Should Christians Complain?

A lot of events in the world have been troubling me as of late. The censorship and suppressing of Christian expression has given me cause for concern. The recent rumblings of the State dictating policy within the Church is even more disturbing for me. Post-modernism and its offspring of cultural relativism have already taken their toll on Christianity. With all these things going on, we still don't have it all that bad. At least not in comparison to Christians in North Korea, China, and many Middle Eastern countries. In America, our expression of belief is negatively responded to with verbal abuse and the occasional fine or lawsuit. The aforementioned countries respond with prison, torture, or execution.

Quite frequently, I'll read posts from non-Christians or even political liberals who believe that Christians in the U.S. play victim and close their eyes to their dominance within the culture. I'm of two minds on this subject. I think non-Christians, being what they are, cannot see how the Church and its values are being undermined simply because they support the views and causes that are behind that very undermining. They have no vested interest in the survival of Christianity and therefore see no persecution taking place. At the same time, I do think that the Church underestimates itself and resigns to having lost what's termed as the "Culture War".

I really hate it when well-known evangelists and pastors talk about how "the end times are here". I think it's rubbish. It's presumptuous and fails to take into account how much pull the Church still has in the world. Maybe same-sex marriage poses a potential threat toward Christian expression, but abortion has gone down considerably in the US, even in the states with few restrictions. The Church played a big part in that. Or how about the fact that Roman Catholicism hasn't budged on its position of homosexuality and abortion as being sins? Many churches have been swayed on this, but what is arguably the most powerful denomination in Christendom has still stuck to its guns. They haven't backed down. That's something to celebrate. However much controversy Pope Francis continues to generate, he hasn't changed the Roman Catholic Church into some mirror-universe equivalent. Well, not yet anyway.

What I'm trying to say is that the world hasn't been given to hell in a handbasket. The end times do approach closer each day, but that doesn't mean that those days are here. The world hasn't gotten nearly bad enough to warrant using that phrase. Yes, Christians are getting marginalized within our culture, but this is nothing new. Christians were oppressed in the Church's infancy. That this sort of thing goes on just proves that events run circular, that there's an ebb and flow to the persecution of Christianity.

We also need to take into account that this may just be God's way of seperating the sheep from the goats. It's easy to call one's self a Christian when those tenets of faith are without heavy resistance. But a true Christian will stick it out when the world is working against them. Even when receiving verbal abuse, whether we be referred to as hate-mongerers or anti-science or an obstruction to social progress, the true Christian shows his loyalty to Christ and His teachings.

Just for the record, I have no desire to give people the impression that my being a true Christian somehow elevates me above others. I know many within the Church that are far better examples than myself. But having those qualities of a true Christian is something I aspire to. I want God to be pleased with me that I made attempts, though not without stumbling, to serve Him and seek His Kingdom.

-L. Travis Hoffman

6/9/2015

When is it no longer legalism?

Every few months or so, I find myself asking this question. When does an act, behavior, or what have you, become distinctly and instrinsically sinful as opposed to being something that is meant to fit the box of the Christian "image"? I really don't know. I'm not sure if this should bother me or not. I only know that I want to avoid legalism and also avoid ways of being pulled further away from Christ. That doesn't necessarily mean that I feel closure, however.

I love listening and watching stand-up comedy. And, putting it out there, I enjoy the comedy of comedians like Louis C.K., Dane Cook, and Pablo Francisco. Guys that are most definitely crass and crude with their material. I enjoy R-rated comedies like Superbad or The 40-Year-Old Virgin. I get a lot of amusement out of its humor.

Perhaps I'm trying to justify myself, but I feel that this humor taps into who we are. We are people that are impure; we lust, we let our tempers get out of control, we covet, and we hate. There's a certain honesty about that type of comedy. And sometimes when it gets dirty or dark, it's oftentimes out of sheer absurdity. The humor becomes surreal. Does Louis C.K. really want to get AIDS so he can pass it onto deer so they can die? No, of course not. He's using hyperbole to make a point that he really hates having deer on his property. Do I always enjoy their humor? No. There are many times that I think Louis or Dane go over the line for me. Blasphemous or hurtful. They frequently condone values that are very much un-Christian.

It's said that our behavior reflects what we take into our lives. In fact, even the Bible says something to that effect. I don't know the verse off-hand, but I do recall it. The point is that it's a truth and therefore absolute. The Word also says to be in the world and not of it. I'm trying to figure out where one ends and the other begins.

I'll use another example of something I enjoy. I really dig mythology, especially of the Greek variety. It's imaginative and it's informative of what culture was like in their respective eras. It also consists almost exclusively of pagan gods and magic and, compared to Christianity, acts of sin. Is it morally sound for me to gain pleasure from the stories of cultures that created and worshipped false gods? Stories that were created by people who likely condemned themselves to hell? I think that this is a legitimate question to pose to one's self, because I don't know the right answer. I really wish I did. My only advice, my only comfort, is to pray for proper descernment and vigilance toward what might be sinful. Pray to recognize what is offensive to God and what He probably doesn't care about. As frivilous as this sounds, we're going to have to answer for our sins, regardless.

-L. Travis Hoffman

6/3/2015