I spend a lot of time on the Facebook & the Twitter. As it's gotten closer to Easter, I've noticed an interesting trend that, quite frankly, kinda bums me out.
I understand that not everyone shares my faith. That's fine...religion (or having no religion) is a personal choice and one that comes after long periods of soul-searching. As far as I'm concerned, as long as you respect me & my choice, I'll respect you & yours.
But what's troubling is that it seems like it's OK to be disrespectful & rude to people of faith & mock everything associated with it.
I know that in many cases, Christians have behaved badly to people who don't believe. We've brought some of the anger on ourselves by not living up to what we've been taught.
But Christians, like all large groups, are made up of individuals. Many of whom would never think of verbally abusing others or hating people they've never met. It makes me sad to see all of us painted with the same brush just because a few act like jerks.
Of course, the easy answer is, "Stop acting like jerks.". But when dealing with people, there are no easy answers.
Despite what some say, Christians aren't perfect. We struggle every day to reconcile our faith with a world that doesn't want to know about it.
If you don't believe what I believe & I mock you for it, then you have every right to think I'm an intolerant jackass. But somehow it's OK for you to mock what I believe & I'm "too sensitive" if I take it personally? Is a little mutual respect too much to ask?
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Saturday, November 1, 2008
A Conundrum
Had an interesting conversation today, the gist of which boiled down to "If you aren't 100% against something, that means you're automatically 100% for it."
This theory works if you are discussing trivial issues. Issues are big, broad concepts that fit neatly into "either/or" brackets. You either like country music or you don't. You either like crunchy peanut butter or creamy. Elvis or The Beatles...pick one or the other. Essentially, it's a fun way to engage in meaningless debate with your friends and waste time.
But when you start applying that logic to issues that effect real people every day it can be dangerous. People are more than the sum of their particular political leaning. People are a complicated mass of contradictions that are made up of all the moments of their lives, both good and bad.
Don't try and tell me because I'm not 100% against whatever is your pet issue...abortion, immigration, the death penalty, whatever...that I'm automatically in favor of it either.
And don't dare question the depth of my faith in relation to those issue. I will ultimately answer to only one person about that...and it's not gonna be you.
This theory works if you are discussing trivial issues. Issues are big, broad concepts that fit neatly into "either/or" brackets. You either like country music or you don't. You either like crunchy peanut butter or creamy. Elvis or The Beatles...pick one or the other. Essentially, it's a fun way to engage in meaningless debate with your friends and waste time.
But when you start applying that logic to issues that effect real people every day it can be dangerous. People are more than the sum of their particular political leaning. People are a complicated mass of contradictions that are made up of all the moments of their lives, both good and bad.
Don't try and tell me because I'm not 100% against whatever is your pet issue...abortion, immigration, the death penalty, whatever...that I'm automatically in favor of it either.
And don't dare question the depth of my faith in relation to those issue. I will ultimately answer to only one person about that...and it's not gonna be you.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Making It Up As I Go Along
As many of you know, I'm an improviser. I perform at ComedyWorx in Raleigh and get a great deal of pleasure out of it. It's my creative outlet.
I do it because I love it and think I'm pretty decent at it, but never thought too deeply about it until a year or so ago. I invited the Minister of Music from my church & his wife to come see a show. They laughed and had a good time and told me I was funny, so all was right with the world.
About a week later, he did a sermon about using your gifts and how they are your ministry. I caught up with him afterwards and, half-jokingly asked, "So do you think that my jumping around in my pajamas onstage is a ministry?" He said, "Yes, I do."
This took my by surprise until I thought about it a little more. As a performer, I don't have any idea what the audience is bringing with them when they come to a show. They could be going through any number of tragedies, conflicts at work or home and stresses that I will never know about. What they're looking for is 90 minutes or so of relief from the outside world and a chance to sit back and laugh.
Every time I get on that stage, I have the opportunity to make a total stranger's life a little happier and lift their burdens. That's an awesome responsibility and I try and remember that
on the nights that I don't feel so funny.
So, yeah, goofing around onstage playing 5 Things or Forward/Reverse is a lot of fun. I've made some good friends doing it as well. But I always try and think about who I'm doing it for and why. It's not just for me...and as I should have learned a long time ago, the things I do for other people usually turn out better than the things I do for myself.
That's why I make it up as I go along.
I do it because I love it and think I'm pretty decent at it, but never thought too deeply about it until a year or so ago. I invited the Minister of Music from my church & his wife to come see a show. They laughed and had a good time and told me I was funny, so all was right with the world.
About a week later, he did a sermon about using your gifts and how they are your ministry. I caught up with him afterwards and, half-jokingly asked, "So do you think that my jumping around in my pajamas onstage is a ministry?" He said, "Yes, I do."
This took my by surprise until I thought about it a little more. As a performer, I don't have any idea what the audience is bringing with them when they come to a show. They could be going through any number of tragedies, conflicts at work or home and stresses that I will never know about. What they're looking for is 90 minutes or so of relief from the outside world and a chance to sit back and laugh.
Every time I get on that stage, I have the opportunity to make a total stranger's life a little happier and lift their burdens. That's an awesome responsibility and I try and remember that
on the nights that I don't feel so funny.
So, yeah, goofing around onstage playing 5 Things or Forward/Reverse is a lot of fun. I've made some good friends doing it as well. But I always try and think about who I'm doing it for and why. It's not just for me...and as I should have learned a long time ago, the things I do for other people usually turn out better than the things I do for myself.
That's why I make it up as I go along.
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