Good Reading

Christianity Today rocks my world again with some solid new articles. “Why I Don’t Imitate Christ” tackles the whole WWJD phenomena, be it bracelets or cookbooks, and I love it. Lately I’ve been thinking more about my role in the Church (and specifically, the church that I go to) and I’ve been feeling less relevant with each passing month.

I’m not sure why people try to distill faith into bite-sized morsels. Well, I know why. It’s just easier that way. Easier to live a “Godly” life, but also easier to be satisfied, to feel like you’re on your way. And that’s a notion that I’ve grown very sick of, a notion that I’ve grown very distant from. I’m not calling into question anyone’s conviction or faith, but if I really think about what Jesus would do, I don’t know if it’d be the shiny, happy conversations and bad lovesongs-as-worship stuff.

Of course, I also have to realize that maybe I’m the one who is sliding away… but I think (I hope) that questions, doubts, and dissatisfaction are good signs.

An article like “The Uncommon Benefits of Common Grace” comforts me a lot… it makes me realize that I’m not alone out there when it comes to thinking that life, faith, art, and culture consist of a whole more grey area than we’d like to think. “I can enjoy good musical performances, good works of art, good pieces of writing, because I think God takes delight in them, because the God who called his creation good also says let there be good music and let there be good art, and on occasion looks down on the works of some unbeliever and says, That’s good; I like that”… I find a lot of peace in that thought.

Who would’ve thought that God might enjoy a good home run?