The thoughts and writings on this blog are the thoughts of Jeff and do not necessarily represent the views of Grace First Parish of Russell and/or Lutheran Campus Ministry of Southwest Minnesota State University.
The thoughts and writings on this blog are the thoughts of Jeff and do not necessarily represent the views of Grace First Parish of Russell and/or Lutheran Campus Ministry of Southwest Minnesota State University.
6 comments:
I'm not sure I have anything profound to add, but I did notice he says "opt out of religion and become and atheist".
I don't think that one who opts out of religion must become an atheist...I have opted out of religion for 3 years and my faith in Jesus is stronger than ever.
But I think I understand BMac well enough overall to think this statement is simply a matter of semantics...
Erin:
My title might be "misleading" because of what I pulled out of his message. HOWEVER, I did want to grab some attention.
Erin, I do not know your full story, I am new to it. But I would say that you opted out of institutional church not out of religion and thus, that is why your faith is stronger.
Some of the points, I like:
"feel good so we are never challenged" I think we do that ALOT.
"we could change the world" yes, we could but we don't and that is sad. In his book, he makes a point that some may not want to change the world because they see all the bad as signs of the end of age.
"faith in God is not driving us to be agents of reconciliation" I think this is why there are people opting out of religion. They look at the BIG THREE and do not see any change. They see their lives the same as those w/o religion; so why bother.
We need to be agents of change !
Erin,
Actually what he's saying is not that people who opt out of religion become atheist. The point he's making in that statement, is that many, many people don't realize that there is someplace between religion and atheism. They feel that to leave religion and all the trappings of it is to become atheist. They give up and leave completely not realizing that relationship with Christ and transforming his world really has nothing to do with the religions most of our world live with.
I guess that shows how sick I've been that I couldn't comprehend this completely . In any case I get what you're saying, Grace. It's the place I'm passionate about...the place between religion and atheism.
I my mind I left religion to preserve faith. But I completely understand how people continue walking all the way into atheism and agnosticism...I teetered there myself for awhile.
Jeff- What a powerful video on top of just hearing him speak Tuesday! I think that eventually (or maybe soon) I will post this video too. My mind is reeling. Lots of stuff is stirring. Maybe, I am actually beginning to get a new enthusiasm for God's Kingdom. I hope so!
Glenn:
I am glad that it touched something. There is so much that we as churches or individuals who have left the church can be doing to make an impact in the kingdom.
I am now looking with eyes open to see how that can occur for me.
Post a Comment