Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Average Hypocritical Christian
Being brought up in a Seventh-day Adventist home and society, I was programed to follow certain rules- no TV on Fridays, no spending money on sabbath- stuff like that. I was brought up to keep all these rules and my parents would advise me to carry on these traditions past living in their home. Back in Maryland, all my friends were basically brought up in the same manner. But the difference with us from the other strict SDA families was that we did not necessarily follow all the rules. We went to church on Friday and Saturday but as soon as nightfall came, we partied hard. It was like Sabbath and the point of keeping the Sabbath was thrown out the window. Now, even though I thought about this while I was doing it some nights, I continued to follow the crowd. I remember one day in church, we read this bible verse that basically said that we should not be lukewarm for God- it's either we are fully with him or fully against him. And I asked myself, am I fully for him? Is me keeping the sabbath from Friday night to Saturday night defined as fully for him? I realized that I was not fully for him if this was the lifestyle I was going to keep up. It's hard. It's hard to fight temptations and the crowd. I want to be strong and follow Christ all the way, and I try to. I started to substitute partying and doing things that are not according to His will, with things like bowling or laser tag. But the problem came into play when I had to tell my friends I could not go to parties on Friday. I used to act like I was tired or my family had dinner at their house, but I finally got the courage to stand up for Christ like He stood up for me. Coming to college made me realize that I had to keep this practice up. I had to try to keep fighting temptation. I know I realized this at a young age but I pray for all those who have not felt this yet. I'm not saying that I'm right and everyone else is wrong, I guess it's all personal opinion. In college I have complete freedom- I can break the rules of my faith or stay tuned to it. I broke it a couple of times already and paid for it, but I think I'm starting to see that being hypocritical is natural. For example, I'll see many people in church praising God, but later that same day partying it up. I used to be one of them until I realized that God was worth missing a party or two. He was worth keeping my faith when many around me are not. I'm not condemning anyone because I am definitely not a saint or a perfect christian but it's just something to think about.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Of course, there are many ways to interpret passages. This class is about reflection and analysis of what we say and what others say. In this realm, we are free to try to be clear even if that clarity takes into highways and byways that make us uncomfortable. It is in this spirit that passages of the Bible that express the notion of fully against and fully for can be considered to express different things depending on context, both historical and practical. For example, in class someone mentioned that a number of Adventists do not hold to the no caffiene dietary injunction as they once did. The analysis, then, in the form of a question can be made thus: Does that mean that certain Adventists who drink coffee are not 'fully for' Christ or God? These same Adventists could be helping the poor, sick, or dying as part of work they believe was commissioned of them by Christ. Can we look at their lives as not fully for God given the sacrifices we see them to be making? I think this would be difficult to say. Moreover, how might this be applied to one's own life and beliefs? And what does one's beliefs and practices say about those whom cohabit in one's self same religious community? The questions asked here are not meant to criticize, but to be clear about what it means to be fully for God (Christ) or truly faithful.
ReplyDelete