If I may...
Have you ever heard someone who wasn't a christian say that they hate christianity because of what christians do? Or maybe if you're not a christian, you figure why would I want to be a part of something where people say one thing and do another? This kind of attitude has been eating away at me lately to be honest, because (and I don't mean to be rude if you think that) since when do we ever judge anything on that system? When do we ever scrutinize a program or a system or relationship on every little outcome of every person who says they subscribe to it? I look at it this way...
As children, I think it's pretty safe to say that we all took math class. Now maybe you went to some magical school where everyone got great grades, but in the real world where I went to school, most people didn't score 100% on their math tests. At least I know that I never usually did better than about a 90% and my friends were an even worse situation most of the time. And that's just the nature of learning, you're not always going to get everything right, I don't care who you are. However, I don't see people throwing out the validity of math just because the people who say they know how to do it aren't doing it perfectly. I have even witnessed my math teachers mess up an equation or two as a child, but I didn't decide at that moment that mathematics must be flawed, therefore I'll shall rid my life of it. NO WAY...that's absolutly rediculous. Out of the millions of people who took math in school, probably 2% of those people went on to become really stellar mathematicians, and even then, I bet Einstein probably added a few digits wrong in his lifetime.
In the same way, I don't decide that I will no longer follow traffic laws because there are car accidents every now and again, so therefore, traffic laws must be flawed. There are accidents because people don't follow the system, not because the system's messed up. We run stop signs, we speed, we drive drunk, the cars we build malfunction, we talk on our cell phones, put on makeup, eat breakfast, and drive at the same time. That's why there's accidents.
If you decide that you don't want to be a christian, that's just fine with me. God gave you that choice and you have every right to make it, but don't be a coward and try to blame it on christians. I don't go into math classrooms and say that the reason I've given up on math is because Jimmy is failing it, so therefore it must be flawed. You won't tell me that you won't speak english anymore because I say I speak english and there is missed used grammer and typo's in this post. That makes no sense. Evaluate Christianity for what it is at it's intended level. If you decide at that point that you want out, then that's fine. But just saying you don't want it because of the way other people live it seems against the way we live out lives.
I once heard a friend of mine say that they didn't listen to Dave Matthews Band because they didn't like Dave fans. Seems to me like what their fans do should have little impact on whether or not you like the music. I'm am nothing like the stereotypical Meticalla fan, but I still like their music. If you don't like the fans, then don't act like the fans. Dave Matthews and Meticalla can't be blamed because their fans do dumb things.
God designed our faith to be so much more than we usually live. Some of us are better followers than others. Some of us are professional christians, some of us are lifelong followers, some of us just met Jesus last week. Or to follow the earlier analogy, some of us have been hanging out in math classrooms for that last 30 years for the free pencils, but haven't learned a thing because we've been too busy doodling in our notebooks. So much of what I see as the beauty of our society is that most poeple never take other peoples word for fact. Everybody looks into things, researches things, and makes their own decision. So why don't people do that with God? If you ask me, it's an excuse. All they think about christianity is that it's rules and they'd have to give up things they don't want to give up, so I'll just point the finger at somebody else to get me out of looking into it further. I know, because I've been there. I used to be one of those poeple. But we can't live like that anymore. I didn't decide not to buy a computer just because most people I know that have them mess them up. I know that computers work when used properly and when people follow the instructions. God's instructions are pretty easy. People decide not to follow them sometimes, or they don't understand them sometimes, and it makes God look bad. But it's not His fault. Don't miss out on God just because other people are messing up the instructions. Check out the manual for yourself sometime. And if you decide you want in, the computer is free anyway.
Man, that was a fun little rant. I feel better now
As children, I think it's pretty safe to say that we all took math class. Now maybe you went to some magical school where everyone got great grades, but in the real world where I went to school, most people didn't score 100% on their math tests. At least I know that I never usually did better than about a 90% and my friends were an even worse situation most of the time. And that's just the nature of learning, you're not always going to get everything right, I don't care who you are. However, I don't see people throwing out the validity of math just because the people who say they know how to do it aren't doing it perfectly. I have even witnessed my math teachers mess up an equation or two as a child, but I didn't decide at that moment that mathematics must be flawed, therefore I'll shall rid my life of it. NO WAY...that's absolutly rediculous. Out of the millions of people who took math in school, probably 2% of those people went on to become really stellar mathematicians, and even then, I bet Einstein probably added a few digits wrong in his lifetime. In the same way, I don't decide that I will no longer follow traffic laws because there are car accidents every now and again, so therefore, traffic laws must be flawed. There are accidents because people don't follow the system, not because the system's messed up. We run stop signs, we speed, we drive drunk, the cars we build malfunction, we talk on our cell phones, put on makeup, eat breakfast, and drive at the same time. That's why there's accidents.
If you decide that you don't want to be a christian, that's just fine with me. God gave you that choice and you have every right to make it, but don't be a coward and try to blame it on christians. I don't go into math classrooms and say that the reason I've given up on math is because Jimmy is failing it, so therefore it must be flawed. You won't tell me that you won't speak english anymore because I say I speak english and there is missed used grammer and typo's in this post. That makes no sense. Evaluate Christianity for what it is at it's intended level. If you decide at that point that you want out, then that's fine. But just saying you don't want it because of the way other people live it seems against the way we live out lives.
I once heard a friend of mine say that they didn't listen to Dave Matthews Band because they didn't like Dave fans. Seems to me like what their fans do should have little impact on whether or not you like the music. I'm am nothing like the stereotypical Meticalla fan, but I still like their music. If you don't like the fans, then don't act like the fans. Dave Matthews and Meticalla can't be blamed because their fans do dumb things.
God designed our faith to be so much more than we usually live. Some of us are better followers than others. Some of us are professional christians, some of us are lifelong followers, some of us just met Jesus last week. Or to follow the earlier analogy, some of us have been hanging out in math classrooms for that last 30 years for the free pencils, but haven't learned a thing because we've been too busy doodling in our notebooks. So much of what I see as the beauty of our society is that most poeple never take other peoples word for fact. Everybody looks into things, researches things, and makes their own decision. So why don't people do that with God? If you ask me, it's an excuse. All they think about christianity is that it's rules and they'd have to give up things they don't want to give up, so I'll just point the finger at somebody else to get me out of looking into it further. I know, because I've been there. I used to be one of those poeple. But we can't live like that anymore. I didn't decide not to buy a computer just because most people I know that have them mess them up. I know that computers work when used properly and when people follow the instructions. God's instructions are pretty easy. People decide not to follow them sometimes, or they don't understand them sometimes, and it makes God look bad. But it's not His fault. Don't miss out on God just because other people are messing up the instructions. Check out the manual for yourself sometime. And if you decide you want in, the computer is free anyway.
Man, that was a fun little rant. I feel better now
posted by Jeff Myers at 3:49 AM
2 Comments:
YES! bravo.
Amen brother! I love it when you go on these little rampages. Usually there is a great profound thought that emerges in the middle of it.
I think you might find this interesting. A story is told that Einstein, even though he was a math genius, couldn’t always count the change in his pocket. Simple calculations were harder for him than the tough mathematical equations. I learned this from my calculus professor because he was the same way.
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