Mark Twain once said that everyone complains about the weather but nobody does anything about it. As Frederica Mathewes-Green says in this recent piece in Christianity Today, instead of trying to change the weather, maybe we should pay more attention to sheltering a few individuals from the storm.
Christians in America are so caught up in fighting the culture wars, that they risk losing a much bigger battle. Whether Roman Catholics or Evangelicals, we talk about overturning Roe and cleaning up prime-time T.V. but think too little about humility and grace. Instead of focusing on something as amorphous as "the culture," perhaps we should concentrate on serving our neighbor through our vocations.
I support many of the causes typically espoused by traditionalist Christians in these so-called culture wars, but FMG has a point. Let's not miss the trees for the forest.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Frederica Mathewes-Green on the Culture Wars
Posted by Pastor Scott Stiegemeyer at 3/24/2006 06:08:00 PM 1 comments
Question of the Hour
A Baptist youth minister with a penchant for gruesome horror movies. Right on! I enjoy the blog of Philip Meade over at The Beast's Lair and wish he would post more often. And one question I'd pose is this: Why do so many contemporary Japanese horror flicks (and their American re-makes) center on murdered children? (Ie. The Ring, The Grudge, Dark Water, Three Extremes)
Sphere: Related ContentPosted by Pastor Scott Stiegemeyer at 3/24/2006 11:54:00 AM 1 comments
Kurt Vonnegut: A Man W/o a Country
I am currently reading the book Mr. Vonnegut wrote after swearing never to write another book. "Wait right there," you say. "Why is a Christian, conservative, hawk reading an atheist, liberal, pacifist?" Quite frankly, I enjoy Vonnegut's dark sense of humor. He's a pessimist about human nature and so am I. I seldom agree with him on the big stuff: Religion, politics, morals. But I often agree with him on the small stuff, much of which is really big stuff.
My favorite line so far: We are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different. And to that I say, "Amen." I do think that he's got a point here. People who are always "on a mission" scare me. God put us here to live our lives, not to revolutionize the world. I don't say this to celebrate mediocrity, but to hallow the mundane. 9 times out 10, the ordinary is more important than the extraordinary.
I suppose I probably miss Vonnegut's point and am just reading him through lenses of my own, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Posted by Pastor Scott Stiegemeyer at 3/24/2006 09:31:00 AM 5 comments