A friend and I are having a discussion about people "finding" God (was He behind the curtains or in the cupboard?).
Although according to statistics released from the most recent census, the numbers of Christians in Australia is declining seriously (and our current fastest-growing religious groups are the Buddhists and Hindus, although they do only make up a very small percentage of overall belief), so you'd sort of think that He's hiding quite well if not many people have found Him.
Okay, and that's risking a lightning bolt there...
But then what I don't really understand are the people who "find" God, change completely and then rabidly attack what they used to be like when they see it in other people. For a start it seems hypocritical, and it's understandable that people won't be attracted to the judgmental sort of attitude. It's sort of like, "I've found God and now have to tell you, in bullet-point form, why exactly you haven't and you'll be going to hell!"
God does change people and bring positive influences to lives, but it sort of seems bi-polar or something like that to go from one thing to totally and utterly the opposite, and judging whatever the old self was in a very harsh manner, particularly when it's in other people. I'm not convinced it's the best way to deal with it, I guess because I think of the people that Jesus interacted with while He was on earth, the way He reached out to people and didn't treat them in a judgmental fashion.
You don't want to go back into what you used to be or do or whatever, yes, so it's best to avoid the temptation that might come with associating with whatever you used to be into. But then why go all Terminator about it in other people, telling them how dreadfully wrong/evil/etc they are instead of being like a positive influence or something of that variety?
I mean, yes, God changes people. But would He change someone into a big, hypocritical jerk??
I 'unno.
7 comments:
mm... the tick is still wandering around... actually it crawled in my keyboard and right now I am possibly mashing it to bits.
The tick are the stupid whores today saints tomorrow!
Urm.. Kaisa have you been using illegal substances?
and yes.. hypocritical people are not good.
i suppose the question posed: "But would He change someone into a big, hypocritical jerk??" depends on our belief system about God. If we believe that God is all about condemning sin and judging us, then yes. If we believe that God is more interested in getting to know us as people, i'm not sure that the "BIG CHANGE" we often see (or are told we see) in new believers is real. It seems to be that a god who wants to know you as you, does not instantly change who you are, but gradually may have an influence in how you think and behave.
So i guess religion is like a crash diet, while spirituality is more like eating healthfully and cutting out all the junk food.
Oh, you have so nailed that one on the head! When I think of all the wrong that is done in this world, in the name of religion, no less, it makes me wonder what God is thinking in the first place.
Kaisa - Call a bug specialist? ;)
Clare - No, they're not much fun. I was thinking about it again while watching Big Love last night with the guy called Roman, who is a totally despicable character but likes to do the "holier than thou" thing.
Kris - I like your analogy with the healthy eating vs crash dieting. Makes perfect sense!
Jimmy - I get the feeling God's thinking, "This isn't what I had in mind, guys!" with a lot of it. He'd probably be as hurt by people being horrible as we are.
It seems to me that if somebody has a 'conversion' that is quite radical, they do go from one extreme to the other; it is almost as if their newly-found faith is their new toy to the exclusion of all the previous toys. There can also be an element of denial that the old toys still exist.
The trick, for me, is integration. My past is my past and I cannot change it and God knows the mistakes that I have made and the ones that I continue to make [Lord, have mercy!]. Thanks to the grace of God my past (even including 1 second ago) can be forgiven. We have to admit to those parts of ourselves that are weak and this in turn will give us a certain level of humility that will take away that horrible self-righteousness that we so often see.
At all times, we need to have an honest assessment of ourselves before God.
Did that have anything to do with the post or did I just randomly rant on somebody else's blog site?
Don't worry, it's to do with the post and not ranting at all :)
The honest assessment before God is an interesting thing - He knows all our failings and loves us anyway, so there's no point in pretending that elements of our character are less than desirable aren't there at all. Not that we should be thinking, "It's all good, God loves me anyway so there's no real need to change!" because there is.
But we don't have to be like monks in centuries past who might have worn thorns at their temples to try to connect with the suffering of Jesus or any other things that, although I think come from a genuine desire to connect with spirituality, can also hold a lot of the saved-by-works mentality rather than saved-by-faith/grace.
Our humility really shouldn't be manufactured out of our own actions, I guess, is what I'm thinking there (and kind of getting away from the point!).
I wonder with radical conversions whether the integration comes later as more is learned about the faith the person has chosen? Sort of like being thrown in the deep end and then learning how to swim... Maybe it's a case of with that learning process comes an understanding of grace, forgiveness and so on over time?
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