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Words of a Fether

I am the way, the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father except through me. ~Jesus

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Breaking the Mold

First, as always, some scripture:

The world says violence is cool, yoga is good for you, all paths lead to God, ’the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few’, we’re nothing but evolved pond scum, etc. We (Christians) swallow it all without tasting, filling our minds with garbage. We won’t watch a movie that isn’t at least rated PG-13 and try to justify viewing film after film as either harmless entertainment or just wanting to see the bad guys get slaughtered. We take in popular fiction “to learn how the lost think” while completely ignoring how God wants us to think. No wonder most believers are terrified at the prospect of witnessing; it’s like going out to battle in a swimsuit.

Tell me, Christian, how you justify watching fictional bad guys get beat up and then protest the execution of real-life murderers. Tell me how watching two men in a cage try to maim each other makes you a better, stronger spiritual warrior. Explain how letting your kids play violent simulations won’t affect them in spite of studies that prove otherwise. Stand before God and tell Him why watching sports that glorify maiming and humiliating one’s opponent was good stewardship of your time and money. Argue your case (remember Job?) before God that you were good because you gave Him lip service once a week.

We are here to be tested, not pampered. We are here to “study to show yourself approved” (2 Tim. 2:15), to grow in knowledge and wisdom, to mature to the point of being teachers of the Word. But instead we spend most of our spare time in self-indulgence, in feeding the flesh. Certainly there is a time and place for rest and recreation, but we have some pretty twisted notions about the amount and nature of our leisure moments. Will God be impressed at our skill in video games, or our trivia database, or our collection of all kinds of stuff that made us happy?

No, what God wants to know is what we did with what He gave us. Do we have free time? Enough money for more than bare necessities? Access to great works written by Christian authors? Any and every translation of the Bible ever made? If you live in America you have all that and more, so what do you think God will expect of you?

Don’t let the world rob you of the rewards that could be yours.

Posted 2006-05-01 under behavior, relationships