So Much To Say...
Yes, yes, yes. That's what people say "ALLLL the Time." So much to say -- so little time. But there it is. Everytime I've thought about posting on this again, I've been overwhelmed by how much has happened over the last several months. We've traveled. We've returned. We've read. We've written. We've seen Conor off to college. We've seen Jordan off to new heights (he's grown a whole lot). Kathy's job was given away while we were gone. So -- though it looks similar things are a bit different for her.
And now today...the day AFTER Christmas. And it was another full, full day. But let me begin my return, by going off on a small rant, that I've been holding onto for several months.
Back in October...I attended the Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast (may God save me from another visit). It's been a long time since I've been to something so ostensibly Christian that felt so inhospitable to Christ. But that isn't what really bothered me.
They gave an award. They called it the Isaiah 58 award. I love Isaiah 58. They read the following excerpt from that chapter (beginning with verse 6):
Is not this the fast I choose; to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
They then gave the award to a group that gives money to help pay the utility bills of those who can't afford to pay their own, and has a food pantry for people to get food. Here's what made me crazy: That isn't what the passage says. It says to "share YOUR bread with the hungry" - your bread, implies your table. We know that because the next says that you "bring the homeless poor into your house." That's not the same as giving them a ride to the Mission or paying a utility bill (that's just a stop gap in overwhelmingly most cases). Isaiah 58 is a real challenge -- a real fast that God is requiring. And it's tough. But it's not the same thing as that which we call charity (which is a good thing in its own right -- but it is not the same thing).
I couldn't get over the thought that if a group that really deserved the Isaiah 58 were to get that award that most of the audience there that morning would have walked out -- offended by the very idea of such people. Just as most people back in Jesus' day complained about him "eating with tax collectors and sinners" - they would have had much less of a problem if he had just run a food pantry where they could pick up a few food items rather than hanging out with such folks. It's the hanging out part that got Jesus killed (or so the gospels would have us believe).
It simply served to remind me that we are raising a generation of Christians who think that justice is something very different than what Jesus seemed to think it was. (sigh)
And now today...the day AFTER Christmas. And it was another full, full day. But let me begin my return, by going off on a small rant, that I've been holding onto for several months.
Back in October...I attended the Indianapolis Prayer Breakfast (may God save me from another visit). It's been a long time since I've been to something so ostensibly Christian that felt so inhospitable to Christ. But that isn't what really bothered me.
They gave an award. They called it the Isaiah 58 award. I love Isaiah 58. They read the following excerpt from that chapter (beginning with verse 6):
Is not this the fast I choose; to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
They then gave the award to a group that gives money to help pay the utility bills of those who can't afford to pay their own, and has a food pantry for people to get food. Here's what made me crazy: That isn't what the passage says. It says to "share YOUR bread with the hungry" - your bread, implies your table. We know that because the next says that you "bring the homeless poor into your house." That's not the same as giving them a ride to the Mission or paying a utility bill (that's just a stop gap in overwhelmingly most cases). Isaiah 58 is a real challenge -- a real fast that God is requiring. And it's tough. But it's not the same thing as that which we call charity (which is a good thing in its own right -- but it is not the same thing).
I couldn't get over the thought that if a group that really deserved the Isaiah 58 were to get that award that most of the audience there that morning would have walked out -- offended by the very idea of such people. Just as most people back in Jesus' day complained about him "eating with tax collectors and sinners" - they would have had much less of a problem if he had just run a food pantry where they could pick up a few food items rather than hanging out with such folks. It's the hanging out part that got Jesus killed (or so the gospels would have us believe).
It simply served to remind me that we are raising a generation of Christians who think that justice is something very different than what Jesus seemed to think it was. (sigh)
posted by Mike Mather at 9:57 PM
1 Comments:
The earliest I could get a job was when I was 15 years old, and nfl jerseys store I wanted a job as a teenager. While I wouldn't classify christian louboutin shoes my family as poor, we weren't exactly wealthy, either. I wanted a job so I NFL Jerseys could have my own source of income without having to bother my parents for Nike Free Run money. It was independence. By having my own job, I'd be able to Nike Roshe Run start saving money Nike Air Max 2015 Shoes for a car when I got my license at 16 and just have some spending cash to do with christian louboutin uk as I pleased. That's why, louboutin outlet no more than a week after my 15th Nike Air Max 90 birthday, I got a job at a drug store down the street cheap nfl jerseys from my house. wholesale nfl jerseys I worked 15-25 hours per week, taking shifts after school and on weekends. Well, it wasn't long after I started the job that something came
Post a Comment
<< Home