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Please, I'm not saying that any of you have said this to me. Even Rudi, who was moved to tears over my blog entry, I never felt like he was writing me off. I totally understand how he meant his comment.
But what of it: Imagine we would just take each person totally seriously when they told us to bugger off about the God stuff. In most cases that would be the best way to show them who God is. If my son asks me to stop doing something to him, I stop immediately. I don't try and coerce him into thinking that what I'm doing is really okay. That's what perverse catholic pedophiles do, but not good daddy's showing their kids big daddy love. They are going to listen to their kids wishes, cause they know it doesn't make a difference whether they are doing something good for their child or not, if their child perceives that action as bad then it has to stop.
Why then do so many Christians see it as a challenge to apologetically argue someone into the faith, or go to far away lands, where they are not welcome, to force yet another culture to conform to western values, which really aren't christ-like anyway, only to come away from it all with a deeper intrinsic certainty that the adversity, with which they were faced, was a sign of the holy blessing endowed upon them. Bullshit!
Has anyone stopped to think that maybe all this missiology stuff may be a thorn in God's eye? Or maybe we should be somewhat more honest with our exegesis of the new testament and admit that, yes even for the most lay of laypersons, Paul's writings really do differ and add to a lot of what Jesus said.
Would admitting to these things really break our faith? Or would it make it stronger allowing us to approach people around the world in a newer more free and holy way, much like the way that Christ had to approach all of us dimwits during his 30 year stint on this rock?
(Please don't ask me for bible references, I've stopped reading the bible 2 years ago and I do not want to start a bible debate on this blog.)
5 comments:
*yaaaaawwwwwwwn*
This is great Lenny. Thanks!
There is definitely a difference between sharing opinions, experiences, and just plain discourse and shoving things down people's throats. When I was a missionary, when people said, "No, thanks," I wished them a good day and left their doorstep. Otherwise, you sour people to ever giving you the time of day again.
People who write "unbelievers" off as going to hell don't get it: determining people's eternal reward is NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS.
Not their job. I don't know what people are going through or how that influences their decisions.
(And thank you for mentioning the difference between Jesus and Paul. It's a pet peeve of mine.)
Hey Jo ey Nathan!
In deiner Aussage beschreibst du aufdringliche Christen und ich geb Recht: Sowas schadet und wirft auch ein schlechtes Bild gleich auf alle Christen. Ich würds aber nicht allen Missionaren in "unerwünschten" Ländern unterstellen. In Deutschland kann man als Christ unerwünschter werden als im Irak. Es kommt deswegen drauf an, wie und mit wem man redet.
Ich behaupte mal, dass es viele Menschen in solchen anti-christlichen Ländern gibt, die sich für den Glauben interessieren und die sind auch zu nem Gespräch mit einem Missionar bereit. Ich denke Menschen davon gibts genug, die früher oder später Gott suchen.
Natürlich unterscheidet sich Paulus von Jesus. Genauso wie sich Petrus und Hiskia unterscheiden. Ein Fischer und nen König - klar ist da was anders. Aber wenn man bedenkt, zu welchem Zweck Gott Paulus erschienen ist. Als Missionar zu leiden und dann auch noch zu sterben, dann kann es ja kein Zufall sein, dass Paulus auch in der Bibel Briefe hinterlassen hat.
Ich weiß, was du jetzt mit Unterschied meinst, aber du weiß bestimmt, dass es immer mehrere Interpretationswege ginbt.
Also ehrlich gesagt, war ich traurig, aber nicht zu Tränen gerührt. Und ehrlich gesagt kamen mir Tränen als ich gehört hab, dass du im Krankenhaus bist.
Lieben Gruß
Rudi M.
no other comments? maybe it's cuz there was such a big lead-in.
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