“Sunday in the Life” Mars Hill Blog

Mars Hill on the News!

1. I don’t think twitter is worth it.

2. I need to leave things resting in God’s hands and step back and wait on His timing.

3. No matter what, He must be glorified.

4. I am truly blessed with far more opportunities than I realize.

The play was two parallel stories about runaway slaves in 1839 and Jews escaping Nazi Germany in 1939. In my class, we raised questions about some of the morality that was justified and the presence of “religion” and prayer in the play.  In the end it was basically boiled down to a good starting point for talking to children about slavery and the Holocaust and a message of hope.

Here are some of the questions that were brought to my mind.

• Does persecution justify sin, ever? Do two wrong ever make a right?
  In the play the children talk about the boat the slave children stole and the fact that the Jew are going to lie about their names to escape. And my thought is this: If a Christian trusts God even in the hard things, that means that we should tell the truth. Even if it means our lives. I am by no means saying that I am better or holier then the Christians who hid Jews from Nazis in WWII, but it’s a thought, isn’t it? I mean, just because someone else does something wrong, like killing people simply because of their background or faith, or enslaving them because of the color of their skin, does that justify our lies? God did tell us not to lie. How does this work?
• The people in my class said the play was “a message of hope” and my question is, how do you define “hope.” (I fully blame and thank Pastor James for this train of thought.) I looked up “hope” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary and this is what it said:

  1:to cherish a desire with anticipation
  2:trust, to desire with expectation of obtainment, to expect with confidence:trust
  Synonyms: Expect

  At the end of the play, we don’t know if the Jews escaped. We desire that they did, but can we really say that we desire it “with an expectation of obtainment” or is it merely wishful thinking? I looked up hope on urbandictionary.com and most of the answers had something to do with believing in a better future. Now, to be honest, for a non-christian, life here on earth is as good as it’s ever gonna get, so the belief that it’s gonna get better is ungrounded and unfounded. But for a Christian, we do have a confident expectation that things will get better, and that hope is grounded and founded in the Truth of Christ and his love.

These are just a couple of thoughts before I do some homework, and aren’t fully formed, but here they are. If anyone has anything to add or contradict, please please do.

You seem to have this really sad trend of clinging to your god. You choose to turn a blind eye to the truth itself. There’s gonna be sin, for sure. You’re gonna commit sin every day of your life. If you keep living and dying because others relish in their sins and you do not, you’re just as bad as they are. You think vulgar music and calling a penis by other names is evil. You know what’s evil? Watching Jesus freaks judge the world just because their “god” had some dude write down ten rules and a bunch of guidelines. What we live, the good and bad is our life. This is our heaven and our hell. Praying isn’t going to grant you wishes, and if you feel alone in this universe, perhaps you’re alienating everyone around you.

And here is my response to the response to my response. (i couldn’t resist)

—

Andrea, first, thanks for reading my blog. I’d love to hear how you stumbled across it.

Now, as for the truth, this is what I believe to be Truth.

The Truth, I agree, is that there is going to be sin. Let me define that first: sin is the things that we think, say, and do that are contrary to God, that are disregarding the relationship with Him we were created to be in, and when we don’t do what we know we should. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23), so there is going to be sin, and I also agree with you that we are going to commit sins everyday of our lives.

However, where we first differ is in the fact that I know it’s not good to “relish in [our] sins.”

You say that I’m a “Jesus freak” (thank you, by the way, i take that as a compliment) and that I’m judging “the world just because [my] ‘god’ had some dude write down ten rules and a bunch of guidelines.”

First, I wasn’t judging the world. The people I was writing my blog about and to (including myself) are Christians and I was encouraging them (albeit very bluntly) to seriously consider what it is that they are finding their entertainment in and how they conduct themselves, because the sin you say that we should “relish in” is something that as Christians we should not relish in. It’s not my place to present them with any standard that I don’t expect myself to be judged by too. And Christian’s are encouraged in the Bible to “put off [our] old self, which belongs to [our] former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires…and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24) because we love Him, and because we don’t want our relationship with him to be hindered in any way.

From your comment, I’m assuming you’re not a Christian, and I want you to know that I am by no means holding you to this standard. It is not my place to judge you, or tell you what to do, and that’s not what I intended to do in my blog. Again, it was written to my Christian friends, not to be applied to you or the world.

As for prayer, I don’t think of it as getting my wishes granted. Prayer is an opportunity to talk to God, my Creator and my Savior.

Also, I don’t feel alone in this universe. I have been blessed enough to have a great family who loves me, and great friends who would agree with me in saying that I’m not alienating them. Even my non-Christian friends and family would agree that if anything I’m doing the exact opposite of alienating anyone.

I would love to hear your response to this, and maybe you could explain a little more to me about how you view the world, and what you believe.

–Cait

That’s a very good point. And that’s where my name change and my new profile picture came from, because this world is all about desensitizing us to the sin around us. We’re supposed to be “transformed by the renewing” of our minds, and “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world” and that’s exactly what happens when we are desensitized.

We watch enough sexually inappropriate (and may I add, popular and frequently viewed) tv shows and movies and we are desensitized to the fact that it is basically flipping God off. We listen to enough vulgar and demeaning and all together truth-suppressing music and we become desensitized to the fact that it is taking beautiful things God has made and twists and distorts them into things that are sending people to hell.

Like, for example, a friend who recently made a comment about a male body part in an unnecessary and, truth be told, very offensive way. Yes, God created that body part, and yes, when used to glorify Him (as funny as that sounds) it’s not anything bad. But when it’s referenced in a way that offends the listeners (christian young women), and is completely, utterly unnecessary, that is not right and part of the desensitization.

So, DON’T BE DESENSITIZED!!!

To use Paul’s words – “I appeal to you … by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2

So I’ve been thinking about this a lot in recent weeks (for those of you who hang out with me more often then not, you have experienced me singing it at you first hand) and I have decided to blog about it.

There is so much that we see as entertainment in American culture that is so entirely vulgar and inappropriate for Christian’s to be listening to, watching and experiencing, but we do, particularly at Mars Hill, because we’re “engaging culture.”

There is a very, very fine line between “engaging culture” and “embracing it” and I think that it is particularly easy for younger (age-wise) Christians to not realize they’re on the wrong side of the line. (myself included) And one of the easiest to fall into is the sexually inappropriate stuff, mainly because sex is such a prominent thing in our world today.

The way the NIV says Ephesians 5:3 is that “among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.” Not even a HINT of sexual immorality, let alone singing and listening to entire songs about it (“Apple-Bottom Jeans,” “Soulja Boy,” “I Kissed a Girl” to name a few popular ones). All that does is show the world that as Christians we’re making light of prostitution, nasty sex outside of marriage, and homosexuality.

I like the way the commentary for this passage put it on Biblegateway.com.

“Filthy lusts must be rooted out. These sins must be dreaded and detested. Here are not only cautions against gross acts of sin, but against what some may make light of. But these things are so far from being profitable. that they pollute and poison the hearers. Our cheerfulness (including our enjoyment in music) should show itself as becomes Christians, in what may tend to God’s glory.“

Paul continues in Ephesians 5 -

“Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.“

I am by no means suggesting that we pull away into a Christian bubble and only listen to Christian music and watch Christian movies and read Christian books. That’s not “engaging” the world (but that’s another blog all together). I am saying, however, that we are supposed to “be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

So if you ever hear me sing at you the line from Emphasis, “Hesitate to speak of sin,” know that this is where it’s coming from, and that I love you.

I call people on listening to the “i kissed a girl and i liked it” song, and I do them one worse.

I call people on coupling off, and again I fantasize about doing one worse.

Abba, save me from my own horrible desire to walk in my sin.
Help me to put on the armor of You and to fight the prince of darkness.

i can’t figure out what face i wear is really mine…

i don’t know what God wants me to do…

i wish, i pray i can move forward…

but of course, i can’t, because i have an 7 pages of an essay about “true love” to write about, an anatomy and physiology final to study for, and a four hour shift at work tonight.

and i think that’s a blessing from God, because i’m being forced to think, to engage in life, and i can’t just slink away.

there are a few verses i need to focus on right now…

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” – Hebrews 12:1-3

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” – James 1:2-4

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

Abba, please help me to see your hand working in this, for my good, for your glory, knowing that you’ve got everything under control.
Help me to trust in you with everything i have, knowing and living in the fact that you are God.