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 Okay, What is a Christian?
That's a good question. So many folks don't think of the same thing when they hear that term.
The average TV watcher may think of the bellowing, crying TV Evangelists. The gay communities first thought may be "Gay-Basher". The crusades, as we look back, may have conflicting stories as to what was done in the name of Christ or Christianity. If you are Jewish you may be reminded that Hitler had "Christian" symbols above the ovens where he had so many people killed. Some folks call themselves Christian just because they live in the USA.
I have thought about this whole thing often as I do not want to be a pain to the Lord or those I meet and yet He is real and I don't want to hide Him. If God turns folks off then I can't do anything about that because some folks just don't want to deal with God. Accepting the reality of God means making life choices based on that and some folks won't go there and that is their choice, but if I, Jim Drew, turn them off before they get to know who He is and can make that decision for themselves then that's my fault. I'm not talking personality issues. We all have someone we just don't get, but I am talking rude "Christian" junk that really isn't about Christ, but is about religiousness and self-righteousness and all kinds of silliness that is not God.
Maybe that sounds like a weird thing to say but honestly our role in this world is to be Christians, not talk "Christian". To be blunt, I get as confused by some of the lingo as some of you do and "I are one."
"God knows a fake"
When I pray I speak with reverence to God but I don't talk Elizabethan and I don't speak like a Bible study is taking place, and I don't fake who I am. God knows me very well and He can pick out a fake when He sees one, better than any of us can. I don't want to be fake to anyone who comes to my gigs and then of course to God.
How does this play into my gigs?
I am not a preacher so I don't preach.
I look at my life and the lives of those that I come in contact with daily, at the store, on the street, at a football game, walking dogs, hanging ornaments or paper ghosts or at the zoo, museum, wherever, even church. I look at life with the eye of someone who is trying their best to touch people with the gift I have been given and also who is in love with God. I see humor and sadness, wonder and difficulties, passion and pain. These are the things we all relate to, "The stuff of life" I once heard said, and I know it to be true. None of us need run from this stuff and yet sometimes we do. A real Christian should walk in all this stuff and then love folks wiith the heart of God, as His child.
{mosimage}This may surprise you but I also don't use scripture in every line of my songs. I have God's word in my head and heart and it directs my personal actions and decisions and it will show up here and there, but there are times and places it is more appropriate. I tend to balk at the constant flow of "spiritualization" that so often makes folks sound more like walking Bibles than children. Children rarely sound like the manual. They usually sound more like, well, children with insight and bright eyes who love to hang out with their father and mother.
Here is an oddity.
Jesus never sounded like a walking Bible.
He sounded like a story teller, an artist, and people listened and followed.
How come?
Because He knew He was dealing with people and so He spoke and related things in the surroundings and the life they understood. That is what any artist does. We speak about real things that are in front of us and we turn them around and look at the facets of every side of them so as to provoke people to think and breathe and wonder and seek. Sometimes we do it with humor, sometimes with a raw passion and then sometimes with gentleness and seriousness.
The only time you see Jesus spouting scripture is when He is in the temple or dealing with the religious, and often it was to scold them. Isn't it odd that the people on the street heard life while the religious were the ones dealing in death and needed to be told so.
I want to be a real Christian.
But what is a Christian?
It carries different connotations depending on your experience. I obviously don't want to be a "Hitler"ish christian and I am not a Crusader. I am not an "American" christian, just calling myself one because I live in the "Good ole US of A." I also don't want to be a plastic, rolling it all over folks type of Christian. In addition there is a thought in scripture that says "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."
Did you hear that?
{mosimage} It says be ready with an answer and that implies that the folks I am giving an answer to are asking a question. And it says to do it with respect. If someone doesn't want it then leave it alone. At least that's my take on it.
Reality is I want to always be genuine to those around me and love them with the Love that Christ has put in me and then, when the time is right, introduce them to our eternal Father, but with their consent and willingness to listen to someone who has loved them and not hit them with things. My desire is for them is to know Him. I wish all would know Him like I do, and even better. God is real and if someone comes to a gig then I will share my songs and my heart through the music. If they have a question about my Father then I will whole heartedly share what God has done for me. It will come through in some of the songs but in a way we all relate to. If I am at a party or on the street and someone asks a question that leads us to spiritual ideas then of course I will be ready with an answer, at least as best I can be. If a moment provokes a need to bring God into the situation to touch folks and bring an answer then I am there with what I know. The real introductions to God the Father are very personal and I believe God wants it that way.
This blog is not meant to be an offense to Christians, though it is possible, and it is not an attempt to back off of my love for God, because I do believe He is the only true answer to all our needs and missing parts. He has a plan and work He did through His son, Jesus (Yeshua) but not everyone is ready to receive it and sometimes we chase folks away when we bully them with scripture rather than love them with our Father's love. We ask people to act Godly when they don't even know who the Father is. We spend time trying to turn folks into Christians like they are our "next project" rather than spend life with people who need to be loved and then shown the One who makes it all worth while.
This blog is to get us thinking about the real and the religious, the hope and the hindrance, the will and the possibilities. Some religious things have purpose and can help us draw close to God because they allow a foothold on something we can use or grasp, but more often than not, religious stuff just gets in the way and hides us from God. He gets buried in the daily do's and don'ts and that is not His way. The do's and don'ts were to prove we could never do it on our own. They were never meant to fix anything.
We all need the real stuff and that is where I am at.
I would love to hear from you.
I am quite open to hearing your thoughts on this and learning from folks so talk away.
Jim |