RE: Cheesy Christianity

I’ve gotten a lot of responses on the blog I published early yesterday morning.

Here’s one that was emailed to me that I thought I might share:

“Jesus, Paul, and John did it.  (Matt 5:21-26 ,Acts 17:28, Revelation).  Remember... to a Jew religion and life were the same, much like materialism is today in our culture.  We recognize that both religion and culture need to be transformed by the truth of the Gospel in order to save the souls of men.  The early Christians did the same by celebrating the birth and resurrection of Jesus on days that once celebrated pagan deities.  I don't care for today's phrases because, in addition to being shallow metaphors, they lack any communication outside of the Christian culture.  One could say it gives an opportunity to share what the shirt means, but I believe it is much deeper and meaningful if we share with our words as a result of compassionate acts of service.  Perhaps it would change the perception of Christianity to the world if we begin to show more love by getting out of pews going to our neighbors and begin to take the batteries out of the political machines and bull horns.”

Mike

Cheesy Christianity

I grew up in church, so I’ve spent my whole life around Christian t-shirts, logos, and sayings. There’s one thing about almost all of them that really annoys me. They’re usually cheesy. For example, “God is my Hero” instead of “Guitar Hero”. This one is a big hit lately. Growing up, I remember the “abreadcrumb & fish” shirts that were everywhere in Christian stores. Its all the same message: Take some well known pop culture icon, saying, or symbol, and mix it up with something that promotes the Christian message. I find this disturbing. Since when did it become OK to take the message of the gospel and mix it up with the symbolism of the world?

When try to associate Jesus with these icons, people tend to remember the icon, not the idea, and miss the point entirely.

I think we should let Jesus be Jesus, and let Guitar Hero be Guitar Hero. Why should the two intertwine?

Just a thought.

I came across this video on YouTube a while back, and its one of the things that comes to mind when I think of Cheesy Christianity:

Tweet

A Tiny Speck

Since Wednesday, I’ve been doing a bit of traveling out west, spending a couple of days in the Grand Canyon and spending around a week in Glorieta, New Mexico for a college ministry conference.

The Grand Canyon was incredible. Its one of those things where you look over the canyon and you realize just how small and insignificant you are compared to the big wide world around you.

I’ll include a picture so you can see just how amazing it is.

My friend Brittney took this while we were hiking along the south rim. I felt so small.

It reminded me that we’re but a tiny part of this wide universe that God has created. Even though we are so small, we can have such a huge impact.

All we have to do is trust Him.

Have Church Van, Will Travel

In a few short hours, I'll be leaving for a little trip that involves a 2-day stint at the Grand Canyon and a week-long camp at the Glorieta Conference Center in beautiful Glorieta, New Mexico.

I am absolutely stoked about this trip. I am hoping that being able to get away from the distractions that come with home will allow me to learn some new things about myself, and about the exciting future that God has in store for me.

Pray for me. Pray that God speaks into my life in a real way over the next week-and-a-half. I'm sure I'll have a ton of stuff to talk/write about it when it's all said and done.

See you on the other side. Keep an eye on this space, I'll try to post a little bit while I'm abroad. My loyal Mac will be traveling with me. :)