All posts tagged Christianity
I'm not always wearing my full habit...
Authentic Light just followed the Undercover Nun on twitter, so I got to see this wonderful bio:
Plain old, garden-variety, radical, countercultural Christianity.
Truly I tell you, if your Christian faith is not radical and counter-cultural, then your faith is too small.
Rick Santorum: The Antithesis of Everything Jesus Taught
Every politician eventually gets stuck with a label from their opponents and supporters that is not always completely accurate. Often, it is best to let the politician’s record speak to whether or not they are, for example, Liberal or conservative and in this technological age, it is relatively simple to gather up-to-the-minute press releases and candidate statements to discern where a politician or candidate stands to attribute the appropriate label. It is problematic, though, for a political candidate to label themselves unless they have integrity to their cause and own a record that verifies their self-description perfectly. Rick Santorum describes himself as a compassionate conservative and although there is absolutely no doubt the man is a conservative of the first order, there is certainly nothing compassionate about him. … A more apropos label for Santorum is a hateful conservative that aligns him with the rest of the Republicans; except the former Pennsylvania senator says in public what other Republicans keep under their hats. …
Go read the whole piece: it’s a doozy, even if the author used inferred when the correct word is implied. While I’m praying for Mr. Santorum’s immortal soul, I’ll pray for the author’s as well.
But the real question is, if millions and millions of people who have never heard of Jesus are going to be tormented forever by God because they didn’t believe in the Jesus they’d never heard of, then at that point we will have far larger problems than a book by a pastor from Grand Rapids.
Rob Bell on his book “Love Wins” (via anarchyofthemind)
Amen! If this really is true, then the gospel is far from Good News, but is in fact just about the worst news possible.
(Source: absurdreasoning, via sapphireblues)
In the creeds of Christendom [Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed], we are confronted with a set of documents which purport to be not expressions of opinion but statements of fact. Some of these statements are historical, and … others are theological, which means that they claim to be statements of fact about the nature of God and the universe.
Dorothy Sayers, The Mind of the Maker
This is an excellent quick definition for theology. And I love how she follows up:
The proper question to be asked about any creed is not ‘Is it pleasant?’ but ‘Is it true?’
The Christian affirmation is that the Trinitarian structure which can be shown to exist in the mind of man and in all his works is, in fact, the integral structure of the universe, and corresponds, not by pictorial imagery but by a necessary uniformity of substance, with the nature of God, in whom all that is, exists.
Dorothy L. Sayers, The Mind of the Maker
Undercover Nun is fascinated by the idea that God’s essential nature as three-in-one and one-in-three is reflected not only in our minds but in the structure of the universe. I’ve long been intrigued by the triples that show up in faiths throughout the world, and I’ve occasionally toyed with the idea that perhaps an underlying truth can be inferred from these sacred threes.
Of course, there are also lots of sacred fours and sacred sevens and probably even sacred prime-numbers. This may be entirely random. And there’s very little in scripture that demands that the Christian God must be trinitarian in nature and not dual, quadruple, septuple, or merely a unity. But it is an intriguing idea to play with, and I’d far rather look at the ways we are alike and the things we have in common than at all the things that split us apart and separate us.
“So according to Ronnie’s logic… If we don’t accept the grace of god into our lives, we’ll eventually become psycho redneck racists.”
So that’s why we need God. I see.
(Thanks http://bretthatkameras.tumblr.com/)
Undercover Nun is a believer, and this is every bit as disgusting and offensive to Christians as it is to atheists, agnostics, and believers in other traditions.
Yes, I will pray for this man, as part of praying for those in prison, for those who commit acts of hate, for those who are my enemies. I pray that he will find forgiveness from God, because it’s going to be pretty hard for him to find forgiveness here. God’s grace — which is unearned and undeserved, because it is unearnable and undeservable — is what makes both this vile man and me eligible for forgiveness, but it has no bearing whatsoever on our actions.
One element of God’s grace is that each one of us has the freedom to choose our actions; God knows we are capable of treating each other abominably, whether we believe in God or not. God does not force Godself on us; God does not force any manner of behavior on us, even though this means tacitly allowing us to treat each other abominably.
It’s not that God’s grace prevents us from vile behavior. Rather, it is that God’s grace promises that no matter how vilely we behave in this world, we are still eligible for forgiveness and love in the next.
(via toranseisstrong)
Our United Methodist Social Principles only find two things incompatible with the teaching and example of Christ: homosexuality and war. If our preachers dare to bless the union of two homosexuals, they run the risk of having their bishops hound them out of the clergy. If they bless war, they face no repercussions whatsoever.
There’s something wrong with that picture.
"A 14-year-old openly bisexual girl collared Texas Gov. Rick Perry after his town hall here and challenged him to explain the reasoning behind his belief that gays should not serve openly in the military."
Asked what he thought of the governor’s explanation that he “hates the sin” but “loves the sinner,” Todd Green said, “I have always hated that phrase. I think it’s impossible and you show it by action. If you love the sinner, whatever that means, your policy should reflect that I think, but in the end, I don’t understand the logic behind that at all.”
“Hate the sin, but love the sinner” is one of the worst thoughts to come out of Christianity, not only useless but harmful as well.
There is no room in a Christian for hate. Hate is not a virtue. Hate is not a Christian value. Hate is not a family value. Hate harms the hated, and it harms the hater even more. Hate is based on fear, which is not only the opposite of faith, but the rejection of faith.
One of the only two new things that Jesus said was this:
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
He even repeats it: Love one another as I have loved you.
Did Jesus hate sin? No. Sin frustrated Jesus, made Jesus feel pity or sadness. But hate? No way. The love Jesus showed was so complete, so merciful, so infinite and scandalous that it had no room in it for hate. To love one another as Jesus loves us is to try to see each person we encounter as God’s beloved child, to give anything — even our freedom, our bodies, our lives — so that other persons can have life.
This is the yardstick by which Christians should be measured. We are not called to hate sin; rather, we are commanded to love all persons, to love as Jesus loves us, to pray for our enemies, to love those who hate us, to forgive infinitely. You cannot do these things and still have room in your heart for hatred.
So stop hiding behind this deceitful language: it is impossible to hate the sin but love the sinner. Drop the hate. Just love.
(Source: ryking)
What Perry gets wrong about religion in America
Undercover Nun knows you’ve seen and heard a lot of commentary on Rick Perry’s latest ad. You know, the one with gay commie Aaron Copland music and the Brokeback Mountain outfit and the really, really, truly terrible content. So I beg your indulgence as I point out yet one more piece, written by a bishop of The Episcopal Church for whom I have great admiration and respect.
Rick Perry would be pathetic, if he weren’t so infuriating. In an effort to revive a sinking political campaign, Gov. Perry has reached a new low in promoting himself in a recent commercial.
The governor begins this 30 second spot with “I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m a Christian.” He goes on to say things that Christians should be ashamed of him for.
“You don’t need to be in the pew every Sunday to know there’s something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military but our kids can’t openly celebrate Christmas or pray in school.”
…
Christians everywhere should be alarmed that a candidate for our nation’s highest office would play fast and loose with both the Constitution and our men and women in uniform. It would be simply pathetic that Gov. Perry would do so in an effort to entice conservative voters, if it weren’t such an abuse of religion and a violation of the Constitution.
Gov. Perry is right about one thing. There is something wrong in America. But surely it begins with disloyalty to our brave troops in the field and violation of the hard-won separation between church and state which protects all Americans.
Go read the whole piece. It’s short and should only take you a few minutes, and it’s worth your time.
We often call Jesus the truth and name ourselves as His followers, and yet because the cost seems not only too severe but crazy, we refuse to live with the freedom He invites us to know. We are bound by the judgement of others; we fear the power of man more than we are grateful for the kindness of God. And so we, too, say to Jesus, “You ask me to be and to do something insane, out of the norm, and it will get me into trouble, and I don’t believe in You enough to do it.
Dan B. Allender Leading Character (via thecommoncup)
You ask me to be and to do something insane, out of the norm, and it will get me into trouble, and I don’t believe in You enough to do it.
Yeah, that just about sums it up.
- God dreams big, bigger than we can imagine. If it’s not big and crazy and risky, then it probably isn’t coming from God.
- God always pulls us out of our comfort zone. If it won’t make you vulnerable, if it feels perfectly comfortable, then it probably isn’t coming from God.
- It’s not all about you. It’s not all about me. It’s about God.
These are the biggest truths I know, when it comes to discerning call and vocation. As I saw recently on a church sign: God makes all things possible, not easy.
