ICanLevitate

That’s the word I’ve found myself saying more often than not whenever I check Twitter or any of the blogs from pastors and church peoples here lately. Sometimes I just don’t get it. I don’t understand the outrage over things that don’t even phase me. Does that make me a bad person? Do I not love Jesus enough to get mad at the things I should? It’s enough to give me a complex.

For instance, recently a man called Lifechurch.tv’s office and complained that someone with a LC bumper sticker took too long at the gas pump. She was putting on makeup or something. In the comment section, all of these people jump to condemn her! “That reflects so poorly on Christ and the church… blah blah blah…” Seriously?

No… it doesn’t reflect poorly on Christ. If that keeps that guy from attending church, it’s his problem. Remember how Paul wrote in Romans that creation was so amazing that no one has any excuse for not believing in Christ? Everyone’s personal salvation is their own responsibility. That is the only Biblical way to look at it. It is not our job to please everyone so that they might like us enough to come to church. Jesus told us to expect to be hated!

I am so sick of this hippy Jesus that the church has crafted that is all about doing everything possible to make people happy. That’s not the Jesus I see in the Bible. If anything, Jesus did everything possible to trip people up and offend them! Remember when he called a Canaanite woman a dog to her face? Or made fun of the rich young ruler to a crowd of people while he was still in earshot? Or any interaction he had at all with the Pharisees? That Jesus would get tossed out of the church today for being a bad witness and a stumbling block. Thank God we don’t actually serve the limp-wristed, Peter Pan Messiah that I hear too many people pushing.

Then, Ed Young went on Colbert Report. Comedy gold. But wait, what’s that? A groundswell of people upset that he was made fun of? Seriously? It’s a show on Comedy Central for crying out loud! It used to be 2 time slots away from puppets making crank calls. What did you expect? Why in the world would you expect Steven Colbert of all people to do a fair and balanced interview? And for the record, that interview was completely fair. Anyone who doesn’t think so, must be living in a fantasy world where comedy doesn’t exist. Which, by the way, is the worst kind of fantasy world. Colbert even stops interjecting to allow Ed to get in the “why” behind it which is the most important part.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, enjoy.

I just don’t get it sometimes. I don’t understand the outrage. I want to. I want to understand where it comes from. I want to understand why it exists, because I just don’t see it.

I was going to blog about Leadership Retreat, but that will have to wait. I’m sick and you all had to go and get me fired up about this. Guess the Greater Things post will have to wait until tomorrow.