To Live As Christ

A Personal Journey With God

About Me

Subscribe Via Email

Book Recommendations

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
© 2023 To Live As Christ · Design by Steck Insights Web Design Logo
Homeless John

First United Church of Oddballs and Outcasts

March 14, 2012 by brianmichaelsteck Leave a Comment


Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 1384

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 700

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 707

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 700

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 707

Homeless JohnWhen you look at our churches and the people that attend, who do you see? What types of people?

How ’bout when you walk the downtown alleyways, sit at that lonesome school lunch table or order your fast food? What kind of people do you see then? Are they the same group of people?

When I read through the New Testament, I get the picture that a good number of the people Jesus was walking the streets to find were the lonesome, the outcast and the oddballs — those that had been rejected, dejected and ignored.

Where this hits me the hardest is when I look at my life. It’s easy to point fingers at everyone else who has built their lives around people that make them feel comfortable, safe and loved. But when I realize that I’ve done the same, the mood turns sour. I’ve protected myself from those whom Jesus pursued most.

My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?
-James 2:1

If you were to do an inventory on those in my life, you would find that most are friends who are independent (so I don’t need to offer much of myself), like-minded (so I don’t need to change) and successful (so I can share in their success). The sad truth is that it’s natural for me to get my worth from those around me; what they think of me, what they offer me and how they make me feel. Am I not showing favoritism when every person in my life is easy to love?

Turning the corner
So what do I do with this reality? I know that my heart and mind do not consciously decide these things, but they become truths over the course of time, as my life slips into the ravine of convenience and comfort. My first step is to acknowledge this and repent. Repentance is an old concept that means sincere remorse.

The second step would intuitively be to try harder, to be better, to love more, but I’ve learned that this isn’t the way to achieving the end goal. Instead, the root of it all lies in my source of worth. Because I receive my worth and value from what people think of me, my behavior will inevitably stem from that. So I must come to God and allow myself to be healed and filled by His love. There are areas of my life that I deem “unloveable” or “unforgivable”, but His endless love is capable of saturating even those areas.

From that full place, having received true, unselfish love, I am able to move towards those who are unloved by society — not needing anything from them, or even needing to change them in order to feel successful. Simply to extend love from the overflow of God’s ceaseless spring.

The Church of job fairs, fantasy conventions and death metal
The cultural outcast is the tax collector of our day. Somehow it feels easier to love the poor in third-world countries than it is to befriend the cultural oddballs of our day.

This may look different depending on your context, but I’m trying to picture the people that are socially rejected in our current day. They may be the unemployed or foreclosed-upon; the sci-fi convention attenders or the office janitor; the headphone-wearing punk kid in town or the shy relative. I’m really not sure who it is in your life. For me, God is revealing who that “outcast” is in my life.

I believe the sign of a healthy church is one with diversity. When I walk into a church where every member is the same, it’s good and edifying, but it’s not the best. It’s not what God intended. There is a church near Denver called “Scum of the Earth” which started as a church for the punks and outcasts who were not well-received in existing churches in the area. I think that churches would be healthier if they had a few more mohawks and homeless congregating in their foyer after the service.

Now, I’m not saying that it is wrong to have friends who share affinity with you; common interests, ability to encourage or give back to you. I’m not saying that churches that don’t have punks or trekkers running around are wrong, but I am saying that God is challenging me to take inventory on my “personal social network” and ask some serious questions. I’m also saying that if the solution comes from simply trying harder, we’re missing the mark. Instead, the sustainable solution comes from drawing near to the heart of God and allowing our hearts to break for what breaks His.

Join me in dreaming about what it would look like to live this out; in pursuit of God’s heart and in extending that love towards the social outskirts.

Filed Under: Church Philosophy Tagged With: Authentic Christianity, Christianity, Healing, inclusivity, Injustice, Reclaiming Christianity

Marriage is what brings us together here today

December 1, 2010 by brianmichaelsteck 6 Comments


Warning: preg_match(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 1384

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 700

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 707

Warning: preg_match_all(): Compilation failed: invalid range in character class at offset 4 in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 700

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /nas/content/live/liveaschrist/wp-content/plugins/lightbox-plus/classes/shd.class.php on line 707

This is not going to be easy.

Writing about this topic was not really in the plans (as if there were plans). I recently received notice that a bill to legalize same-sex marriages in Illinois was on the floor in Springfield. I shared this with some friends, to keep them informed and I received a response from a good friend of mine. He was curious why I wasn’t loving homosexuals.

So, that’s when it gets interesting. I’m not sure if anyone will ever read this, but I figure that this is a topic that can get blown out of proportion and heated, very quickly. That is not my hope, but a likely conclusion.

My disclaimer is this: As a follower of Christ, I must apologize on behalf of others who also claim the title “Christian” and then regularly go about openly hating other people, of all shapes, sizes, colors, ethnicities, sexual orientations… heck! even other Christians. The truth is this: Christ exemplified love and someone who goes by the name “Christian” should be about love as well, or else they are a false witness of who Christ really is. That’s my disclaimer.

From here, I’d like to briefly explain myself. I don’t expect to be agreed with, but I hope to find civil discussion, challenge and be challenged in this. Can we agree on that?

At the most basic, static, neutral level, this is true: men are anatomically created to procreate with women. All we all in agreement on this? I’m really not trying to be trite, but this is something to remember. And at the very least, we must see that there is biological reasoning for the idea of “one man and one woman”. The “one” part could really help with the whole AIDS issue, couldn’t it? I mean, it would be a lot harder for the disease to spread if people were faithful to each other. But that’s another topic, for another time.

The idea of “marriage” is something that is currently changing, or completing a change, in our society. Historically speaking, marriage was only something that is necessary if you were part of a religious congregation. I have friends who never intend to get married because they don’t believe in God and don’t see a need for it. I love them. I’m okay with them. Sure, I think that there is a way that is different that would be more fulfilling and that offers eternal life, but I don’t stop loving them because I disagree. Likewise, I have friends who have a same-sex attraction; I love them, even though I believe there is a better way. That’s their prerogative and my belief colliding… but not a lack of love.

When we take a concept of “marriage” and change the whole definition of the word, which has historically been defined as a union between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation and lifelong commitment to one another, the game changes. The word changes. When a word like this changes, it calls to question everything that it pertains to. We are now taking something that exists, picking it up and turning it from side to side and saying, “what is it?” The reality is that marriage is still a union between a man and a woman. A man who is in love with a man, is just that, “a man in love with a man”. If we want to make a name for that, we can. But to redefine “marriage” is big thing, and it changes all that currently exists in regards to marriage.

This feels muddy, so let me try to explain. If I enjoy politics, that makes me one who enjoys politics, and not a “politician.” Correct? If I start passing laws because I am a self-declared “politician”, should anyone listen?

Or if I feel that someone is driving poorly and I wish to pull them over and write them a ticket, does that make me a police officer? No. It really doesn’t. And doing so will land me in jail with a sweet fine tacked on as well, for impersonating a police officer.

So, does a woman who is in love with another woman make her “married”? If she wants to be publicly recognized as having promised herself to her lover, is that wrong? No. I don’t think so. But I don’t think we should define it the same as we do for a man who wants to be recognized for having promised himself to a woman. I think it deserves a different definition and different permissions. I disagree with redefining such a fundamental concept within our society.

Christians, love. Love one another, love your neighbor, love your enemy. Love your wives and husbands and love those who have a safe sex attraction. But protect concepts such as “marriage”. Protect concepts such as “life”. When words loose their meanings, we lose our concept of truth and reality. Everything then becomes casual, meaningless, and surrounded by apathy. We become a culture that says, “Who cares? About you, me or anything?”

Our society is well on our way to this destination. In my short lifetime, I’ve noticed the swing. We became the “Whatever!” generation during the 90’s. Then we got a kick out of saying “It is what it is” during the first decade of the 21st century (This one always got me. I’m convinced that no one really knows what “it is” anymore, so that whole phrase is absolutely devoid of meaning). And as we continue as a society, we are becoming a body of people who don’t care, don’t know and don’t want to care or know.

This may seem like a tangent, but I believe that our hold to words and definitions will be something that saves or defeats us. In particular, “marriage” being a union established for lifelong commitment, procreation of future generations, and benefit to society.

Summary: “Christians” should love people. Men and women are anatomically made for one another. Words are worth defending. “Marriage” is a word that should be protected as currently and historically understood.

I’d like to end with a quote from Ravi Zacharias:

Being spiritually minded was okay as long as people kept their spiritual beliefs private and did not bring them into the public arena. The irony of this was the fact secularization — which had its assumptions on absolutes and anything of the metaphysical nature — was allowed into the public place. In fact, its very trust was to bring it into the public place. But anyone who believed in a spiritual Essence, an Ultimate Reality, and the fact there were transcendent absolutes that needed to be adhered to was told to keep those beliefs private. That ultimately paved the way for the loss of meaning.

These three moods — secularization, pluralization, and privatization — brought about loss of shame, loss of reason, and loss of meaning. How was this authoritatively pontificated in the social strain? This is when philosophy stepped in, the moralizers against morality came in, and political correctness came in. These gave society some parameters that allowed it to expel the moralizing from outside the secular realm.

As a result, everything became pragmatic. Philosophers and naturalists stepped in. In this new century, we have lost all definitions of what it means to be human, and what sexuality, life, and the home are all about. We are on the high seas, battling the storms of conflicting worldviews without a compass.

For more thoughts:
https://www.rzim.org/usa/usfv/tabid/436/articleid/10206/cbmoduleid/881/default.aspx

Filed Under: Church Philosophy Tagged With: Christianity, homosexuality, marriage, moral relativism

Categories

  • Church Philosophy (8)
  • Discipleship (26)
  • Family (5)
  • Government (1)
  • Lordship (14)
  • Music (4)
  • Prayer (3)
  • Scripture Studies (7)
  • Soul Care (4)
  • Stewardship (4)
  • Suffering (2)
  • Surrender (18)
  • The Kingdom Centered Mind (8)
  • Uncategorized (2)
  • Worship (10)

Quotes

Loading Quotes...

Affiliate Disclaimer

This website contains affiliate links, however we only recommend books, music and videos that we have used, benefitted from and feel will improve the lives of our readers.