Thursday 1 July 2010

When Christianity Was Still Safe

Turns out that there's way too much goodness in The Irresistible Revolution to do full-on summaries of each chapter. So what i'll probably do is take a few quotes that really resonate with me.

In this chapter, Shane talk about growing up (physically and spiritually) through high school and into college.
I wasn't sure the church had much to offer. Of course, I didn't dare stop going to church, convinced that "going to church" is what good people do, and I didn't want to become like "those people" who don't "go to church." Heathens. Ha. So I sucked it up and went every week, often cynical, usually bored, but always smiling.

Pretty sad, huh? And i'm not immune from the thoughts of the first and last sentences. But what about the middle? Is that what church has reduced to? Something people do to pretend they're better than someone else? A perfunctory activity we endure in order to grant ourselves some kudos? As i examined my motivations for 'going to church' i continued reading...
I saw the messiness of church politics and egotism. I was driven mostly by ideology and theology, which isn't very sustainable even if they're true.

I was a bit thrown by this statement. Why would being driven by theology bad? I mean, it's about God isn't it? But i think i found my answer right at the end of the chapter...
I found that I was just as likely to meet God in the sewers of the ghetto as in the halls of academia. I learned more about God from the tears of homeless mothers than any systematic theology ever taught me.

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