Skip to main content

Politicking for God?




As I was driving home today, I saw several people shouting and raving in front of the McDonald’s sign about everything from: “God is my Savior,” to “…the wrath of God.” As I turned the corner, I was reminded of a Nooma video I saw a while back called Bullhorn. Rob Bell says at one point in the video, “…You just don’t find Jesus waving Heaven in front of people like some carrot on a stick.” Now, plenty of people have attacked Rob for his films and have labeled him as a Universalist, yet until you actually see this up-close and personal, you just don’t feel the lack of humility until the guy with the bullhorn is shouting at you in your vehicle or as you walk past, and might I add, in the middle of “the Bible Belt”. A thought came to my mind that their proclamations sounded similar to the Marine “prayer”. If you have ever seen the movie, Full Metal Jacket, you will remember these words. “This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine.” If we take just a moment, this group has almost made their own parody of this prayer. “This is MY Jesus. There are many like Him, but this one is MINE. You must come to US to receive Him.”

Phillippians 2: 6-7 talks about what Jesus truly had to become to be the Lamb of God: “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Yes, I know I have quoted John Eldredge many times in my writing. I’m not sorry for it, though. His writing rivets me. In his book Beautiful Outlaw, he describes for the reader a stimulating perspective of how strong Jesus’ humility really was. “Murals and statues of Hussein the Magnificent were plastered all over the country [Iraq] - a handsome and dashing military hero, bold, a man for the people, forty years younger than he actually was… Many dictators have done the same. Hitler did it; Chairman Mao too… Yet, the only king who ever had a right to be worshipped shows up riverside at somebody else’s revival [baptism in the Jordan] and waits his turn.”

So, I guess the only question now, is which approach to you choose? Do you engage in emitting sound-bites that stir up dissention or do you comprise a humble, sacrificial, behind-the-scenes heart of a servant?




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

We Can Make Our Choices And Try To Be Happy With It

**This blog contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to my readers.** Well, it's been a long minute since I sat down to just write a blog. It used to be a frequent occurrence when I was stationed in San Diego. Mind you, this was back when MySpace made the world go around instead of Facebook, Twitter, etc. Therefore, by popular demand (you know who you are), I have decided to blog again when it is sensible and I have to drive. I have recently binged on Hulu TV shows and one that was a big part of my life during my youth was The Wonder Years. It has been great seeing these episodes again as an adult. One, in particular, is an episode about Kevin's dad taking him to work so that he could see what he does for a living. At one point, Jack and Kevin take a coffee break. The father-son discussion that happens is quite profound. Kevin blatantly asks in 'kid fashion" what made his dad decide to become a Manager of distri...

Anchored in the Standards of Truth

One of my favorite writers, bloggers, fathers and a true man of example in my life has inspired me to establish my own list of truths that the Father and Son have revealed to me over the 28 years of my life. I usually do not mention people in my blogs by name just in consideration of keeping their thoughts privatized in my mind...just in the name of confidentiality. However, Paul O'Rear has a blog that is a MUST-READ for any of my viewers. I am honored to be an active member of his Broken Heart Street Team, a working apparatus in his e-book becoming a reality, and everyone should immediately go to his web page and read his Principles: http://www.paulorear.com/the-principles/ So, just as Paul writes in the prelude of this blog, mine is very much a work-in-progress, but enjoy none the less! When the storms and wind toss you about at sea in life, use the following procedures: When your personal season of tears interferes with your well-navigated, planned out avenu...

Military Suicides

In 1987, Suicidal Tendencies released an album with a song called “Join the Army”. This ‘whimsical title’ is very relational to my thoughts today. USA Today released this article last Thursday: http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2012-08-09/army-suicides/57096238/1 I sincerely hope that you will take the time to read this article before proceeding further, but I must be rational. I know that not everyone will. So, I am going to only share this one particular quote with you from above: “Suicides have increased across the military, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress last month. He said service members of all branches are killing themselves at the rate of about one per day. ‘That is an epidemic,’ he testified. ‘Something's wrong.’”             Something is VERY wrong, sir. According to another study conducted by the Defense Department staff of USA Today, suicides are only second to being killed in comb...