You said, “I am not very good at saying things tactfully, but my personality is a little like Jeremiah, although I am no Jeremiah.” What personality traits are you attributing to Jeremiah? I’ve just finished reading the book of Jeremiah in the Bible and am interested in your opinion of his personality.

Shanna

Thanks so much for your response. As a fellow pastor in the Valley, I’m glad to be working alongside you as we together introduce people to Jesus and help guide them on the journey of following him.

With you in the race and excited to be a part of the it,
Brian

Thank you for your insight. I respect your convictions on the issue. I do approach it differently. Here’s how I’ve arrived at my current convictions. Jesus’ strongest words were for the religious people who enforced rules that were not God’s, but men’s rules. I don’t believe we, as believers, should use the rating system of the world to tell us what we can or cannot see. They aren’t our standard- God is.

I’ve seen PG movies that were nothing but innuendo and sex. And I”ve seen R movies that were amazing and incredible and, yes, inspiring. So I have to ask, “Why are we letting the world around us set our standards for us?’

That being said, the concept of the weaker brother is often brought up concerning these issues. The issue of the weaker brother, in conctext, is one of whether or not a believer who thinks something is sin might be tempted to do so while still believing it is sin (even though it isn’t). If he does, he sins against his conscience. Meat offered to idols was just…meat. Not good or bad. Just meat. And in the context of telling the Christians in Corinth to be careful, Paul also taught the freedom that comes with knowing that meat is only meat.

In other words, the movie is, in and of itself, just a movie. Each believer has to decide what is good and what is evil in areas of conviction (those not biblically-listed). That’s one of the definitions of maturity: the ability to discern good from evil (Hebrews).

I have yet to talk to someone who believed they sinned by watching an R movie but did it because another believer had done so.

Again, though, with respect, I can have a hot-fudge sundae to the glory of God! I thnak him as I eat. And yes, the Matrix was something I watched to God’s glory, thanking him for the fellowship as I watched (Christian friends) and the message in it as well.

So…I disagree. But I appreciate our differences and thank you for causing me to think through this issue.

You hit the nail on the head, IMHO. It’s all about authenticity. The extremes of either going out our way to put forth an image we don’t live up or not giving a rip what we look like both kill the concept of the authenticity of someone who really just wants to live for Jesus.

Live for Jesus and people will misconstrue and call names and unfairly gossip/mis-characterize you at some point. How do I know? Jesus was called a drunk and a glutton for pursing a life free from religious rules and regulations.

Live without constraint and we show ourselves to be very poor representations of someone who follows Jesus. “Faith without works is dead.” We have to live it.

In the end, we need to live it real- aware of the witness but unwilling to compromise the freedom. Regardless of how we live, someone will be upset. It’s better to upset religious hypocrites than Jesus. It’s better to reach unbelievers with the reality of a sometimes stumbling faith than to put up a plastic image that looks really good to the churched but doesn’t reflect the truth of our lives.

Authenticity. For me, that’s the key. Then, if someone comes along who doesn’t like my choice of music or the fact that I list an R-rated movie as one my favorites, at least I’m at peace with the fact that I haven’t sinned against God but against religious rules. And if I’m at the kegger, I know for a fact I won’t be drunk because I know I’m not free in Christ to get toasted. Hot-chocolated, maybe. Warmed, possibly. But not toasted.

Meghan, thanks for your post. The hypocrisy of living in 2 different worlds is part of what is ugly to the world around us. We are believers and there is only one world- God’s. No church vs. secular. Just who we are at all times. You rock!

- Brian

I am so used to being surrounded by hypocrisy, not only in what one might call the “Christian world” (aka your Sunday service, your small group/bible study, your Rhythm-esque gatherings of worship and the like), but also in the “Secular-World-of-Everyday-Life” as well. What I find to be interesting is that in practicing life in the “Secular” sector, we become hypocrites of those things we “preach” and pray for in the “Christian” sector. You can sit there on Sunday morning and nod your head with your Pastor, your teacher, and holler an “Amen!” when appropriate; then the very next day gossip about some girl in the cafeteria who’s on her third helping of banana pudding and snicker behind your hand when she’s walking out and drops something and exposes a little more of her behind than anyone wanted to see while picking it up. Or even that very same night go to an “Aww, man, the weekend’s over!” kegger and get so intoxicated you can’t remember what you’re doing in the pictures that your other drunken buddies took and plastered all over Facebook the next day.

The fact of the matter is, these “Secular” and “Christian” sectors, as I have called them, shouldn’t even be separated in the first place. They don’t exist independent of one another. You’re either a Christian (or Christ follower, as some like to call it), or you’re not. And if you are (or claim to be), then you are so in the “Secular-World-of-Everyday-Life” as well. That means you’re the one picking up what the banana-pudding-girl had dropped with an, “I do that all the time,” chuckle to make her feel less terrible. Or, if you do go to that kegger, you’re the one urging your friend that he’s got that paper due Tuesday that he hasn’t even started, and “Hey, let’s blow this pop stand, order a pizza, and go watch a movie while you work on your paper.”

This is not to say that I am perfect (duh, far from it). And that we do all slip up; things happens, something is said that we instantly regret. In this media age of digital cameras that fit in the palm of your hand and cell phones that record voices and movies and are connected to the internet … anyone can capture nearly anything. And I believe Idara makes a fabulous point here: a picture may be taken, but it is still worth a thousand words. The thousand words that an outside viewer, Christian or non, may think of, and the thousand words that the individual in the picture may think of, may differ 100%. She’s right, there are people who do simply assume and don’t ask questions and may completely misinterpret what’s going on.

But most of the time we only get that one chance, that one shot, to make an impact. It’s a huge responsibility to constantly be sitting there thinking “What am I doing presently? Who’s watching me? Who has the potential to watch me? How does that look? How can it be misinterpreted? How can it affect the people I love negatively?” In fact, it’s nearly impossible. In this day and age, many people DON’T think that far in advance; and there is also this phenomena of self-care that we misinterpret as being an excuse to do anything we want because it makes us feel better.

To bring this novel full-circle, I also want to address Idara’s other point: “Is it more important to pose an honest picture or an idealized one?” We can make our Facebooks LOOK as great and as “Christian” as we want to. But that doesn’t mean we believe it. That tells an outsider that we are walking God’s path and entice them to join our group because they want to walk with us. But then, when they do join us, and get close to us, and discover the truth behind that mask, they will turn away. The hypocrisy will be there and will be a turn off — especially for Seekers as I myself once was — and we will be back to square one where we originally started: divided between our “Christian” life and our “Everyday” life, turning Seekers into skeptics, and turning around in circles on the yellow-brick-road to Christ.