Churchanity Blues
If you're a Christian and you regularly attend sermons (and *listen* to them), you would've inevitably heard something mentioned about "Churchanity" i.e. the religion that consists of you going to church on Sunday which would thus bring you to your salvation.
Now, I've always sensed me being caught up in this thing called Churchanity. Well...uh, yeah.
So I was called up yesterday by someone from my *ex* cellgroup. I kind of felt angry at myself for giving an excuse to not go. Mind you, it was a good excuse. But as I found out at church camp quite recently, many people give excuses not to come. Yup, they pray exuberantly for all those not coming to church.
Though as one rather cynical (makes me look like one heck of an optimist even) person said, if you're saved then what's the deal with coming to church?
Yes, I guess there's a question in that. If going to Church makes you saved (or keeps you saved) then this is exactly the thing called "Churchanity" which the preachers oh-so-loathe.
So...uh...why do we go to Church? Why do they feel saddened when they don't come to church?
Some thoughts are in order. Church and its activities thereof has become routine. Apparently revival happens every night (as it happens), after one hour of tedious singing followed by an alter call. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but one must ask? Revival? Is that it?
How many of us actually are transformed (in the long term)? As many a person has remarked, holy one day, like the devil the next. This, hey, is hypocrisy. The Lord doth not like the hypocrite, no? Rather be cold than warm, though being hot is obviously better.
And that's something I, and others, can't just seem to do. Christianity is about being hot. Enough with those empty proclamations of being on "fire" for Jesus or a "freak" for him, as these often turn out to be nothing more than emotions. And emotions are often very hard to separate from the cold, hard facts. Mainly because we are more inclined to accept the former and reject the latter.
Last time I heard someone say those words, he just came back from MAC camp (a missionary training camp, though don't ask me in detail, I haven't gone to it before). A few years later, I find out that he apparently "doesn't care about church" anymore.
Eh?
Yeah rant, rant, rant. I joke to myself often that I took out my angst on churches instead of my parents. Is that a good thing? Dunno.
Well, I wouldn't criticize unless I felt justified in doing so.
But very often, I asked- what would've separated Christianity (while it was still in its infancy) from the other pagan (or mystery) religions, which certainly emphasized experience over thought. Christianity certainly wasn't identified with them, in fact, its persecution stemmed from the fact that it was nearly the antitheses of it.
But I don't know. I haven't read much about early Christianity (something I'm ashamed of, heh). Still, I guess that is something to ponder. Whether Azusa was the best- or worst- thing that ever happened to Christianity, is something we've yet to find out. But all these "charismatic" churches I've been to, I find they all have enthusiasm and what not. Though you find that same feature in say, fans of rock stars and at their concerts. What differentiates them from the "world"? The fact that they preach from the Bible?
Shining on the outside...something else on the inside. A church is defined more by what it believes, and not what it does. All that glitters, after all, is not gold.
Me? I'm just an observer, contented with almost everything except the church he goes to. Hearing from cynical people (who I thought was smart enough) that he doesn't care whether he is going to heaven, and has accepted the fact that he might be going to hell. Uh yeah, and he's been in church probably longer than me.
Sure, no church is perfect. But at the risk of exposing my disdain for most if not all big and mega churches, "the Way," as Jesus put it, "is narrow and hard that leads to life, and few find it."
The early church might have boasted tons of salvations. But when persecution comes, you have to ask how many will truly endure. Because when such persecution happened nearly 2000 years ago, it is interesting to know that "many fell away" and "few remained".
God bless, and merry Christmas. I won't be able to post tomorrow, so I'll just post today. And its a Sunday, so this post will be even more holier. Hehe.
Trying to be perfect, because God told me to do so.
Now, I've always sensed me being caught up in this thing called Churchanity. Well...uh, yeah.
So I was called up yesterday by someone from my *ex* cellgroup. I kind of felt angry at myself for giving an excuse to not go. Mind you, it was a good excuse. But as I found out at church camp quite recently, many people give excuses not to come. Yup, they pray exuberantly for all those not coming to church.
Though as one rather cynical (makes me look like one heck of an optimist even) person said, if you're saved then what's the deal with coming to church?
Yes, I guess there's a question in that. If going to Church makes you saved (or keeps you saved) then this is exactly the thing called "Churchanity" which the preachers oh-so-loathe.
So...uh...why do we go to Church? Why do they feel saddened when they don't come to church?
Some thoughts are in order. Church and its activities thereof has become routine. Apparently revival happens every night (as it happens), after one hour of tedious singing followed by an alter call. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but one must ask? Revival? Is that it?
How many of us actually are transformed (in the long term)? As many a person has remarked, holy one day, like the devil the next. This, hey, is hypocrisy. The Lord doth not like the hypocrite, no? Rather be cold than warm, though being hot is obviously better.
And that's something I, and others, can't just seem to do. Christianity is about being hot. Enough with those empty proclamations of being on "fire" for Jesus or a "freak" for him, as these often turn out to be nothing more than emotions. And emotions are often very hard to separate from the cold, hard facts. Mainly because we are more inclined to accept the former and reject the latter.
Last time I heard someone say those words, he just came back from MAC camp (a missionary training camp, though don't ask me in detail, I haven't gone to it before). A few years later, I find out that he apparently "doesn't care about church" anymore.
Eh?
Yeah rant, rant, rant. I joke to myself often that I took out my angst on churches instead of my parents. Is that a good thing? Dunno.
Well, I wouldn't criticize unless I felt justified in doing so.
But very often, I asked- what would've separated Christianity (while it was still in its infancy) from the other pagan (or mystery) religions, which certainly emphasized experience over thought. Christianity certainly wasn't identified with them, in fact, its persecution stemmed from the fact that it was nearly the antitheses of it.
But I don't know. I haven't read much about early Christianity (something I'm ashamed of, heh). Still, I guess that is something to ponder. Whether Azusa was the best- or worst- thing that ever happened to Christianity, is something we've yet to find out. But all these "charismatic" churches I've been to, I find they all have enthusiasm and what not. Though you find that same feature in say, fans of rock stars and at their concerts. What differentiates them from the "world"? The fact that they preach from the Bible?
Shining on the outside...something else on the inside. A church is defined more by what it believes, and not what it does. All that glitters, after all, is not gold.
Me? I'm just an observer, contented with almost everything except the church he goes to. Hearing from cynical people (who I thought was smart enough) that he doesn't care whether he is going to heaven, and has accepted the fact that he might be going to hell. Uh yeah, and he's been in church probably longer than me.
Sure, no church is perfect. But at the risk of exposing my disdain for most if not all big and mega churches, "the Way," as Jesus put it, "is narrow and hard that leads to life, and few find it."
The early church might have boasted tons of salvations. But when persecution comes, you have to ask how many will truly endure. Because when such persecution happened nearly 2000 years ago, it is interesting to know that "many fell away" and "few remained".
God bless, and merry Christmas. I won't be able to post tomorrow, so I'll just post today. And its a Sunday, so this post will be even more holier. Hehe.
Trying to be perfect, because God told me to do so.
This entry was posted
on Sunday, December 24, 2006 at 9:42 AM.
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