Lindsay Lindaman
5/1/12
Christian Thought
Simply Christian
Not one of my favorite Christian books I’ve ever read, but the book “Simply Christian” by N. T. Wright had some great points to make about the Christian faith and all it entails. It made me reflect on my own entry into the Christian faith and how Christianity appears to others who haven’t grown up in it like I have. They don’t have it very easy.
My favorite part of the book is the section called “Tears and Laughter.” It talks about Jesus being human, and how he proved himself on earth with his show of emotions. I think this is a beautiful thing that needs to be mentioned and should be talked about more in the church. I also think it’s something that should be talked about at my summer camp. Too often I believe people take this ‘Jesus’ as just another person that died long ago. For many of this generation, coming back to life isn’t something that unusual. Television shows bring people back all the time. Fantasy novels and movies have people come back to life as well. I picture myself in several years working for Disney’s Animation Studio. There are also many, many stories told with ‘resurrection’ in Disney, though you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who realizes it. In “Beauty and the Beast,” which I love, the Beast was dead. Belle says how much she loves him, and he comes back to life. In “Tangled”, Rapunzel cries her magic tears, and Flynn is healed. Snow White also came back from eating her poisoned apple with true love’s kiss. No wonder the idea of resurrection isn’t so amazing as it was during the times of the New Testament. This makes the human relational part of Jesus that Wright talks about so much more important by my way of thinking. Though I think that Wright didn’t cover a lot of Jesus’s most emotional moments. Wright says that Jesus only cried once, and that I’m fairly certain that Wright is talking about when he found out about Lazarus’s death. But I don’t think tears always portray the emotion people think they do. There are plenty of times when Jesus showed deep emotion that didn’t involve tears. In Luke 22, it’s reported that Jesus was in such deep anguish that he sweated blood. You don’t have to cry to be sad or upset. I also loved that Wright talked about Jesus’ laughter. It’s not something people often think of, but I think it adds so much more depth to his person. Humor is something that changes with the ages, and we may not exactly recognize it in 2012. Like Wright, I think Jesus has humor in some of his parables. I mean, how funny would it be comparing a camel to the eye of a needle? While its meaning is something foundational to life, it has a humorous side to it if you look at it correctly. Jesus’ nicknames for his followers I always took as rather serious nicknames, but looking at them in the book’s context, they are rather funny. I see Jesus’ humor in the way he flips things over on people. He does it to teach them how he wants his people treated, but I think there’s some humor in it. In the story of Mary and Martha, I’m sure Martha fully expected Jesus to tell Mary to get to work. Jesus was possibly holding back a chuckle at how silly Martha was being about something that truly didn’t matter. I’d also say all those spats with the Pharisees were probably very humorous. Have you ever seen the humor watching two people trying to get the best of each other? That’s why people have learned how to start picking at their opponent’s grammar if they think they’re losing a fight. Jesus was a bit smarter than that and he had the truth on his side, but there is still humor found in these situations, and how often they happened! Couldn’t you just see Jesus rolling his eyes at the fact that yet another Pharisee was coming up to try to give him a dressing down for his ‘high and mighty’ comments? He probably thought, “Good luck with that, I am the High and Mighty!” Other than his parables, I expand my outlook to nature and Jesus as part of the Trinity. I take in God’s creation of the platypus. You have to have a sense of humor to create things like that. Men would probably say that about women as well! Why on earth would you create a horse, a zebra, and a giraffe? They’re all basically similar, but completely different at the same time. Then you have the odd color and shape formations on animals that come up ever so often. Currently my favorite that I’ve found is of a mostly white kitten with a black mustache. Not the basic black mouth/nose area that many cats have, but a legitimate mustache. God sure does have a sense of humor! While Jesus has many other human attributes, this covers the two that most people want to relate to. And this is exactly what Jesus wants.
5/1/12
Christian Thought
Simply Christian
Not one of my favorite Christian books I’ve ever read, but the book “Simply Christian” by N. T. Wright had some great points to make about the Christian faith and all it entails. It made me reflect on my own entry into the Christian faith and how Christianity appears to others who haven’t grown up in it like I have. They don’t have it very easy.
My favorite part of the book is the section called “Tears and Laughter.” It talks about Jesus being human, and how he proved himself on earth with his show of emotions. I think this is a beautiful thing that needs to be mentioned and should be talked about more in the church. I also think it’s something that should be talked about at my summer camp. Too often I believe people take this ‘Jesus’ as just another person that died long ago. For many of this generation, coming back to life isn’t something that unusual. Television shows bring people back all the time. Fantasy novels and movies have people come back to life as well. I picture myself in several years working for Disney’s Animation Studio. There are also many, many stories told with ‘resurrection’ in Disney, though you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who realizes it. In “Beauty and the Beast,” which I love, the Beast was dead. Belle says how much she loves him, and he comes back to life. In “Tangled”, Rapunzel cries her magic tears, and Flynn is healed. Snow White also came back from eating her poisoned apple with true love’s kiss. No wonder the idea of resurrection isn’t so amazing as it was during the times of the New Testament. This makes the human relational part of Jesus that Wright talks about so much more important by my way of thinking. Though I think that Wright didn’t cover a lot of Jesus’s most emotional moments. Wright says that Jesus only cried once, and that I’m fairly certain that Wright is talking about when he found out about Lazarus’s death. But I don’t think tears always portray the emotion people think they do. There are plenty of times when Jesus showed deep emotion that didn’t involve tears. In Luke 22, it’s reported that Jesus was in such deep anguish that he sweated blood. You don’t have to cry to be sad or upset. I also loved that Wright talked about Jesus’ laughter. It’s not something people often think of, but I think it adds so much more depth to his person. Humor is something that changes with the ages, and we may not exactly recognize it in 2012. Like Wright, I think Jesus has humor in some of his parables. I mean, how funny would it be comparing a camel to the eye of a needle? While its meaning is something foundational to life, it has a humorous side to it if you look at it correctly. Jesus’ nicknames for his followers I always took as rather serious nicknames, but looking at them in the book’s context, they are rather funny. I see Jesus’ humor in the way he flips things over on people. He does it to teach them how he wants his people treated, but I think there’s some humor in it. In the story of Mary and Martha, I’m sure Martha fully expected Jesus to tell Mary to get to work. Jesus was possibly holding back a chuckle at how silly Martha was being about something that truly didn’t matter. I’d also say all those spats with the Pharisees were probably very humorous. Have you ever seen the humor watching two people trying to get the best of each other? That’s why people have learned how to start picking at their opponent’s grammar if they think they’re losing a fight. Jesus was a bit smarter than that and he had the truth on his side, but there is still humor found in these situations, and how often they happened! Couldn’t you just see Jesus rolling his eyes at the fact that yet another Pharisee was coming up to try to give him a dressing down for his ‘high and mighty’ comments? He probably thought, “Good luck with that, I am the High and Mighty!” Other than his parables, I expand my outlook to nature and Jesus as part of the Trinity. I take in God’s creation of the platypus. You have to have a sense of humor to create things like that. Men would probably say that about women as well! Why on earth would you create a horse, a zebra, and a giraffe? They’re all basically similar, but completely different at the same time. Then you have the odd color and shape formations on animals that come up ever so often. Currently my favorite that I’ve found is of a mostly white kitten with a black mustache. Not the basic black mouth/nose area that many cats have, but a legitimate mustache. God sure does have a sense of humor! While Jesus has many other human attributes, this covers the two that most people want to relate to. And this is exactly what Jesus wants.
Another point that I thought was just perfect, was the waking up to the good news portion of the book. I’ve heard the analogy of being lukewarm, but that doesn’t quite give the right impression, and being half-asleep or half awake does. No one really knows what lukewarm feels like. If someone was to really examine themselves, they may be able to come to that assessment, but half asleep is easier to relate to. We’ve all had those moments where we were listening to a speaker after a late night and our eyes just start to droop, even when you have every intention to listen with all ears. That’s why this analogy is easier to understand than being lukewarm. It’s very easy for people to start to fall asleep in our faith, especially in America. We aren’t challenged in this country to defend our faith and be bold with what we believe. So it’s no wonder people of Africa and other such countries know our God so much more deeply than we do, and have a much deeper trust in Him. My experience wasn’t a ‘classic alarm clock’ story, but I wouldn’t call it a half-awake story either. One night in middle school I was reading a young teen Christian book series, and I was taken aback by the amount of faith the 8 year old character had, and how far she would go to follow God’s commands in her life. I was rather ashamed of myself that an 8 year old would have a greater faith than myself, and that is the point I say my Christian faith became my own. I realized that it was a serious thing, and not something you can just ‘do,’ or to coin the popular song by Matthew West, ‘go through the motions.’ It’s a completely interactive faith where the relationship with Jesus is center. While through my years I have always loved Jesus, I’ve made mistakes as many do. I’d say I start to fall asleep. By my impression of what Wright is talking about, he’s referring to that initial acceptance of Christ, and so is St. Paul in Wright’s references. I however, think it applies to the Christian life as a whole. I am a huge fan of Francis Chan, and I think his words on being a radical Christian are exactly what this world needs. I also think that people feel they aren’t a good example to others if they didn’t have that alarm clock moment. They want to have that realization moment just like Pocahontas with her path, Sleeping Beauty woken up by true love’s kiss, and the same with Snow White. They want to have that realization that makes you almost fall over in shock like Rapunzel when she realizes she’s the lost princess. They forget that they have their own spin on life that is different from anyone else. If they have never had trials, they are not getting out there to be challenged. Your life didn’t mean much if you got through with no mishaps or mistakes. Take Beauty and the Beast for an example. It took Belle and the Beast time to fall in love. It wasn’t a kiss and then history. So it takes some people time to come to fall in love with Jesus. Or it simply just grows with time. Belle knew about what love was. She loved her father very much. The Beast , whose real name was Adam, never knew love, and that’s what caused him to lose all he held dear. Belle showed him what love could be like, and that in turn helped him to know what love was. Now put Jesus in the place of love. The people that always knew the light of Jesus’ love can show it to the ones that have never known it, and that can never be looked down on by anyone. Anyone can make a difference, it doesn’t matter what kind of wake up you had.
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