So here we go.
I go to a Christian school, as I mentioned in my last post. We have this event every year called Spiritual Emphasis Week. People make fun of it 51 weeks out of the year because it's fake and everyone makes commitments based on emotions and nothing changes, but this one week no one makes fun of it. It's a very serious matter, you see. We had a musician. We had a speaker. ...We had a speaker... I thought he was pretty cool at first. He showed cool videos. He talked about loving people and giving to the poor.
And that is all he talked about.
I kid you not, I can not think of one time this entire week that he said the word "Jesus." Not one time. He challenged us each day to do stuff, which I absolutely love and accept, but I do so because of Jesus, not despite Him. My church is very into sharing the gospel and discipling people. Very into it. That is not hip. That is not cool. Attractive guys from popular bands do not make t-shirts and websites to get people involved in sharing the gospel. They make t-shirts and websites promoting giving to the poor. Giving to the poor is cool. You can wear TOMS and skinny jeans and use an iPhone and wear t-shirts that tell the world how selfless and giving you are.
A few years ago my former pastor said this, with as much passion and conviction as he could muster up: "There is a shift in the evangelical movement. They believe that we should feed the poor and give clothes to them. But I tell you, if they do not hear the gospel, they will only go to hell better fed!" The crowd cheered. I silently cheered and scribbled down this brilliant nougat of wisdom as quickly as I could and then forgot about it. It came to mind a few months ago and I got pretty angry. He had a nice job, several nice cars, a nice house, tons of food. I feel pretty confident that he has never experienced poverty, yet he practically preached against giving to the poor.
I see Jesus in Mark Driscoll more than I see Him in any other person on earth. Mark is tough; he's not a pansy, but I hear love when he speaks. I did not hear love in the voice of the guy who spoke at school. I heard, "Please like me. I'm saying good, popular things. I'm trying to impress you. I talk to people in coffee shops. I watch independent films. I read Don Miller's books. Please, please like me." One thing I love about my youth group is that the leaders don't try to impress us. We don't have a disco ball on the ceiling. The music is pretty simple. It is not pretty and polished. And I love it. 100% of the sermons point to the fact that we have to share the gospel. They are about sharing the gospel and being a disciple. They don't preach random sermons on dating just to get people to invite their friends.
I don't want this to be a speaker-bashing fest because God has definitely used him, but I'm just not sure how a person can spend four days talking as a preacher and not use Jesus' name or present the gospel once.
This guy angered me a little bit.
My former pastor angered me a little bit.
I wish I had some great concluding sentence that gives us all the answers. Maybe you think I'm making too big of a deal out of this and that I should just come to some conclusion and get on with it, but it seems like I have to choose between two Christianities: social justice Christianity(which includes giving to the poor, listening to U2, quoting Bono, being stylish, and joining lots of causes on Facebook) and following-Jesus Christianity(which includes sharing the Gospel, discipling people, giving to the poor, not being super cool or popular, and giving up my entire life to love and obey Jesus).
Well, that is all I have tonight.
Much Love,
Marissa
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