Christian Cliches

I've been noticing here at Liberty, as wonderful as the place is, that many people are carbon prints of each other. It's not necessarily bad, but because everyone does the exact same things as everyone else, acts the same way, has the exact same interests, etc., it leads people to believe that the Christian population is brainwashed, brain dead, and therefore brainless. I've been thinking about a few popular cliches and stereotypes that are aplenty at LU, and how to avoid them/break out of them.

1) Idolizing C.S. Lewis- We all know him as the author behind the Chronicles of Narnia series. We also know him as a converted Christian who incorporates Christianity into his work. Most Liberty-esque Christians have read his more popular titles, like The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, The Problem of Pain, and Mere Christianity. Of course they are aware of the deep religious symbolism that is inscribed in those pieces. Yes, his essays deal with why Christianity is True and hence is Logical. While honoring a great, prolific writer isn't a big deal, it becomes a problem when you use him to promote your "Christian image" or when you idolize him so much that you think he could have written a third testament of the Bible. What he had been saying isn't new....it's simply restated as logical statements or reworded and disguised as fiction so that he could suck in the broadest audience available to EVANGELIZE. To avoid becoming an idolator of Lewis and/or to avoid using his ideas for personal gain (other than certain spiritual elements), expand your horizons. Read a non-Christian author and try to refute his arguments; put your knowledge to practice. Read a fiction piece that's un-related to Christianity and figure out just why the world needs God, even if the book has a happy ending. Don't focus on just one author, don't Confucionize or Bhuddize him; the world is full of literature if you break out of your bubbles and read it!

2) Praying for every little detail- Now, I'm not saying that praying is wrong. Actually, I LOVE prayer. It strengthens your walk with God, helps you realign yourself with Him, and keeps you focused on the Lord's purpose for your life. What I don't agree with is praying for sports team victories, special food requests at the dining hall, an item to do well financially, getting grades on schoolwork that you don't deserve, etc. Do you really think that just because you prayed and asked God to have the dining hall serve corndogs instead of hamburgers that somehow he'd make it so that the burgers morphed into corndogs or the staff changed their mind and switched he menu? I'm sure that God is capable of doing this; in fact, I KNOW that he is. But I believe that he's got other things on his mind to worry about, like the spiritual warfare going on in the world, or the new earth he's going to create, or maybe he's getting prepared for more celebrations of salvation decisions. While God is capable of doing anything, and while he does care about your desires, dreams, and preferences, the fact of the matter is, maybe he WANTS your team to lose to teach you something, maybe you're supposed to receive a low grade to show you that you didn't use the talents God gave you effectively enough. Instead of wasting your precious breath praying for something that honestly isn't the biggest deal, pray for people who have never tasted corndogs because there is no food, pray for people that never get to experience a low grade because there no educational system, pray for people who can't buy anything because of the poverty level. Instead of being selfish, be selfless in your prayer. Pray that God use your interests in a way that enables ministry.

3) Looking nice ALL the time. Yes, you dress up everyday for class. You dress up for church. You dress up to go to work. You dress up on your missions trips, you dress up for your local ministries. Maybe you don't look particularly fancy, but you're sure to wear your most expensive items when you're around people to show them how much God has blessed you. Yes, be proud of your blessings. However, remember that God sees you when you look your scummiest. Remember that when you minister to someone who is worse off than you, it might not be the best idea to wear your Ralph Lauren sweater or bring your Coach purse. That's just like rubbing their conditions in their faces. Wearing lots of makeup 24 hours a day? Even when you're around the people you minister to? You might as well tell them things like being successful and well-off is easy if you're beautiful, or that you can actually afford beauty. Can you go a day without makeup? If not, are you really comfortable with the way God made you? Don't be afraid to look like a scuzzball sometimes. If you're at school, you're there to learn. While you should be clean, if/when you can, it's not necessary to wear a dress everyday of the week or to have your nails done all the time. Adam and Eve didn't have those luxuries; they were happy with how God made them. It's okay to be without them, promise!

4) Getting married as soon as you start dating. This gets on my nerves more than almost anything. Especially at places like Liberty, people get engaged after dating someone for 3 months, or a similar amount of time. You don't even know the person! While you may be thinking, "gee, I could marry this person, seems like he/she could be the one!" you don't know them fully. Even if you do by some chance, is it really wise to marry while you're in college? If you already have a career going, cool. If you're going to be done in a semester anyway, whatever. You're a sophomore or a junior in college? No, hold on. You are going to have school debts to pay off. You're going to have to find a job, too, and with the economy as it is, you may not get as much money as you want. If you're still in college while you get married, and you've still a while to go, think about what you're doing. You're going to have to pay off your wedding (unless someone is paying it off for you), some kind of rent or mortgage payment, and bills of all kinds that DON'T include your school bills (insurance, electric, water, cell phone, etc.). If you go to school full time and don't have a decent sized scholarship, you're in trouble. If you love the person, and it's true love, the two of you will be able to make it through until AFTER you've graduated. It'll be better. You'll be able to get to know each other more and practice working through stresses and problems that are bound to arise. True love works through anything, right? Right. :) I will be truthful, I am jealous of those who are able to get married, but I'm more frustrated because I'm nowhere NEAR marriage-ready (although I may be at least halfway there), and I've dated Taylor longer than a lot of people have dated their fiancees. Just chill, relax, and enjoy being an adolescent.

That's all for now, there are LOTS more, but I have class.