Breaking the silence
I accepted Jesus as my Lord at a very early age. I wish I could say that since that day, I have been living for God, but that just isn’t the truth. When I was a teenager and young adult I chose my own path. I scoffed at Godly counsel, ignored scripture and effectively turned my back on God. If asked I would say I was a Christian, but even a glimpse at my life would reveal the opposite. I ignored God and decided to do things my way.
So I have been posting to this blog for a couple of months now, and I thought it might be a good idea to explain why I am doing this or at least what exactly it is that I’m trying to accomplish. I suppose this would have made for a good first post, but I didn’t think about writing about this until now. I wanted to try to explain why I write the things that I write and why I have chosen to post it to a blog.
Do you remember high school; when you structured everything about yourself so you could fit in with some group? From what TV shows you watched to what you wore to what you listen to and even what you said. Actually come to thing of it; do you remember going to work yesterday?
Today, I was confronted with a something I think affects a lot of people. Or, at least, I hope that I’m not the only one. I’m thirty-one and while I don’t take drastic measures to fit in anymore, it is still so easy to alter my behavior to fit in. Not to the point where I act completely different, but maybe I just don’t stand up for what I believe.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t been to any parties where water turned into wine. I haven’t heard about any bodies of water being split or people being healed by touch either. Now, what is God doing? Where are all the miracles I hear about in the Bible? Is God still at work or am I on my own?
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6
“God will never give you more than you can handle.” It’s what Christians love to say when we don’t know what to say. It is a cliché that we try to pass off as biblical comfort when, in reality, it is anything but. The fact is that statement isn’t biblical; actually it stands in stark contrast to what the Bible teaches us.
In sports if you were to ask this question, “Who you represent,” most athletes would respond by telling you the team they play for or possibly the college they hailed from. In fact, we are quickly approaching the Olympics, and those athletes take a great amount of pride in being able to represent their respective countries. A lot of musicians would tell you the city they are from. Military personnel would tell their branch and possibly their platoon and company. What about Christians? Who do we represent?
I have been a part of several conversations where young women were talking about how they control their relationships. Their significant others jump at their command and never have the final say. Some of these involved kids that were from exes, where the new boyfriends were expected to be a part of the kid’s life and help protect and provide for the child, but had no say in the discipline. In fact, one mother had forbidden her boyfriend from correcting her child. Another mother wouldn’t even allow her child’s father to discipline.
O.K. So I know this isn’t an actual medically diagnosed syndrome, just the same, I feel like a lot of Christians suffer from what I call “The King David Syndrome.” We read the Bible with a sense of awe, as we should, seeing these great deeds done by these Biblical figures. We marvel at their faith, focus, and drive to serve God. Then we sit back and wish we could do great things like that.
Let me be clear, when I first heard about Alton Sterling’s death, I said a prayer for him and his family. When I heard about the officers shot in Dallas, I said a prayer for them and their families as well. I haven’t watched any news stories on either incident. I haven’t watched the Alton Sterling video and I probably never will. Why? I won’t watch the video because doing so won’t change my stance. I grieve the loss of his life and I’m heartbroken for his wife and son. The officers: I grieve the loss of their lives and I’m heartbroken for the spouses and children they left behind.