12.12.04
Posted in culture at 10:29 pm by
Adam at Symposium made a nice observation to my post about truthful conversations. He said this:
So if I want to have a truthful conversation with God, Do we need to break up?
Of course, I can’t answer that question for any one person. I do have a suspicion, though, that it may be best for lots of Christians to break up with God for a while.
I’ve been thinking about the purpose of having this blog for a while. Lots of people think I’m just an angry young man who spouts off about whatever is stuck in his craw at any particular moment. I tend to think of this place as more than that. I think this is a place that people can confront the truth as they see it without any predetermined zeitgeist that must be applied to that truth before it can really be considered true.
The truth with no strings attached. Why? Because, I have a passion that people would be able to know God. Now, I think it stands to reason that I should define exactly what I mean by the word ‘know.’
To me, to know God, is more than to simply know about God, and less than to know all there is to know about God. I recognize and understand God through the person Jesus of Nazareth. I believe he was and is God. That said, I think a lot of people would do well to break up with God for a while.
Now that I write that, “I think a lot of people would do well to break up with God for a while,” I’m not sure I’m right. I think that more accurately, it could be said that many Christians would do well to break up with Christianity for a while. Sadly, I think that breaking up with Christianity has little to do with breaking up with God.
Breaking up with Christianity, to me, has more to do with separating oneself from the social norms and expectations that define Christianity. Social norms that cram Christianity into a much smaller and distorted box than the ‘Christ-likeness’ box. Christianity, nowadays, is more about pre-packaged thought, than real live beliefs. Unfortunately, that pre-packaged thought is a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a thought. You see, much of Christianity bears little resemblance to the original.
Call me angry at the fact that Christianity has little to do with Christ. Yep, I’m guilty as charged. I’m fucking angry about that. Because I believe it matters. So, yeah, I do think most Christians would do well to break up with Christianity for a while. Perhaps then they’d be able to get to know God in all of her majesty.
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Posted in culture at 10:29 pm by
Adam at Symposium made a nice observation to my post about truthful conversations. He said this:
So if I want to have a truthful conversation with God, Do we need to break up?
Of course, I can’t answer that question for any one person. I do have a suspicion, though, that it may be best for lots of Christians to break up with God for a while.
I’ve been thinking about the purpose of having this blog for a while. Lots of people think I’m just an angry young man who spouts off about whatever is stuck in his craw at any particular moment. I tend to think of this place as more than that. I think this is a place that people can confront the truth as they see it without any predetermined zeitgeist that must be applied to that truth before it can really be considered true.
The truth with no strings attached. Why? Because, I have a passion that people would be able to know God. Now, I think it stands to reason that I should define exactly what I mean by the word ‘know.’
To me, to know God, is more than to simply know about God, and less than to know all there is to know about God. I recognize and understand God through the person Jesus of Nazareth. I believe he was and is God. That said, I think a lot of people would do well to break up with God for a while.
Now that I write that, “I think a lot of people would do well to break up with God for a while,” I’m not sure I’m right. I think that more accurately, it could be said that many Christians would do well to break up with Christianity for a while. Sadly, I think that breaking up with Christianity has little to do with breaking up with God.
Breaking up with Christianity, to me, has more to do with separating oneself from the social norms and expectations that define Christianity. Social norms that cram Christianity into a much smaller and distorted box than the ‘Christ-likeness’ box. Christianity, nowadays, is more about pre-packaged thought, than real live beliefs. Unfortunately, that pre-packaged thought is a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of a thought. You see, much of Christianity bears little resemblance to the original.
Call me angry at the fact that Christianity has little to do with Christ. Yep, I’m guilty as charged. I’m fucking angry about that. Because I believe it matters. So, yeah, I do think most Christians would do well to break up with Christianity for a while. Perhaps then they’d be able to get to know God in all of her majesty.
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Christopher said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:19 am
brother Brandon,
Sometimes we do have to break up with god. Sometimes we do in the words of Meister Eckhart have to “let go of ‘God’”, meaning we must let go of images and ideas of god that do not in fact do justice to the great mystery of G-d, who in the case of Christians is revealed in Christ Jesus. Many Christians’ image of god does grave injustice to the image revealed in Christ. This letting go can be painful, as birthing is always also a process of dying. Many Christians in my opinion grasp tightly onto modes of deity in their certainty and are willing to do anything to prevent letting go which would mean entering doubt and uncertainty and process and trusting in G-d…
Blessed and Blessings,
Tim said,
December 13, 2004 at 1:02 pm
Brandon,
Just curious as to what parts of Christianity you think bear “little resemblance to the original.” Are you speaking of doctrines and beliefs, or are you referring to the way people who call themselves Christians act?
Tim
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 1:46 pm
I feel as though you’re trying to lay a trap for me, Tim? But, I’ll answer your question.
Christianity itself, the following of Christ, often seems to me to be more about a set of beliefs about moral issues than actually striving for any real ‘Christ -like-ness.’ So I guess my frustration there isn’t exactly with doctrines and beliefs, per se, but more with the way people who call themselves Christians disregard the actions and words of Christ in thier pseudo-pursuit of Christ.
Like I said, Christianity has become more about swallowing a pre-packaged pill of “the things Christians believe” than it is about following Jesus.
I don’t have a problem with doctrine in concept. Fundamentally, it’s simply an explication of scripture, I think that’s good! It’s some folks practice of some doctrine that I don’t like.
I wouldn’t cast the net so wide as to say that doctrine is bad in any way.
Tim said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:10 pm
No, no trap. I was seriously wondering.
Tim
Brandon said,
December 13, 2004 at 11:17 pm
Fair enough, my friend!