtionship with him did. That along with not trusting their kids to make any decisions for themselves, and the fact that cleaning "is not a man's job" and I quote.
Although I didn't agree with all of the stuff that the athiests believed, and didn't agree with some of their lifestyles and morals I felt that they were right in many ways. I felt like they were good people. Nice, and friendly and If I may say in need of Jesus.
Now I don't know the lives of these people, and I don't know where their hearts are. So I could be totally wrong.
But I know that you can't force someone to believe in Jesus. Because if you do a wall will go striaght up, and they'll run far away. Away from anything that has to do with "RELIGION" and Jesus.
Jesus didn't isolate himself from the world because of sin. He went out, and had lunch with the lepers. He chatted with the prostitutes. He gave hope to the beggars.
Having a relationship with Jesus has to be a personal choice. It has to be more than religion. It has to be faith. It has to be time spent with him. It has to be love. It has to be believing that he is the way, the only way.
Jesus isn't in the bibles, Jesus isn't in the posters and the crosses and the churches. Jesus said that we are the church, the people are the temple. Jesus is in our hearts, in our lives.
He loves us
K
7 comments:
i get a similair feeling sometimes, not always in context with what you're saying though. i was reading reader's digest a while ago, and i read something where the first line started off "after church one sunday, my wife and i went out for lunch..."
i know some people may not consider that horribly offensive, but when it's something that in a way represents christians, and it doesn't do it (what i see as)properly, then it makes me mad a little. i'm starting to type too much, so i'll just stop now.
Hey. What's wrong with going out for lunch after church. (don't mean to offend) but after church most weeks I go out and eat at Swiss Chalet with my family and grandparents after church. I just see it as fellowship, and a special time where we can spend time together and enjoy a good meal on a restful Sunday..
Care to elaborate on your opinion?
K
"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."
i take the alien within your gates thing, and the manservant or maidservant thing as anyone that can/will usually serve you during the week, but on a sunday, you don't make them(even if you are paying them to), even thought they aren't christians(hence the alien within your gates thing). there's nothing wrong with having a good meal, and a restful time of fellowship on a sunday afternoon. it's just that you could do it at home too, rather than at a restaurant. not that it's too big of a deal, that's just the way I was raised for the most part. 'cause then it does set sunday apart as a day of rest and remembrance. i didn't mean to offend either if i did in any way.
Fair enough. I get what you're saying. However, those people are going to work regardless of whether or not we go out to eat.
Your opinion makes sense too though. I don't think that there's much wrong with going out to eat on a Sunday, but I definately respect you for that.
K
Hey.. I had another thought on the matter.
If we're going to take this literally then where do we draw the line? ex. wouldn't you have to say then that watching a Hockey game or a football game on a Sunday afternoon would be the same as going out to lunch? Because for those athletes, playing football/hockey is their job. Therfore by watching them you're encouraging them to work right? It's the same as the lunch thing. Ppl are going to work at the restaraunts regardless of whether we eat their, and hockey/football players are going to play(work) regardless of whether we watch them....
Or what about washing the dishes after lunch at home, what about preparing for school in any way on a Sunday. What your saying is right, but you have to follow through completely, and not just rule out lunch.
... Just thinking out loud...
Hey Kirstyn..
It was nice seeing you at Thrive last night. I hope you enjoyed the Thailand presentation. I was just reading through your blog again and found this post. I just wanted to say thank you for sharing these encouraging thoughts.
Sometimes it's very easy to make our faith about something it's not. I've been there before, and have let many things take priority over the things that really matter.
Without a doubt, there needs to be an outward expression of our faith - action, fruit, etc. But one thing that God has been reminding me of lately is that, yes, I am called to go and serve but I was created to love and worship Him first. The first and highest calling on my life is to be His child and love Him with my whole heart. If I let 'works' take priority over simply loving God, then I have missed the point. It's like PM has said many times, we need to be before we do.
Great post...Anita
thanks for the comment Anita. I thought the presentation last night was really good. The missions trip sounds amazing. I know I want to go on a missions trip some day, I'm just waiting for God to tell me when, and where.
K
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