In the past two years, my way of thinking has been challenged beyond belief. I feel that the institution of the church has bullcraped me into this one-way mindset that Christians are called to be white, middle-class republicans. It's all bull. I'm so sick of it.
The Church has decided that the "law" and our individual morality is more important that the foundational message we are called to preach to each other. It drives me freaking crazy. Have we forgotten that we too are with as much sin as non-believers? Have we forgotten that the only thing that separates us is the victory we've found in the cross?
All the time we, the community, get caught up in this idea of self-glorification. As Derek Webb would say "We seek to magnify everything we do that is good while we hide everything we do that is bad." This just goes to prove that we don't believe the message that we preach. We don't believe that Christ's death is sufficient for the atonement of our sins. If we did, we wouldn't have a problem admitting our sins openly.
I'm so sick of all the legalism. I'm sick of the church preaching the message of morality instead of a message of Christ. We are more concerned with whether or not people are consuming alcohol than if they are spending time in the word. There is no reason that alcohol carries such a stigma. Alcohol can be abused...but so can anything. Exercise can be abused. Fast food can be abused. ANYTHING in excess is bad for you. If you look in the word you clearly see that Christ's first miracle was giving alcohol to people that were drunk:
John 2: 1-12
The Miracle at Canaan
"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine. And Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, "Fill the waterpots with water." So they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days. "This is awesome for so many reasons. First of all, this is CLEAR evidence that it is OK for Christians to eat, drink, and be merry. Christ, God, started his earthly ministry by turning water into alcohol --fermented alcohol.
God in the form of man started his earthly ministry by serving alcohol to drunk people. Not only that, but he used the sacred Jewish water pots that were used for purification. Jesus was all about deconstruction and breaking the letter of the morality law, folks.
Before I get struck as a liberal (which I'm OK with by the way...I don't consider it as sworn at), I want to say that I believe we should be living as Christ did. We need to be loving people and not judging people.
Christ came not to judge the world:
John 3:17 -
"For God sent not his son into the world, but that the world through him might be saved."
I'm not saying we should run around living in sin and enjoying debauchery. I'm saying that we have found liberty, victory, and freedom in the cross. We no longer have to live by the letter of the law, but by the law of Christ.
We have to quit worshiping the letter, and worship God. We have to realize that although we are to strive for perfection, we are sinful. We have to believe in the scandalous grace that we're shown..but most of all we have to learn to love.
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