This is from Thomas:
In yesterday’s Metro American “trendspotter” Marian Salzman responded to the question :: “What trends are you predicting for the next 5 years?”
Americans have become so decidedly religious that religion is going to become a very serious problem between the US and the rest of the world. Americans are living in a country where CHRISTIAN RETAIL is a shopping option, CHRISTIAN FOOD is a snack food option – there’s a chain called “Chick-fil-a” – it’s Christian chicken.
Oh my goodness!
What happened to being in the world? If all I do is “CHRISTIAN” then where is the reality? where is the truth in being the salt and the light?
Reject Christian ghettoes!
I just read chapter three of “Velvet Elvis” last night by Rob Bell and it talks a lot about this.
“The prophet Isaiah had a vision of heaven, and in his vision angels were shouting, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
The Hebrew word for glory here is kavod, which means weight or significance.
The whole earth is full of the weight and significance of who God is.
The writer David said, ‘The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.’
According to the ancient Jewish worldview, God is not somewhere else. God is right here. It is God’s world and God made it and God owns it and God is present everwhere in it.”
“But God is always present. We’re the ones who show up. For the ancient Jew, the world is soaked in the presence of God. The whole earth is full of the kavad of God. For the writers of the Bible, this truth is everywhere. It’s here. It’s there. It’s all over.”
“Paul affirms the truth wherever he finds it.”
“If it is true, if it is beautiful, if it is honorable, if it is right, then claim it. Because it is from God. And you belong to God.”
“Jesus is the arrangement. Jesus is the design. Jesus is the intelligence. For a Christian, Jesus’ teachings aren’t to be followed because they are a nice way to live a moral life. They are to be followed because they are the best possible insight into how the world really works. They teach us how things are. I don’t follow Jesus because I think Christianity is the best religion. I follow Jesus because he leads me into the ultimate reality.”
“It is dangerous to label things ‘Christian.'”
“The problem with turning the noun into an adjective and then tacking it onto words is that it can create categories that limit the truth.”
“Something can be labled Christian and not be true or good.”
“A Christian political group puts me in an akward position: What if I disagree with them? Am I less of a Christian? What if I am convinced the “Christian” thing to do is to vote the exact opposite?”
“Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective.”
“I was playing in a punk band a few years ago, and we were playing clubs and bars and festivals and parties. People would regularly ask us if we were a Christian band when they found out I was a pastor. I always found that question a bit odd. When you meet a plumber, do you ask her if she is a Christian plumber?”
“My understanding is that to be a Christian is to do whatever you do with great passion and devotion.”
What’s your take?
Hi there!
My take on Rob Bell is that he is very interesting, but slightly dangerous. Like most post-moderns he loves to question everything and leave you with few answers.
The Emergent Church is just another spin of the old liberal bottle.
Be careful with this guy. He can lead you astray.
I’m quite certain that Rob wants you to find answers. He’s not trying to tell people the answer. He wants people to do their own searching.
“God has spoken and the rest is commentary, right?”
Oh and I love how you used liberal as a dirty word.
Oh and I love how you used liberal as a dirty word.