The Christian Imagination

I had an email forwarded to me from a Prophet today. In looking for info about the prophet, I found a post about the fallacy of Christian music. So, I felt the need to vent. Here goes…

The Prophet, pointing to his positive track record relating to things happening in the US, claims that God told Him the next elected President would be the most ungodly ever. He then asked God, is there nothing that can be done? To which God said, “It depends on the Christians.” That’s convenient. As he himself says, he speaks for God as a prophet. Whether he has ever been wrong, well, we don’t know, as he doesn’t refer to those things.

His reasoning started off badly though. He said that he had prophecied about when Bush was elected, we would have the 8 most prosperous years in our country’s history. He then says that what the Democrats said about the Bush economy isn’t true and what he said is true. Well, it depends on your view of prosperity. If an entire country borrowing against its future on credit is your view of prosperity, so be it.

A blogger was talking about Christian music, and painted broadly how all music must come from God by way of anointing, and that most Christian music industry musicians aren’t anointed, and certainly it’s obviously that metal, rap and hip hop are not beautiful, and therefore aren’t Godly. He then picked out one Christian band to turn apart as his example of how CCM is wrong. And again, the part that gets me, is him pointing out how he has all these spiritual gifts, and being advanced, he has a sense of discernment as he’s gotten closer to God, that younger people in the Lord may not have, so those who listen to secular music or secular-inspired music are deceived by Satan and his lies.

That’s great. In both cases, I just simply can’t disagree. If I disagree, I am one of the following: A) not close to God, B) haven’t developed my spiritual gifts, C) deceived, D) unChristian, or perhaps something else. It doesn’t matter whether their are any logical flaws in their arguments, because they are speaking by divine inspiration.

It must be great to speak for God and always be right, and for people not to be able to disagree with you. I disagree.

Of course, the challenge is to be open to what God may have to say, regardless of who it comes from. Maybe I just tend to put more stock in words spoken by people who don’t claim to be the voice of God…

Links not provided as I don’t want to dignify their ideas by promoting them.

We get greedy because we do not believe that God truly will provide for all our material needs. We become anxious because we do not trust God for the future. We resort to violence because we think that we ahve to create our own way. We are selfish and possessive because we fear that we will not be able to satisfy our emotional desires. When our devotional and worship lives suffer, we lack the relationship with God that enables us to find harmony with others and with ourselves. Lacking peace with God, we cannot be at peace with anyone else. The root of our failures to share in community, then, lies in unbelief.

Fundamentally, part of what it means to be made in God’s image is that we are all created with an intense longing for God. If we cannot meet that need, we desperately try to fill the gap with all sorts of other gods. (Dawn, 86)

In a very good chapter on community and belonging to one another, Marva Dawn cuts to the core. How many of our issues come down to unbelief, essentially lack of faith in God. Sure, it’s easy enough to believe He exists, and even to say that the Bible is true and that Christianity is the right path. BUT, simply acknowledging those things, even teaching those things, doesn’t mean we truly believe them.

Trust doesn’t mean we cease to act. It could be argued that faith isn’t faith until we act on it. When we step out, though, is it in faith and trust of a supernatural God, or do we act as if God doesn’t exist, and if He does, do we act as if He isn’t worthy of trust?

Community is close to my heart. I want my faith to be real, for it not to be just a word, but alive in action. It’s really convicting to realize all the ways I don’t believe, when I ask myself honestly. Once I see how I don’t believe God, He then has an opportunity to help my unbelief, and that is very encouraging.

Dawn, Marva J. Truly the Community. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1992.

When I was living in New Zealand, it was a time to see my country from a different perspective. By the end of my time there, I realized just how much I missed America, and that I am, an American. It’s a significant part of my identity, and I embrace it. It’s not the most important part, but it’s important.

I’m not proud to be an American. What have I to be proud of? For being born here? Besides, this type of pride is sinful. I am thankful though, to be born in this country, to be part of it. I could say that we are blessed, but that’s a mixed statement. We are fortunate to have so many natural resources so that we are one of the few countries in the world who have the option to be mostly independent. That’s not what we’ve done though, but what happens to be here. With abundance comes the danger of materialism, self-absorbtion, pride, and apathy. To all those things, we are guilty. Not all of us, and not all the time, but we are.

Luke 12:48 says, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” There’s a responsibility that comes with our ‘blessing.’ We don’t always own up to it. Sometimes we act entitled. What gets missed sometimes, is that a lot of Americans are noble too. The US has done a lot of good in the world, and Americans have done a lot of good, given a lot of time and money, given themselves for others. I don’t agree with all that we do, all that our government and military do, but that’s our money and soldiers on the line.

When I get emails that question whether I love America, maybe even if I love God, if I happen to disagree with any of the actions of a Republican government who happen to have a President who has some sort of Christian faith, I get confused though. The prophets in the Bible questioned their government. Even their best king, the one after God’s own heart, David, was questioned. Jesus actually followed a fair amount of cultural practices, but when it was wrong, he confronted it. We like to point to those who founded our nation. We seem to forget that they were rebels to the established order. They questioned abuse of authority.

I’m an American. I care about my country and those in it. And it’s because I care that I will oppose governmental actions that I believe to be wrong based on my convictions as a Christian. Last I checked, Christian leaders are capable of making mistakes and wrong choices. While I may personally support them and pray for them, if they are wrong, they should be confronted.

Our government is not a Christian organization though. While I do not believe every lifestyle choice people make is the way God wants us to live, I believe a government should protect their choices as well as mine, to a point. For instance, while I disagree with practicing homosexuality, people should have that right. However, abortion involves ending the life of another yet to be born, and is wrong, and shouldn’t be legal.

As a Christian, in this country, I can agree or disagree with what the choices made in this society. We’re not as free as we think we are, but we are more free than most (legally-speaking), and for that I’m thankful. But there’s a responsibility that goes along with that freedom to care about more than ourselves.

One of the musicians who plays at Everyday Joe’s and Timberline Church now and then is Kate Hurley. Kate has a few solo CDs and played on Enter the Worship Circle: Third Circle.

As it says on her website: “Kate lives in Boulder, Colorado, where she is hoping to reach out to people with her music and love people with her friendship. Her goal in her music and her life is To paint an accurate picture of God to those who have misunderstood Him.”

She has quite the voice. You have to hear her to understand what I mean. You just don’t know it’s there, until she starts to sing, and then you go: Woah.

Fortunately, she has a free 5 song EP called You Are Not Alone available for download, so you won’t have to wonder:)