To the Christian Flag

I went to summer Bible camp a couple of weeks ago. There was a pseudo-large debate. Well, it was large in the minds of me and . . . well, yeah, it was probably just me. The debate was about the pledge. Every morning, we would pledge to the American flag, to the Christian flag, and to the Bible. The pledge the leaders knew, and that I grew up with, is this.

I pledge allegiance
To the Christian flag
And to the Savior
For whose kingdom it stands.
One Savior,
Risen, and coming again,
With life and liberty to all who believe.

And then there’s the newer version:

I pledge allegiance
To the Christian flag
And to the Savior
For whose kingdom it stands.
One brotherhood,
Uniting all Christians
In service and love.

Maybe you can’t see the big deal. I mean, it sounds really nice, right? We are a brotherhood, we should be united, we should be serving and loving the people around us. (We're not, but that's not the point.) If this was the first pledge ever written for the Christian flag, I don't think I'd have a problem with it. But it's not. There was one. And they changed it.
I think it’s just a sign of a bigger problem in the church. Look closely. The first one talks about a Savior. The second, about the followers of the Savior. Here’s the problem: it’s not about the followers.
This is just my opinion, which has frequently been wrong, but it seems to me that Christianity has become far too much about us. The Christians. As individuals, and as a group. Ain’t we just so cute. We get together and have sweet little socials. We work hard to support ourselves, keep ourselves going, and entirely neglect the God we are supposed to serve, and the broken people He loves. ‘Cause we’re just cool like that.
Christianity is not about the Christians. It never has been. Which is hard to say, because that means it’s not about us. At all. It’s about God. That’s it. Just God. Which, surprisingly, or entirely unsurprising, actually, is enough.

Help

I am a loner.
I just am.
Usually I'm fine with it.
But sometimes
I get lonely.
And sometimes
I want help.
Help I can't get on my own.
I only have about
50 million questions.
About God.
About theology.
About His will.
About who I am,
and about who I am in God.
So, for the past couple of years,
I've been praying,
praying desperately,
for God to send me someone.
Someone who knows
what it is to long to burn
for Him.
Someone who wants to set our community
on FIRE.
Someone who understands
that I have doubts
and questions
and weaknesses
that I want to overcome.
Someone who can help me answer my questions.
Someone who can help me when I'm struggling,
and smack me in the face when I'm not where I'm supposed to be.
Someone who hungers for knowledge,
and truth,
and passion,
and GOD.
For the past two years,
I've gone to a church
with an interim youth pastor.
He didn't talk to me.
Ever.
But that was fine.
He was just for now.
Soon we would get a real youth pastor.
He would talk to me.
He would help me.
Well.
We have a new youth pastor.
He doesn't talk to me.
Doesn't appear to have any interest in getting to know me.
Or anyone.

So.
Now
I'm still praying.
Praying
praying
praying
that God will send me
someone.

That God will send me someone
or
that He will make it
so that He
is enough.

Kill the Spider

Awesome post from musician Carlos Whittaker

Q4T

I suffer with anxiety.
Like right now for instance.
My heart is beating really fast and I’m dizzy.
My hands are a bit numb and so is my face.
I fear that I will lose control.

The truth is I won’t lose control.
That’s because I am not in control.
So I don’t have it to lose.
I only think I am.

You have your thing.
You are fighting so hard to maintain control of it.
It might not take the form of anxiety.
But it takes the form of something.
Something that you take “control” of that belongs to God.

The manifestation is not the sin.
My anxiety symptoms are not the sin.
Your depression symptoms is not the sin.
Your constant focus on the problem is not the sin.
They are symptoms of the sin.
The sin of wanting to be God in your life instead of letting God be God.

So instead of praying for God to clean the cobwebs out of your life.
Just ask God to kill the spider.