How Christianity Can Hurt (Ideas on Poverty, Duck Dynasty, and Understanding)
I read two interesting articles this past week. One was written from the perspective of a woman living in poverty. Her article told of the "real" reasons people who live in poverty make bad decisions. - Real as in real-life, not opinions drawn from research and psychological and academic studies. She told of coping mechanisms. She told of what it feels like to be have people look down their noses.
Now there are some people who would read her article and feel she is just complaining. I don't think she is. I think she was just trying to make people understand what it feels like. I can relate.
The second article I read was about the Duck Dynasty - well, dynasty. It pointed out the problems that have been in this family. Alcoholism, mental illness, violence. Many have interpreted this article as just trying demean the cast of the TV program - a type of persecution against Christians. I disagree. I think the author of this article is doing very much what the woman who wrote the article about poverty was doing. I think the author was just trying say, "They're not as perfect as you think." You know why? Because none of us are. We all have our history. We all have sinful presents, whether we want to admit it or not. When people make it a point to point out what others are doing wrong, they make themselves fair game for such reactions.
I remember a couple of weeks after the Phil Robertson comment about homosexuality to GQ Magazine, I found a pair of women's underwear bearing the name Duck Dynasty at work. (I work at Wal-Mart for those who do not know). My first thought - and still my thought to be honest - was if I were so determined to point out sin in a magazine interview, I sure wouldn't allow the name of my Christian program - that I pray at the end of every episode - to be on a pair of women's underwear. The thought was reiterated when I saw Duck Dynasty lottery tickets.
I've always been a believer that God does not level sin. One sin is just as bad as another which is as bad as another which is as bad as another. It's kind of what Jesus taught when He said if we hate our brother, we're the same as a murderer and if a man looks at a woman in lust, he has already committed adultery in his heart. Of course, Jesus also taught that we should not take the speck from our brother's eye when we have a log in our own.
That tells me that I need to be open about my sins and struggles. Not just the ones in the past. Those dirty sins of my present, too. I need to confess them to others so that they can pray with me. It's great to share our past struggles. But don't forget those present ones, too. Just like the woman who wrote the poverty article did. Just like the author of the Duck Dynasty article, at least to me, was pointing out. To me, it's the Christian thing to do.
Now there are some people who would read her article and feel she is just complaining. I don't think she is. I think she was just trying to make people understand what it feels like. I can relate.
The second article I read was about the Duck Dynasty - well, dynasty. It pointed out the problems that have been in this family. Alcoholism, mental illness, violence. Many have interpreted this article as just trying demean the cast of the TV program - a type of persecution against Christians. I disagree. I think the author of this article is doing very much what the woman who wrote the article about poverty was doing. I think the author was just trying say, "They're not as perfect as you think." You know why? Because none of us are. We all have our history. We all have sinful presents, whether we want to admit it or not. When people make it a point to point out what others are doing wrong, they make themselves fair game for such reactions.
I remember a couple of weeks after the Phil Robertson comment about homosexuality to GQ Magazine, I found a pair of women's underwear bearing the name Duck Dynasty at work. (I work at Wal-Mart for those who do not know). My first thought - and still my thought to be honest - was if I were so determined to point out sin in a magazine interview, I sure wouldn't allow the name of my Christian program - that I pray at the end of every episode - to be on a pair of women's underwear. The thought was reiterated when I saw Duck Dynasty lottery tickets.
I've always been a believer that God does not level sin. One sin is just as bad as another which is as bad as another which is as bad as another. It's kind of what Jesus taught when He said if we hate our brother, we're the same as a murderer and if a man looks at a woman in lust, he has already committed adultery in his heart. Of course, Jesus also taught that we should not take the speck from our brother's eye when we have a log in our own.
That tells me that I need to be open about my sins and struggles. Not just the ones in the past. Those dirty sins of my present, too. I need to confess them to others so that they can pray with me. It's great to share our past struggles. But don't forget those present ones, too. Just like the woman who wrote the poverty article did. Just like the author of the Duck Dynasty article, at least to me, was pointing out. To me, it's the Christian thing to do.
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