Comments on: Of Hunchbacks and Atheists http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/ This blog needs a description! Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:10:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: Charles http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-250 Charles Fri, 01 Jun 2007 22:12:54 +0000 http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-250 I loved that article too. I can identify with it big time. I have been a believer for about 10 years and attended 3 churches. It's only been the past 2 years that I was able to poke through the thin veneer talked about in the article and see the afflictions and messiness that every body is struggling with....and I now love the church more than I ever thought I would....for the opposite reasons the church thinks they can be loved...it turns out they're just like me, despite the veneer! It also turns out it is the mess, not the veneer, that has more power behind it. Church is, unfortunately, usually a collective effort of false images trying to keep the 'stuff' tucked away and out of sight, like it was their lawn or bathroom. But it is precisely the 'stuff' we deal with and how broken we are in it, where Jesus is really at work and doing wonders. But the false image thing....I do that in my personal life and am guilty of the same thing....trying to put forth a false image of who I am, despite who I really am. The more I cast stones, the more bruised I get. Take the visible changes over the past 20 years....the whole evolution from red brick & white steeples to mega churches with dry ice and disco lights.....really seems to be the same thing to me as the plastic smiles and 'nice', together folks on Sunday....a false image of ourselves. It seems like every church paradigm or movement we try to contrive in an effort to 'reform' ourselves or 'save the Kingdom', ends up looking like white people on a dance floor doing something other than two-steps or polkas.....very awkward, embarassing and just plain wrong. On the contrary, it's when we get discovered, end up in a scandal or the pressure gets so bad we can't hold it together anymore....Jesus shows up...big time. There are some churches I have been to where I am waiting for them to bring out the bearded lady....and others where the temperature is so cold and the atmosphere so dead, that you are not sure if the heads in the pews are headstones. It's in the parts of my life I hide that Christ is vibrantly present and working. I'm learning to let go of the false persona. I'm not there yet, though. When I present my contrived persona, no one can see Him at all. I think it works the same way corporately. His ways are not our ways, no matter how hard we think we know what His ways really are or aren't. I share the same concerns and feel just as distant and separated as Joe and the rest. My struggles with that have been so extreme even if they aren't as bad as they used to be. But everything I wish I could change about the plastic Jesus stuff, I wish I could change in myself. Even though my deal isn't plastic Jesus, it really is the same thing. And just getting that out in the open does draw me closer than it does keep me at home in bed on Sunday. I loved that article too. I can identify with it big time.

I have been a believer for about 10 years and attended 3 churches. It's only been the past 2 years that I was able to poke through the thin veneer talked about in the article and see the afflictions and messiness that every body is struggling with….and I now love the church more than I ever thought I would….for the opposite reasons the church thinks they can be loved…it turns out they're just like me, despite the veneer! It also turns out it is the mess, not the veneer, that has more power behind it.

Church is, unfortunately, usually a collective effort of false images trying to keep the 'stuff' tucked away and out of sight, like it was their lawn or bathroom. But it is precisely the 'stuff' we deal with and how broken we are in it, where Jesus is really at work and doing wonders. But the false image thing….I do that in my personal life and am guilty of the same thing….trying to put forth a false image of who I am, despite who I really am. The more I cast stones, the more bruised I get.

Take the visible changes over the past 20 years….the whole evolution from red brick & white steeples to mega churches with dry ice and disco lights…..really seems to be the same thing to me as the plastic smiles and 'nice', together folks on Sunday….a false image of ourselves. It seems like every church paradigm or movement we try to contrive in an effort to 'reform' ourselves or 'save the Kingdom', ends up looking like white people on a dance floor doing something other than two-steps or polkas…..very awkward, embarassing and just plain wrong. On the contrary, it's when we get discovered, end up in a scandal or the pressure gets so bad we can't hold it together anymore….Jesus shows up…big time.

There are some churches I have been to where I am waiting for them to bring out the bearded lady….and others where the temperature is so cold and the atmosphere so dead, that you are not sure if the heads in the pews are headstones.

It's in the parts of my life I hide that Christ is vibrantly present and working. I'm learning to let go of the false persona. I'm not there yet, though. When I present my contrived persona, no one can see Him at all. I think it works the same way corporately. His ways are not our ways, no matter how hard we think we know what His ways really are or aren't.

I share the same concerns and feel just as distant and separated as Joe and the rest. My struggles with that have been so extreme even if they aren't as bad as they used to be. But everything I wish I could change about the plastic Jesus stuff, I wish I could change in myself. Even though my deal isn't plastic Jesus, it really is the same thing. And just getting that out in the open does draw me closer than it does keep me at home in bed on Sunday.

]]> By: Mike http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-224 Mike Thu, 31 May 2007 22:48:35 +0000 http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-224 That is what keeps me here, is that there isn't any where else to go, no matter what I feel, or what is happening or not happening, He is the one who made it all, and intervenes here and there. He is the source of life and He wants us to choose Him. "to whom else would I go?" excactly... That is what keeps me here, is that there isn't any where else to go, no matter what I feel, or what is happening or not happening, He is the one who made it all, and intervenes here and there. He is the source of life and He wants us to choose Him. "to whom else would I go?" excactly…

]]> By: nancy k http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-212 nancy k Thu, 31 May 2007 10:19:05 +0000 http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-212 I so needed joe's comments -- and tim's. sometimes I think about quitting Jesus, but to whom else would I go? He alone has the words of eternal life. But it gets lonely sometimes and unbelief looks appealing. I so needed joe's comments — and tim's. sometimes I think about quitting Jesus, but to whom else would I go? He alone has the words of eternal life.
But it gets lonely sometimes and unbelief looks appealing.

]]> By: Zach V http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-193 Zach V Wed, 30 May 2007 17:25:57 +0000 http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-193 Thanks. I needed reminding. Thanks. I needed reminding.

]]> By: Tim http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-189 Tim Wed, 30 May 2007 15:16:56 +0000 http://stevebrownetc.com/blogs/the-guest-room/of-hunchbacks-and-atheists/#comment-189 Gotta say that I identify with what your saying here more than you know. It's almost as if the church is the one driving me from God; the place where you're supposed to find love and rest is the place that is the farthest from it most of the time. The people that are desparately trying to convince me (and themselves) that He's real are the ones that seem to be proving that He's not. And then there are those moments, those small flashes where He peaks through. I think part of it may have to do with our insistence on this idea that God should be doing something tangible for me or proving Himself "right now". We forget that Moses tended sheep for 40 years before meeting God at the burning bush. We forget that Paul went off and studied for several years before he started preaching to people. We read the Bible (when we can get free of the baggage we've built up surrounding it) and we get only the highlights and forget that years of normal existence seem to pass between these great revelations. Suddenly it doesn't seem so odd that glimpses of God are so fleeting even to the "faithful." Thanks for the insight. And thanks for the podcast - really enjoy listening to what you guy have to say... Gotta say that I identify with what your saying here more than you know. It's almost as if the church is the one driving me from God; the place where you're supposed to find love and rest is the place that is the farthest from it most of the time. The people that are desparately trying to convince me (and themselves) that He's real are the ones that seem to be proving that He's not. And then there are those moments, those small flashes where He peaks through.

I think part of it may have to do with our insistence on this idea that God should be doing something tangible for me or proving Himself "right now". We forget that Moses tended sheep for 40 years before meeting God at the burning bush. We forget that Paul went off and studied for several years before he started preaching to people. We read the Bible (when we can get free of the baggage we've built up surrounding it) and we get only the highlights and forget that years of normal existence seem to pass between these great revelations. Suddenly it doesn't seem so odd that glimpses of God are so fleeting even to the "faithful."

Thanks for the insight. And thanks for the podcast - really enjoy listening to what you guy have to say…

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