NOTE: This is the first of ten articles in a new series I'm writing. We'll start with #10 and count down to the big one together. It'll be fun.
TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW
(But Probably Doesn't)
by Keith Giles
A few years ago I taught a workshop for High School students at an annual Summer Camp. We began by taking a simple "True/False" test together to determine our basic Bible Knowledge. Here's the test we took:
Test your Bible knowledge
Mark answers below “True” or “False”
1- Because Eve was tempted by Satan and ate the apple, sin entered the world.
2- According to Scripture, Samson was a super strong, physically muscular man that God used to judge the enemies of Israel.
3- Jonah the prophet was swallowed by a whale because he refused to go and preach to the people of Nineveh.
4- The city of Sodom was judged by God because of the sin of homosexuality.
It seems like a simple test that any elementary age child should be able to pass with flying colors. The sad thing was that every single kid in the room failed this test.
They all answered "True" to every question. Did you?
*(If you'd like to know the reason why each of those questions is "False" be sure to watch my main website, www.keithgiles.com, later this week for the answers)
My reason for having everyone take this little test was to illustrate how much we allow the popular Christian culture to influence what we think we know is true instead of studying things for ourselves.
Why don't we know what we believe? Why do we misunderstand even the most essential elements of our own faith? Have we allowed popular opinion or the Christian Subculture to blur the most crucial aspects of the Gospel?
Since most people fail my simple test, I'm tempted to guess that we have indeed allowed our faith to be compromised and polluted by the world around us.
TOP 10 THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (But Probably Doesn't)
#10- THE CHRISTIAN SUB-CULTURE
We begin this series by looking at ourselves. The Christian Subculture has provided a safe haven for us to escape the world around us. We have created our own version of Heaven here on Earth so that we can safely enjoy quality, sanctified entertainment that is free from the secular world.
We have Christian television stations, radio stations, books, videos, films, breath mints, t-shirts, cartoons, socks, neckties, wristwatches, bumper stickers, jewelry, candy bars, coffee, and yes, even Christian underwear. I kid you not. (Google it at your own risk).
The real problem with this is that Jesus never intended His disciples to escape the world by creating a special, Holy version of the world that they preferred to live in while they await His return.
In fact, Jesus said something quite the opposite. When he was praying for those who would come after him he said, “I pray not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One”. (John 17:15)
The reason Jesus prayed this prayer was the he knew human nature and he knew that, in a few short years, his followers would want to remove themselves from the world around them.
We’re not comfortable hanging out with those sinners. More often than not, we treat those outside the Church, as if they have some sort of “Social Leprosy”. We’re afraid we’ll catch what they’ve got, so we avoid contact with them. We create Christian versions of the world so that we never have to interact with these “Social Lepers”.
Paul the Apostle echoed the prayer of Jesus when he instructed the Christians in Corinth about their interactions with non-believers. “I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)
Have we removed ourselves from the world? If so, we’ve essentially decided to lay down and die. Of course, we've made sure to surround ourselves in a cocoon of safety, but that doesn't make us any less dead.
I've always wanted to host a "Burn Our Christian Crap" party to protest all the Christian Materialism we've bought into. There's something strangely beautiful about seeing swarms of Christian young people throwing their Carman Cd's and "Lord's Gymn" T-shirts into a giant bonfire behind the Church dumpster.
Whether or not we decide to box up our "Jesus Junk" and toss into the flames, the truth is that we still need to repent from taking ourselves out of the world we were intended to live in.
It’s time to awaken from our slumber and burst out of our Christian bubble. The world needs us to live out the transformational power of the Gospel right in front of their eyes.
We are not called to escape the World and its evil. We are supposed to be in the World, living open lives of faith before all Men so that they may see our good works and believe.
"Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." - (John 20:21)
"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." - JESUS (Matthew 5:16)
kg
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TO RESPOND TO THIS ARTICLE, DO NOT HIT "REPLY" - I WILL NOT RECEIVE IT. INSTEAD EMAIL ME DIRECTLY AT:
"ELYSIANSKY" (AT) "HOTMAIL" (DOT) "COM"
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"FUTURE FAITH" - Check out the last couple of articles on the main blog over at www.keithgiles.com
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CHILDREN AT RISK: CONFERENCE
MARCH 9 & 10, 2007
WITH OS GUINNESS, DAVID RUIS, TRI ROBINSON, BERT WAGGONER AND MANY MORE.
FULL DETAILS OVER AT
http://www.children-at-risk.com
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CONVERSATIONAL EVANGELISM CONFERENCE
MARCH 9 & 10, 2007
WITH LEE STROBEL, TODD HUNTER, GARY POOLE AND OTHERS.
FULL DETAILS AT:
http://www.conversationalevangelism.net/cec/
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COMING 2008- THE SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND PRESENTS
"The Non-Con" (A Conference for people who never want to go to another conference again in their lives)
Watch this space for more details...
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[END TRANSMISSION]
2 comments:
Keith -
I often wonder what "secular radio" would sound like if "christian radio" had never been created...
If the really good "christian bands" had no sanctified, sanitized outlet for the their music and their only place for airplay was on the secular airwaves.
How would that alter our methods of weaving the Truth message into our music? How would it force our creative spirits to act?
In the early 20th century our culture experienced a similar separation of church and culture that impacts us dramatically to this day. Back in the 20's, 30's, and 40's, when Hollywood became Hollywood, the church's stance on movies and theatres was that they were "sinful". Places akin to brothels where true christians would not dare to tread.
As a result very few christians began working in the Hollywood system and so their became a void that is evident even today. When TV came along the void continued and then someone along the way had the brilliant :0 idea to build a christian tv station instead of attempting to climb the ladders of ABC, CBS, & NBC... the rest is history.
I'll sign off with this... have you ever been to Lowe's or Home Depot and tried to buy a light fixture? It's not an easy task, because EVERY light in the lighting department is turned on and as a result it makes seeing the light very difficult.
Light was meant for darkness! It's really that simple. Turn on a light in a dark room and the darkness is overcome.
Salt was meant for seasoning and preserving. The very simple act of adding salt to something mysteriously accomplishes both of these things.
Can it get more simple than for us to attempt to be salt and light in the world around us?
Kent,
I am so blessed to have been surrounded by men of such genius, wit and wisdom...and I'm thankful for you too.
But seriously...this is a great comment and I hope everyone who reads my article will take the time to consider your brilliant observations.
This is a deep subject. I wish everyone could read that GQ Article that you and I talked about and circulated a while back about the Christian Ghetto. I think I wrote up a response to it (if anyone wants to search it up and find that link) called "Christianity 0.0"
I'm personally amused by people who take a hard-line stance about only listening to Christian music, but they still watch secular films and secular television like it's going out of style.
Welcome to the world you were born into...and born-again into.
Live here.
Breathe here.
Be salt and light here.
kg
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