Learning from our mistakes

This weekend I had a very interesting interview with Jeffery, a street artist, on State Street in Madison. He shared very candidly and has a lot to teach us.



Reflections:
First, I really like Jeffery. He tells it like it is. His unpretentiousness is quite refreshing. I believe that it's sad that Jeffery didn't seem to encounter genuine Christianity. There are a bunch of hypocrites, which ironically enough Jesus Christ himself predicts. But without ever seeing true Christianity, Jeffery rejects true Christianity as false. Hmmm...

Jeffery's comments that true Christians should not be self-seeking or judgemental is true. However, to hold others to a standard of being non-judgemental, while allowing yourself to judge them for being judgemental is hypocritical. It's easy to fall into this blinding pattern. But it was the very thing that Jesus Christ was warning about in Mathew 7. "Judge not unless you judge yourself. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." In other words, we can't use God's standards to measure others unless we're willing to measure ourselves by the same standard FIRST. It leaves us all humble before God instead of self righteous.

Jeffery referred to an idea about human suffering as penance. Unfortunately, he's confusing Catholic dogma with authentic Christianity. The verse he's talking about doesn't exist in the Bible. So unfortunately, his idea that our suffering may somehow save us from hell is based on misinformation. Christians trust in the suffering of Christ in our place to save us from the just anger of God for our sins, not our own suffering.

"I have my own beliefs. They have served me well." For how long? Is that the purpose of beliefs; to serve us well? Shouldn't our beliefs be based on truth and reality? If I take drugs and come to believe that I can fly and jump off a tall building, that belief will serve me well for a few moments... until I hit the pavement and am brought back in touch with reality.

If our beliefs aren't based on reality, they will only serve us well for a short time. They won't serve God's purposes eternally. God wants a relationship with us, but if we won't trust Him...???

Jeffery is a sad example of the effects of the poor state of "churchianity". We've added church going, conservative morality, prayers before meals and bedtime to the American dream. The poor, the homeless, the wounded, the addicts need more help than that to transform their lives. They need the reality of God, and they need to see His reality in those who claim to belong to Him.