DESTROY THE (CHRISTIAN) SUBCULTURE!
Excerpt from an article by Keith Giles published on the Ooze:
I've come to the radical conclusion that there is nothing secular. There is only the world we live in. This one, right here (look around you...yeah, that world), and nothing more. God created the entire world, and it's a fallen world I agree, but there is no "Sacred" or "Secular" division to this world, other than the artificially constructed one we've created to keep ourselves safe and comfortable and far away from "those evil sinners over there".
Another big revelation for you? We're all sinners. You. Me. That guy over there. Yeah, we're all evil. We all need Jesus. Not just those who don't attend your church or who vote Democrat or who read Harry Potter. All of us. Look it up, it's in the Bible.
So, at the moment, all I have is the fire in my gut, the passionate resolution in my belly, that I hate all things "Christianese" and I long to assist in the complete demolition of this man-made evil.
Read the entire article here
posted by Keith at 11:39 AM
6 Comments:
This one and the one below convinced me to sign up for the site. So I posted a comment on there. I agree.
for the most part anyway...
Burn it! Burn it all! Then we can have what we really need, an antiestablishmentary Christian subculture to replace the commercialist Christian subculture, which supplanted the nationalist Christian subculture, which replaced the …
I love church history.
I agree with Keith Giles in that we are called to reach out to our community, serving and loving them in the name of Christ. As Jesus said, we are to let our light shine, not put it under a bowl.
However, though his passionate and wordy assault on the straw man of Christian material was exciting to observe, he failed to convince me that Christian material is overwhelmingly idolatrous. Could it be? Sure, so can Twinkies, Disney’s Goofy, food, my dog or anything else for that matter. So what is he saying? Burn everything that can be an idol? That’s going to be a big fire. Or maybe we should only burn the stuff Mr. Giles feels is offensive “Christian” material. Keep the Van Halen burn the Carman…right? I would like to see his verse on that.
Where I believe Mr. Giles completely fell off the horse was in his statement that “there is no ‘Sacred’ or ‘Secular’.” His sophomoric argument is certainly supported by current philosophically postmodern opinions but I took note that he left the Word of God out of his defense. I will say that, depending on the context, the word secular may or may not be the antonym of sacred. For example, a bowling ball sitting on the side of the road is spiritual neutral (in this case, secular). When God uses it to bless, setting it apart for his purpose, it becomes actively sacred (i.e. holy). When it is used by someone to break car windows it becomes not secular, but rather profane. So then, the question should be, “is it sacred or secular or profane?”
Sacred is associated with reverence to God where profane indicates irreverence and contempt toward God.
Does it matter? I think so. So did the Ephesians when they brought out all their magic art books and burned them in the site of everyone (see Acts 19). The truth is that some things, especially media, point people to or away from God. Some things can go either direction. So to some extent, Christian books, music, tee shirts, bumper stickers and gum (this one cracks me up every time I see it) point to God, thus glorifying God, viz. making him famous. Other things, like SKIN stickers, Play Boy magazine and Eazy E (I know, I am aging myself here) point people away from God and glorify sin.
Can Christian material be misused? Sure. But abuse does not negate proper use. So put down the matches and give the Veggie Tales video back to your little brother, pick up your Bible and see what God actually says about it. Avoid worshiping the creation (Romans 1:18ff) and do all things to the glorify God (1 Corinthians 10).
So what are you saying here exactly?
So I should keep my Carman CD, but burn my Van Halen CD?
I would have to disagree. I think the point that Mr. Giles is trying to make is getting away from all things "Christianese".
I was involved in a church for almost 10 years where I observed some very ugly things. Ugly things were done and said to myself and my family. I also observed damage done to visitors that were not believers.
I think we should be "in" the world and not just in our own little circle of church family.
Just my 2 cents, but I think we should mingle with the ugliness of the world to let Jesus light shine and be seen.
That wasn't exactly what I was saying. The two points I was hoping you would take away were that 1)some things glorify God, somethings are neutral and others profane Him and 2)abuse does not negate proper use. I am sure the Spirit of God will work out in your conscience what you are to keep and what you are to surrender.
I am sorry to hear that you were hurt by one of your previous churches.
May God bless you as you continue to let His light shine.
And your point is well taken. I certainly appreciate your insight and your comments.
BTW...I loved your lesson Wednesday evening. I wish I was there to hear the previous one. I think it is on the Portal website though so I will check it out.
I would like to do a similar series for the Amadeo Youth. Right now we are going through an excellent book about prayer...called Getting in God's Face. I am not teaching it though, Mark and Susan B. are. Susan went to the guys conference and after discussing with Robert and myself we thought it would be a great study. So far it has been.
Be well my friend.
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