(no subject)
This is an entry to be put behind a cut to save most of you from needing to read my silly right wing religious Nazism...
In Philadelphia there is a group of students, about 10 or 15 that runs a ministry for the homeless that costs absolutely no money. Not a dollar goes in or out of their ministry. What they do is they go to the bridges where the homeless sleep at night, and they become homeless themselves. They don't fake it and have daddy pay for a plane flight to another country where they can have an adventure spreading the word of Jesus in another country. They become homeless, they give up their house, leave everything behind, and they sit and beg for food and money just like the homeless people they are now living with. If one of the homeless people get sick and can't beg for food and money that they, someone will go out and beg for them, and then bring the money and food back and share it with the sick.
The idea is that if Jesus came down to our level, we need to go down to the level of the people we want to help.
This is a message that can translate to anyone who is concerned with changing the world and helping the less fortunate, but I believe that as a Christian I have learned the message of giving all wrong.
What I grew up learning is that the Jews were waiting for a Messiah, a strong leader who was going to make great sweeping changes and turn the tides for the Jews and overthrow the evil oppressors. When Jesus came he was cut down by the religious leaders because he did not fit the mold of the messiah they were looking for.
What I find interesting is that Jesus never did try to make huge sweeping changes to to evil oppressors. He did not challenge the government who was unjustly ruling Israel. He says "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" and he stands silent, not even speaking a defense when put on trial.
I feel like the message that has been shoved down my throat since I was young is that Jesus changed the world, and he changed the world by being a revolutionary, and I think he was, but not in the way we think.
Jesus never preached, "Go out and force people to believe" or "shake the system, fight for justice/freedom/rights etc." Instead he time and time again preaches " Fix what is going on inside of you, and people will start to notice" he preaches "Give up all the things that make you a crappy person and then try and help the world." He didn't say fix the world, he said help it.
I know so many people who are obsessed with this idea of fighting for the injustice in the world. They look up to the people who shake things up, they look up to the revolutionaries, the people who took a stance and changed the world. I personally feel that it is more important to change you. Jesus never preached a global message, he preached a personal message.
In our society we are so concerned with what we can get instead of what we can give. I know people personally who has the government send them checks every month because they want to play video games all day and don't want to get a job, and I also know people who spend all their time trying to find ways to help the poor by taking from the rich or by protesting and fighting for social justice. In my opinion the "social justice freedom fighter" is just as selfish as the "government check getting video game player." The protesters are always they ones blaming the system, blaming society, blaming someone else for the reason everything is screwed up. But the people who really change the world are the ones who take responsibility for the blame and they take matters in to their own hands to try and help the problem they helped create.
For Christians and Non Christians, how are you really supposed to help when you are fighting hate with hate. Protests, and marches and making huge political statements is just like fighting fire with fire and stroking your own ego. I don't feel like relief for the starving Child in Africa is going to come when we fight the government and make them do something to help. I feel like relief in Africa is going to come when we personally get on the same level as that starving child and get our hands dirty. I think that sends such a bigger message to so many more people than a protest sign or a myspace blog ever will.
I feel like I need to get to a level where I am caring for people because I am at the same level with them. I hope I am caring for them because I care for them, NOT because I care about pushing the message of Christ forward. I want to be in a place when I am not thinking about if one more person gets brought to Jesus, I am only thinking about if I am meeting people's needs where they are at.
It's easy for us to go on a mission trip for a few days, weeks, or months to come poor country and then come back to our warm beds. We know it, and so does everyone else, and that is why we are considered hypocrites.
The beautiful thing about the politics of Jesus is that he had no politics. He was not concerned with changing anything but people's hearts. And it sounds cheesy but if I want to change the world for the better, I need to aim for people's hearts, aim to meet their needs, and turn my attention away from changing the entire political social structure of the world. Trying to change the world by changing your heart is along the lines of what Ghandi did. Trying to change the world by fighting the system is along the lines of what President Bush did in Iraq, I personally choose the first one.
One would think that the 10 or 15 students from Philadelphia would be more efficient and help the homeless people more if they just did some fund raisers, or used their wealth to give the homeless people under the bridge a bunch of money to get their life back on track or taught them to keep a job.. But I'd to argue that sacrificing your life to be in the shoes of another speaks huge volumes into the lives of the oppressed, the poor, the hungry and everyone in between, much more than any amount of money can.
In Philadelphia there is a group of students, about 10 or 15 that runs a ministry for the homeless that costs absolutely no money. Not a dollar goes in or out of their ministry. What they do is they go to the bridges where the homeless sleep at night, and they become homeless themselves. They don't fake it and have daddy pay for a plane flight to another country where they can have an adventure spreading the word of Jesus in another country. They become homeless, they give up their house, leave everything behind, and they sit and beg for food and money just like the homeless people they are now living with. If one of the homeless people get sick and can't beg for food and money that they, someone will go out and beg for them, and then bring the money and food back and share it with the sick.
The idea is that if Jesus came down to our level, we need to go down to the level of the people we want to help.
This is a message that can translate to anyone who is concerned with changing the world and helping the less fortunate, but I believe that as a Christian I have learned the message of giving all wrong.
What I grew up learning is that the Jews were waiting for a Messiah, a strong leader who was going to make great sweeping changes and turn the tides for the Jews and overthrow the evil oppressors. When Jesus came he was cut down by the religious leaders because he did not fit the mold of the messiah they were looking for.
What I find interesting is that Jesus never did try to make huge sweeping changes to to evil oppressors. He did not challenge the government who was unjustly ruling Israel. He says "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's" and he stands silent, not even speaking a defense when put on trial.
I feel like the message that has been shoved down my throat since I was young is that Jesus changed the world, and he changed the world by being a revolutionary, and I think he was, but not in the way we think.
Jesus never preached, "Go out and force people to believe" or "shake the system, fight for justice/freedom/rights etc." Instead he time and time again preaches " Fix what is going on inside of you, and people will start to notice" he preaches "Give up all the things that make you a crappy person and then try and help the world." He didn't say fix the world, he said help it.
I know so many people who are obsessed with this idea of fighting for the injustice in the world. They look up to the people who shake things up, they look up to the revolutionaries, the people who took a stance and changed the world. I personally feel that it is more important to change you. Jesus never preached a global message, he preached a personal message.
In our society we are so concerned with what we can get instead of what we can give. I know people personally who has the government send them checks every month because they want to play video games all day and don't want to get a job, and I also know people who spend all their time trying to find ways to help the poor by taking from the rich or by protesting and fighting for social justice. In my opinion the "social justice freedom fighter" is just as selfish as the "government check getting video game player." The protesters are always they ones blaming the system, blaming society, blaming someone else for the reason everything is screwed up. But the people who really change the world are the ones who take responsibility for the blame and they take matters in to their own hands to try and help the problem they helped create.
For Christians and Non Christians, how are you really supposed to help when you are fighting hate with hate. Protests, and marches and making huge political statements is just like fighting fire with fire and stroking your own ego. I don't feel like relief for the starving Child in Africa is going to come when we fight the government and make them do something to help. I feel like relief in Africa is going to come when we personally get on the same level as that starving child and get our hands dirty. I think that sends such a bigger message to so many more people than a protest sign or a myspace blog ever will.
I feel like I need to get to a level where I am caring for people because I am at the same level with them. I hope I am caring for them because I care for them, NOT because I care about pushing the message of Christ forward. I want to be in a place when I am not thinking about if one more person gets brought to Jesus, I am only thinking about if I am meeting people's needs where they are at.
It's easy for us to go on a mission trip for a few days, weeks, or months to come poor country and then come back to our warm beds. We know it, and so does everyone else, and that is why we are considered hypocrites.
The beautiful thing about the politics of Jesus is that he had no politics. He was not concerned with changing anything but people's hearts. And it sounds cheesy but if I want to change the world for the better, I need to aim for people's hearts, aim to meet their needs, and turn my attention away from changing the entire political social structure of the world. Trying to change the world by changing your heart is along the lines of what Ghandi did. Trying to change the world by fighting the system is along the lines of what President Bush did in Iraq, I personally choose the first one.
One would think that the 10 or 15 students from Philadelphia would be more efficient and help the homeless people more if they just did some fund raisers, or used their wealth to give the homeless people under the bridge a bunch of money to get their life back on track or taught them to keep a job.. But I'd to argue that sacrificing your life to be in the shoes of another speaks huge volumes into the lives of the oppressed, the poor, the hungry and everyone in between, much more than any amount of money can.