Thursday, May 03, 2007

Staind


“I ruined my witness to those guys,” divulged our Pastor one Sunday evening service as he was recounting his life as a former MTV cut-out Fratboy. I slipped on the comfortable phrase as I have countless times before, but this time I’d had my hair cut in it. It itched and itched for almost two full days until Tuesday night when I had to rip it back over my head and check out the damage.

What does ‘our witness’ mean in front of people who do not share faith in God the Father, Christ His Redeemer and the mysterious Spirit? What carries a better witness and a more authentic picture of discipleship and the Christian life: The perfection persona or being honest about the change which is taking time to be perfected in us? Should we flee our previous crowd upon conversion lest they tempt us or ‘bring us down?’ Where is the line between the two, because I don’t pretend that the answer hangs cut and dried on one side of the smoke shed or the other.

I’m still brushing the barbs out of it all, but the question is one that I’ve been wrangling with for a while in several different iterations. To what extent do we really believe that the light will shine in the darkness and that the darkness will not overcome it? Also, does that light come from us being behaviourally perfect or from letting others see the darkness fall off of us as we follow Christ?

1 comment:

James said...

It depends on what we're letting them witness. The promise that the one who started a good work in us will bring it to perfection? Or the promise that Louie Giglio wears designer clothes as he preaches mission? That's probably an unfair blow, but it's Popular American Christianity in large.

We have to do more to find the personality of these Christian letters in the Bible. What's it like? Has it "made it," or whatever? I don't think so, and I don't even think that makes God look very good. All these letters let us know we haven't made it yet. That we still need God. We, as believers, didn't accept the gospel. We're in the gospel. It's set us apart, yes, and we're in it. That way of thinking about it is so much clearer (in my opinion) than "saved and being saved.

Alright, I know I'm preaching to the choir. Thanks for the post, man.

No, I need to keep going. Our focus isn't on our position (how close we are to being perfect), it's on God. That's what our witness should be. Our focus, not our position.

Great topic, man. Got me going.