I was at a meeting last night and in the course of discussion I mentioned a quote outta the Bible...and it was sort of awkward.
I'm typically not accused of forcing my religion on people...being too pushy...not identifying with folks who have different beliefs. I actually think I'm decent at seeing things while asking -"what would a person who's not into Christianity think about this?" One of the things I do at church and events is think about folks who aren't into church or Jesus and what they'd be thinking about what was happening.
But when I quoted a verse...in a meeting of Christians...if just felt odd. Not because it was out of place, or didn't fit the discussion...but because it was the Bible. I'm finding that some Christians are so freaked out about the possibility of offending people or coming off as a cheesy Christian bumpersticker or t-shirt - that they shy away from relevent verses from the Bible. It's sort of a, "You don't get it...we don't talk about that book in public" kind of vibe.
Quote some D.H. Lawrence - cool
Quote DR Seuss - groovy
Quote Paul - what are you doing?...don't you understand our values here?
I sometimes wonder if it's because we're largely Biblically illiterate. I'm in a fairly educated environment with folks that follow Jesus - and I don't get the impression that there's a tremendous value on knowing the old and new Testaments. We're like the people that stop liking a band because they're popular. "that songs really great" "yeah, it just hit the top ten on the radio" "that sucks...I liked them before they were big" We'll read Dallas Willard, but not Deuteronomy. Erwin McManus (who I'm becoming a big fan of) but not James. I wonder if it's because folks really are concerned with not offending people, or just don't really know their stuff??? Believe me, I know that Testamints are cheesy(they have verses covering the mints)...and don't get me started on BibleMan (although Willie Aames is a genius)
I want to let folks know...it's o.k. I'm not too bad at interacting with folks with different beliefs...and they're not frightened of the Bible. If my mindset was that they should realize that it's the absolute truth and if they don't get that, then they're stupid...I could see that being a problem. But if I share some wisdom from Solomon...that can be life changing, life breathing, interesting discussion.
People throw Bibles at people in the movie Saved. We probably shouldn't do that. In fact we shouldn't throw Bibles at all. We shouldn't hold them in a threatening manner. Maybe we shouldn't hold them? We shouldn't even be in the same room with them! Holy crap....I see one!
Huh. I come from places where scripture is thrown around too much. There is a scripture for EVERYTHING!!
ReplyDeleteFantabulous,
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain...it's just not my paradigm (someone told me I'd sound smart if I used that word). I'm sure that would be annoying...it's just been odd for me to experience the opposite. Believe you me sister, I'm talking about 1 or 2 a day - max...and I'm probably referencing the Office and Seinfeld 20 or 30 times a day.
you kill me, and I love you for it. I am trying to be intentional about digging into the Bible and letting what I read/memorize fill my mind and mouth. It helps to have a few other teammates on board with that.
ReplyDeleteGo Steelers! I mean, Bible! Go Bible.
and did you ever realize how weird "believe you me sister" sounds?
good to read you again. i didn't see a post for about 10 days and I thought the rapture happened in Ohio.
you're missing the obvious point here.
ReplyDeleteBibleman is Buddy from Charles in Charge!!!
Its freakin' Buddy!!!
Seeker sensativity often plays itself out into seeker disrespect by failing to ever actually speak the truth that we're supposedly trying to convey. Instead, we circle it with movie clips and rock star quotes. Then when the people spend ten years 'on the faith journey' without ever coming to faith, we mourn our ineffectiveness.
ReplyDeleteBeing straightforward is not insensative. Go for it.
I love the point Randy made about sensitivity sometimes equals disrespect. It's like we guard scripture because we think no one could possibly understand its complexities.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I feel pretty strongly that truth is truth, whether it's found in scripture or a movie clip.
Does it matter if I quote scripture: "Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!"
Or Spiderman: Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: 'With great power comes great responsibility."
Many non-Christians I hang around will shut me out if I bring up a lot of scripture, but not so if I quote a popular movie. If I can lead them to the truth through various means, shouldn't I? Paul did the same thing in Acts 17.
I agree we shouldn't ignore scripture - but there is a time and place for everything. I think the real goal is for us, as Christians, to know truth (through scripture), so we can recognize it in our culture, and then use the truths we find in movies, music, etc. to share the good news with others. And THAT takes more work than just memorizing verses.
Just my two cents.
By the way - hey Randy! Long time no see...hope all is well in KC. You are still missed in Cincy! :)
"Seeker Sensitive" always struck me as an odd phrase.
ReplyDeleteBasically, we're saying that we're being sensitive to a group of people that Paul says doesn't exist. There is no one who seeks God. No, not one.
Obviously, the concept is valid - people who are in a spiritual process are benefitted by others who might be a little further along speaking and acting in a way that is familiar and comfortable. That's a good thing. It's just a funny choice of words. Because Paul says that there are no seekers.
This was not a particularly helpful comment, because I'm not offering an alternative to the phrase "Seeker Sensitive." Just making an observation.
Maybe the whole concept of being seeker sensitive is a little condescending. Maybe it mostly just comes down to being user-friendly? We could get some tips from Steve Jobs on that one.
Steve - unfortunately, most of our generation knows the movies way better than they know the scripture, and we always fall back on what we know. So we preach Spiderman because we're more familiar with it and call ourselves sensative...because we can't bear the thought of calling ourselves shallow.
ReplyDeleteWe miss Cinci too. No Skyline out here. Making me rethink my feelings on purgatory. This might be it.
Randy...good point...and I completely agree. Because of where God is calling me, I feel like I need to know both well. What I don't want to be is a "church" that goes no deeper than the latest superhero flick. Knowing the culture we live in is a great foot in the door, but if the shallowness of our culture was truly satisfying, people wouldn't be seeking something more...and our experience tells us that we're all despeately seeking something more meaningful than a clever movie quote - the quote just helps break the ice.
ReplyDeleteThe problem I am seeing over and over from seeker churches is that we settle for being clever and getting people in the doors. After they're in, we have nothing more to offer, so people eventually trickle away. Shallow Christians make shallow disciples, which make shallow disciples, etc.
Sean...good post...has me thinking. And from what I've heard, thinking is good.
Steve - thinking is good. It's also inherently dangerous. Be careful. Don't go asking a lot of questions or you'll get labelled a trouble maker.
ReplyDeleteDon't ask how I know this. Just trust me.
R