There are times in my life, rare though they be, when I wish I could be more superficial.
Last night was one of those times.
Billy and I had a "discussion" about quality and money and beer.
It all started with the question, "Does God take pleasure in our pleasure?"
After a series of interrogatories, it ended with inner conflict between what I believe and what I've thus far done in accordance with those beliefs.
There are people out there who want to hear music played on $1500 guitars, and they don't consider that there are thousands of Jamaican orphans whose material possessions in their entirety can (and actually have to) fit down the front of their t-shirt.
These are the same people who drink beer without considering that the amount of grain used in the beer that Americans consume in a year, could feed the hungry in India for that same year.
So, does God take pleasure in our pleasure? Maybe a better question is "does God take pleasure in the misery that we're perpetuating for others?"
There are people out there who can ignore this question. To take it further, they ignore the implications that the answer has on their lives. And best yet, they can sleep at night. I sometimes wish I could release my convictions and become one of these people because life seems so much simpler for them.
But I'm not a ditzy blonde. I'm the kind of girl who dies her hair black.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think a more accurate statement would be that He takes pleasure in our Joy, rather than our pleasure.
ReplyDeleteReally aren't we blessed in order to bless others? And are those that can't see beyond themselves really leading simpler lives? Or narrower? Hmmm...
I've never been a blonde, but I've had plenty of my own blonde moments.:D
Your black hair is hot.
ReplyDeleteHey.. I had fun meeting your husband today. He's a cool guy! :)
ReplyDelete:@ I don't know. I think that my standard answer will have to be everyone is different in the body of Christ - some are eyes, while others are feet or livers. This means to me that, while I may empathize that the people in Jamaica or India have "less" than I do, I can do my part with my "much" and sell it, donate it, and donate my money I make with my talents in order that other parts of the body can go to those places and help those people with the talents I have given. And it's not that I slough off questions like that; it's that I don't feel He has called me to "change" anything in my life; that my life is perhaps one where I help equip others with my money-making talents (not to sound egotistical/weird/whatever, but the folks need donated money to do their mission work). So yeah. I'm in the place I need to be, I am the part of the body that I am, and I enjoy the beer I drink, and He's seemingly okay with that. And along the way, it all works itself out. So I enjoy a beer in peace. Jesus already died; I don't need to be a martyr. I just need to do what He says for me to do.
ReplyDeletejenn,
ReplyDeleteIsn't life change what the gospel is about? Isn't about exchanging our dirty, rotten life for the holy life of Christ?
As for the martyr thing...I didn't hear the first Christians toting your kind of line.
Dying for Christ is an honor, and this honor is only present because he himself died. If he hadn't died, there'd be no need for us to. But martyrdom is only valid because we have something worth dying for.
Even still, I'm not asking anyone to be a martyr, just to feed the hungry instead of drink alcohol.
martyr: a person who suffers death instead of renouncing their religion. Maybe the wrong term. What I meant was that I look at my hands - do they have holes in them? No. Jesus' do. So guess what - He already saved the world. My best is to use the talents He has given me to do the best I can with what I've got, and pray for more ways to open eyes to Him and to serve Him with my heart, soul, mind, and strength, in love.
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm fed up with this whole, "Gosh I have to DO something" mentality. It's like, can't you just LIVE your life and LOVE your life and be THANKFUL for it? Or are we supposed to always just live this somber existence, lamenting to God all the time about all the bad things that are in the world and just crying over it, and totally in the process forgetting to live joyfully and enjoy what we have? In Ecclesiastes 9 it says
7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
So what's wrong with a beer?
If I had the resources as a billionaire to go and implement total drastic cultural change in India, Jamaica, or anywhere else that needs to be introduced to the benefits of a free market economy and understand that through that freedom we are able to benefit/bless others (it's taken a long time and we don't know the half in the u.s. but we are still the best country on earth)....
But has God called me to that? Nope. He's called me to tithe, to do my share, and to pray. And that's what I do. And I enjoy my beer, too.
oh, and what does it look like to "feed the hungry" instead of drink alcohol? what about this whole "ethanol" thing; now that's a terrible way to "save the planet" - subsidize farmers to NOT grow grains we could help others with while we use all our corn to fund our driving. So then the price goes up for grains and the poor cannot get the grain NOR can the farmers feed their animals to produce manure (among other things) to fertilize their grain crops. And the Democrats still refuse to explore the Arctic Circle for oil.......
ReplyDeletec'mon...your idealism's run rampant, girl.
what's the solution? my solution has been to bloom where I am planted. The "change" I experienced about 10 years ago when I gave my life to Christ all but immediately erased my dirty, filthy lifestyle of the past. Are you insinuating that because I own my own home and have enough (more than enough) food on the table, that I haven't "changed?"
I'm coming to you in love, but really, I just think some folks have gone too far. Not saying you are. Just that I have heard so much "pie in the sky" quasi-utopian calls for drastic change on an immesurable scale that I'm about ready to puke. If we really consider the implications of the things that we are suggesting, we're not going to find the outcome being any better - in fact sometimes worse. Best thing I think is to PRAY because of all the things Jesus commanded us to do (this side of loving Him and loving others) it was to PRAY.
The lady doth protest too much methinks.
ReplyDeleteTrish,
ReplyDeleteYou are a smart cookie. "Does God take pleasure in our joy?" was what I meant.
Sarah,
"I sometimes wish I could release my convictions and become one of these people because life seems so much simpler for them. "
Essentially you're not so much saying,
"Everyone needs to stop drinking"
as much as you are saying,
"I really wish I could enjoy the fun too without feeling guilty."
yeah. pretty much. but you know what it's like to get me fired up! ;)
ReplyDeletei've just been hearing so much horsewash about so many things lately. yes, ideals are good to have, but to what end? If it's not going to be effective at producing fruitful change, then it's worthless.
so I pray and I listen.
if thy husband is right then why exactly do you feel guilty?
ReplyDeleteArrived via Nakedpastor.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Couldn't agree with you more.