Warning for those with tender ears. You will hear the "F" bomb in the video below.
Update: My friend asked me a question tonight. He said, "Mike, are you bashing Christians, again?"
Watch the video below. Is he right? If I claim I am a Christian and post this on my blog am I bashing Christians?
I found this clip at the blog of Carlos Whittaker
Mike, you asked on Twitter if we thought he was bashing the church. I can see how someone might think he is, but I see him as presenting one side of the story. See, I'm not sorry to be a Christian, even though I'm not a very good one. I recognize that to admit to being a Christian is to admit the inability to save myself and my need for someOne to save me. Have Christians done crummy things? Heck yeah! Have people who aren't Christians done crummy things? big time. If his apology helps someone that has been wounded by a Christian, I'm glad. Otherwise, he is showing us one side of the coin. But the other side is there. And no matter what people say about Christians, the greatest people I've ever met are Christians. Good food for thought Mike.
ReplyDeleteThose of us who are Christians do have a lot to be sorry for. If this guy is really grieved by the hypocritical things that have been done in the name of Jesus, then I totally respect that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I've heard some Christians "confess" the sins of other Christians in a way that sounds an awful lot like the Pharisee's prayer... "Thank you God that I'm not like those other Christians." It's sad and ironic that some "progressive" Christians display the same sort of arrogance towards traditional Christians as they accuse traditional Christians of having for non-Christians.
It's not for me to judge whether this dude (or any person who posts this video on their blog) is genuinely grieved or just cloaking arrogance in poetry. I mean the only thing more arrogant than bashing someone for being arrogant would be bashing a person for bashing a person for being arrogant, right?
I liked much of what he had to say. It reminds me of "Blue Like Jazz" and its recollection of the on-campus Christian reverse confession booth, where these same types of things were confessed to the general populous.
ReplyDeleteAs the above guys have said, if this comes truly from a heart of humility, then I love it.
There were two parts of this video I didn't like:
The first was the discussion of the abortion clinic practices. Many, if not most, of the protesters are motivated by deep love, trying to help dissuade someone from making a horrible mistake that will be with them forever. These people are also just as ready to take in the girl who has just had one and love her.
The second was his universalist approach to "God" and "Allah", as if these were the same entity in any capacity. If the point there was to favor discussion over shooting each other, then I agree with that, but it seemed to me that his perspective there is quite off, and indeed, not that of a Christian at all. If we are not distinct from Muslims, then we are not Christians, we are simply "religious".
But this video made me think. And much of it needs to flavor my interactions with the world. Thanks!