Saturday, April 12, 2008

Everything Must Change

Last night I went to the "Everything Must Change Tour." I'm supposed to be there right now, but obviously I'm not. I've decided to take today to do some of my own spiritual seeking about the questions that were raised last night.
One particular part of what Brian talked about last night is sticking out to me right now. When Brian was a youth minister, he did something interesting. He asked the kids what their churches had been arguing about for the last few weeks. He listed their answers on a big piece of paper and put it on the wall. Some of the answers included: free will vs. predestination, music styles in church, and whether it was okay to wear jeans to church. Then, he asked the youth to tell him what were some of the things that kept them awake at night, the things that ran through their minds that worried them. Some of the things they said were overpopulation, homelessness, communism (apparently Brian was a youth minister a long time ago), and war.
The point that he was trying to make hit home before he even got to the end of his story. What we're having the deepest conversations about in church and the biggest problems facing our world today are two very different things. Yes, having right theology (orthodoxy) is important because our theology shapes our lives, but doing the right thing (orthopraxy) seemed to be important to Jesus also. Feed the hungry, comfort the mourning, promote peace. Jesus taught all of these things. In a society where everything is very individualized, we forget that promoting peace doesn't just mean being nice to your sister or not punching the person that is driving you crazy. It means urging leaders to avoid war at all costs. Feeding the hungry goes beyond giving a couple of cans to the food bank to caring for victims of famine in other countries. We live in a global era and Jesus has global solutions.
Jesus, what are your solutions to the world's biggest problems? What can I do to be part of the solution?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

well said ms. holder.