Pres. of National Assoc. of Evangelicals accused of sexual relations with gay hooker

I was talking about that with my wife last night, Max, after watching several talking heads on cable discussing the "evangelical vote." I told her that a lot of these "evangelicals" don't really see themselves the way the national media portrays them, at all. That some of them don't even see themselves as evangelical, because of the type-casting by the media and the political parties. That they would prefer some other term... like Christians.

Maybe I'm wrong.



Keep D&D Civil.

 

yeah...or even running from the word Christian! Christian has a lot of baggage I don't identify with either. I prefer Christ follower of Jesus freak, if you're asking!

Here's an excerpt from an incredible book I'm reading right now called, "Blue Like Jazz." It's written by a guy named Donald Miller. I would call Donald Miller an evangelical...but my definition is different:

When I moved downtown to attend Imago-Dei, the church Rick started, he was pretty serious about loving people regardless of whether they considered Jesus the Son of God or not, and Rick wanted to love them because they were either hungry, thirsty, or lonely. The human struggle bothered Rick, as if something was broken in the world and we were supposed to hold our palms against the wound. He didn't really see evangelism, or whatever you want to call it, as a target on a wall in which the goal is to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life. He saw evangelism as reaching a felt need. I thought this was beautiful and frightening. I thought it was beautiful because I had this same need; I mean, I really knew I needed Jesus like I need water or food, and yet it was frightening because Christianity is so stupid to so much of our culture, and I absolutely hate bothering people about this stuff.

So much of me believes strongly in letting everybody live their own lives, and when I share my faith, I feel like a network marketing guy trying to build my down line.

Some of my friends who aren't Christians think that Christians are insistent and demanding and intruding, but that isn't the case. Those folks are the squeaky wheel. Most Christians have enormous respect for the space and freedom of others; it is only that they have found a joy in Jesus they want to share. There is the tension.

In a recent radio interview I was sternly asked by the host, who did not consider himself a Christian, to defend Christianity. I told him that I couldn't do it, and moreover, that I didn't want to defend the term. He asked me if I was a Christian, and I told him yes. "Then why don't you want to defend Christianity?" he asked, confused. I told him I no longer knew what the term meant. Of the hundreds of thousands of people listening to his show that day, some of them had terrible experiences with Christianity; they may have been yelled at by a teacher in a Christian school, abused by a minister, or browbeaten by a Christian parent. To them, the term Christianity meant something that no Christian I know would defend. By fortifying the term, I am only making them more and more angry. I won't do it. Stop ten people on the street and ask them what they think of when they hear the word Christianity, and they will give you ten different answers. How can I defend a term that means ten different things to ten different people? I told the radio show host that I would rather talk about Jesus and how I came to believe that Jesus exists and that he likes me. The host looked back at me with tears in his eyes. When we were done, he asked me if we could go get lunch together. He told me how much he didn't like Christianity but how he had always wanted to believe Jesus was the Son of God.

o o o

For me, the beginning of sharing my faith with people began by throwing out Christianity and embracing Christian spirituality, a nonpolitical mysterious system that can be experienced but not explained. Christianity, unlike Christian spirituality, was not a term that excited me. And I could not in good conscious tell a friend about a faith that didn't excite me. I couldn't share something I wasn't experiencing. And I wasn't experiencing Christianity. It didn't do anything for me at all. It felt like math, like a system of rights and wrongs and political beliefs, but it wasn't mysterious; it wasn't God reaching out of heaven to do wonderful things in my life. And if I would have shared Christianity with somebody, it would have felt mostly like I was trying to get somebody to agree with me rather than meet God. I could no longer share anything about Christianity, but I loved talking about Jesus and the spirituality that goes along with a relationship with Him.

Tony the Beat Poet says the church is like a wounded animal these days. He says we used to have power and influence, but now we don't, and so many of our leaders are upset about this and acting like spoiled children, mad because they can't have their way.

They disguise their actions to look as though they are standing on principle, but it isn't that, Tony says, it's bitterness. They want to take their ball and go home because they have to sit the bench. Tony and I agreed that what God wants us to do is sit the bench in humility and turn the other cheek like Gandhi, like Jesus. We decided that the correct place to share our faith was from a place of humility and love, not from a desire for power.

 

"Evangelicals" moving away from the GOP

http://media.pfaw.org/pdf/cav/Evangelicalmemo.pdf

 

Great passage, Max. I love it.

 

you need to pick up that book. it's great.

 

thanks for posting that madmax! i can definately relate. I will try and get a copy of that book

i have a real hard time reconciling my belief in a Christian God and the actions of some Christians, to the point where i don't even know what to believe anymore, i've become a little bitter about Christianity now, and that sucks because i used to love Church when i was younger, but knowing that there are Christians like you has really lifted my spirits

 

it's not me...it's Christ. he's the focus. the problem is that the church has become so much about the guys leading it that it's lost its true leader..and what he taught.

after you read that, read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Easily my favorite book ever.

and then try to live like Christ did. no problem, right?

 

If it isn't Jesus it isn't Christian.

A friend Ralph Hagemier lives in the Congo. He and his family has suffered greatly to bring the message of Jesus to the Congo. He is what I would call an evangelical- he preaches Jesus Christ.

A friend of mine Edwardo preaches in the prisons of Mexico, and suffers much to bring the message of Jesus to these prisons. He is an evangelical.

Another friend of mine Chad Germany lives in India and has suffered much to preach Jesus to the Hindu people. He is an evangelical.

Another friend of mine Joe Faus preaches in the prisons of Romania and Cuba.

Ralph and his family have operated a clinic, orphanage and school for the people of the Congo for over 20 yrs.

Edwardo has been in the most dangerous and filthy prisons of Mexico for over 20 yrs.

Chad and his family are constantly in danger of persecution, they help poor children and their families.

Joe Faus runs orphanages in Mexico.

You will not find these men on Christian TV or asking for donations. I know many men like this who I believe are the real evangelicals. I don't know about the political evangelicals-

Jesus- the real evangelical

 

I definitely will. It sounds great from the part you posted.

 

i know it wouldn't because you're not creepy.

 

see, you don't actually know that. i can be very creepy!

 

I'm not sure "creepy" is the adjective I would use to describe that...

 

i'm not either. but at the very least, you smiled.