I mean I could say skydiving because I’m afraid of heights, but I might do it…maybe…for a million dollars.
(No probably not. I don’t need a million dollars that badly.)
If I was serious, I might say move in with my dad again.
That idea used to give me nightmares. Sometimes it still does.
Once you’re out of a bad situation, you don’t want to go back. It’s one thing to put up with something when you’ve never had a choice, or won’t have one in the future, but it’s another to willingly suffer again.
I know some people consider it their Christian duty to stay in a bad situation to love someone else.
I’m not quite sure that’s what Jesus meant when he told us to turn the other cheek. Granted, there are certainly times to stick it out with someone.
People splot up over really dumb stuff now. I’ve seen people say they’ll divorce over someone not doing chores.
Which, you know, is annoying, but it’s not worth splitting up over. You can find a way to manage that, it’s silly to just throw in the towel.
There are real threats though.
The Bible does make some provisions for people not staying in a situiaotn if it’s not good for them. Such as if Christian wife or husband is married to someone who is not a Christian, they can leave them if that person is not okay with their new faith. Because spiriutally, they are not bound to them. But that’s only if the non-believer wants them to leave. if they are okay with it te y are ups to say.
And since at the time you could get killed for being a Christian, it was only sensible to let people who didn’t believe it off the hook in marriage.
The Bible instruct husbands to love their wives well, and not to deal with them treacherously. And wives to honor their husbands. As well as for fathers to not provoke their children, and children to obey their parents.
It doesn’t specifically use the word ‘abuse’, because that word wasn’t used in the Bible period. But it uses words like “oppress” very often.
And says that we should protect the innocent.
All this to say, I do not think the Bible favors abuse. We are told to reconcile with people as much as it depends on us.
So when we made the choice to separate from our father, we kept all this in mind.
We didn’t deal with him harshly, however, or take revenge. We simply set up boundaries and cut off communication.
I later reopened it once I felt I had enough space from it, my sisters and Mom are still working on whether or not they’re okay with that.
I always intended to reopen it at some point, though I waited a few years.
But that does not mean I want to live wit him. I still haven’t been in the same room with him, barring my Grandmothers’ memorial service, since he left.
Though one funny thing that happens after he moved out was that he would drive by our house in his yellow truck a lot, just creepily looking at it. It would freak us all out, which no doubt was his goal, knowing him.
I would flinch every time I saw a yellow truck for years after that.
Then it got burned up in one of the wildfires (not the recent ones, but for year ago) and we din’t have to worry about ti anymore. (Don’t worry, he had another truck at the time. He wasn’t using it.)
While I can’t say for sure it was a God thing, I did feel it was somehow poetic justice. not that I wanted my dad to lose stuff in a fire, but the truck itself was not such a big deal.
So yeah, I wouldn’t ever want to move back in with him.
But if I ever did, it would be because it was the right thing to do. And, wen he was too slow to catch me anymore if he got pissed off.
I’m more worried about my dad using physical violence than verbal abuse if I ever end up having to take care of him, so I’d hope it would be when he was too frail to land a hit.
Which sounds awful, but honestly, if it wasn’t to that point why would he need us to take care of him anyway, so t seems like that’s the only reason it would ever happen.
I’m sure he might hope we ended up having to move out of our Grandma’s house and not his extra one, but that would take a lot of convincing.
Still, if God told me to help him, I would do it.
That strikes man people as crazy, but I think ‘ts more crazy to live in a society where no one as any sense of family responsibility anymore.
Our country has tried to destroy the most basic bonds we have. Given people the idea they aren’t responsible for their children, and their parents, or their other family.
As if someone having a bad family absolves you of any obligation to them, as if having bad people in society means you don’t still need to contribute to it.
It’s not exactly rocket science to figure out at if all the good people stop participating in family, or society, the bad people will have the upper hand and just keep making it worse.
Which is what is happening. The people who aren’t psychos are saying “Nope” so the psychos keep getting their way.
It’s a self fulfilling prophecy on the part of the people who say the world is a bad place.
It’ll stay bad if you do nothing to make it better, duh. And you encourage others to do that same. Evil people will still do evil, they aren’t going to quit because you said they suck.
So that’s why I make it a point do the right thing, even when I don’t like it. Which includes still being a part of my family. I could do better at it, honestly, but it’s a work in progress.
You can be a kind person and still have boundaries, I’m not sure why people Thikn otherwise now.
So yeah, that’s my biggest fear (at least that’s tangible). It doesn’t scare me as much now, though.
I got a longer one because I live in the part of the country that is currently on fire!
I’m all right, no worries, but the schools here are closed and we can only hope they’ll be open by next week.
Which is really the least of our worries.
You know, other people get snow days, but along the West Coast, we get “fire days”. I’d say that’s way worse.
Also this is the worst fire incident we’ve had in 50 years or more, they keep saying.
This topped off a pretty weird two weeks for me. As I’ve been sharing, I’ve been doing a lot over break. My break was less relaxing than my actual job.
I bought a new car that I had to take to the shop three times. Twice it was a pretty minor thing, just some software updates that they at first told me could have been a head gasket leak that would cost 4 or 5 grand…thanks for that 2 hours of panic attack!
The other was to get the brakes checked, which they told me were fine, but then another place told me were not, in fact fine, and I will need to fix them soon. So…yeah, that was nice.
The other time I just had to get a tire patched, so no big deal.
Thankfully, the car seems to be fine now, and I hope it will stay that way for a few months at least, since I just got it.
Also I went on my first planned trip on vacation without my mom, and the day we left, I had an allergic reaction to medication I was on because of my wisdom teeth getting taken out, and I had to go ot the ER while on an island, to get meds for it.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a dangerous reaction, but it was bad enough to get hives for 4 days. I’ve never had those before, I don’t recommend it, though my case was mild, but still.
So…yeah, then we got back, and found out there was fire all around the area we live in, and my work would be closed all week.
Which is a minor concern, because the real problem is the many friends I have who may have lost their jobs or houses, or their families have, since this started.
Despite the crazy week I had, I know I’m the lucky one, and that’s saying something. All that could happen in one week, and there are still thousands of people having a worse week than I am, just in this county. That’s a staggering thought.
I’m not sure I have any words of wisdom to make a cliche speech about hanging together, but, I can say, it does put things in perspective.
I was tempted to feel sorry for myself, after all, my trip was partially ruined, and I had several days of anxiety I didn’t need, while I was trying to recover from hives, which doesn’t help with hives.
And I was worried about getting to work and making a bad financial decisions.
But then I realized how bad things were in the county right now, and that I really had very little to complain about compared to them.
I have a house and my workplace is likely to reopen, since it’s not in the red zone. So I’ll probably still have a job next week, unlike many people. We didn’t lose power, so far, and no family I have lives in the red zones.
It could have been much worse.
It could be a lot better, but, you know, no matter what’s going on with you, someone else is having a worse day, probably. I mean, if you can even read this post, I guarantee someone out there is having a worse day than you.
I don’t want to be accused of using this disaster just to generate more traffic to my site, but I did wonder if anyone would be interested in the perspective of someone who lives where this happens.
A lot of people say California is scary because of the earthquakes–and well, the lunatics.
I agree about the latter, but a fact many people don’t realize who live outside this state is that the wildfires that happen pretty much every year do much more damage than 80-90% of our earthquakes do.
Every now and then, we have a bad one, but the majority of us barely feel a jolt when it happens, and it doesn’t usually spread outside the strike zone, while a fire like this can become two fires, or in this case, up to 6.
And since we get dry weather a lot here, and that impacts fires, but not earthquakes, environmentally, we’re more in danger.
People are blaming our government for not preparing for this, and while I’m sure there is some truth to that, the reality is that the worst fire is happening near the coast, there’s not a lot we can do about that area being dry. We use ocean water to fight these fires, but the wind is what kept us from doing that, not the lack of resources.
Sometimes, nature just fricks you over.
Some spiteful people online are also saying that this is what the people in Hollywood deserved, and they don’t really feel sorry for them.
A lot of people don’t like California, after all.
Heck, I live in the area and I don’t like it a lot of the time.
Still, it is our home.
And whatever people think about Hollywood, it’s really not most of the state, like outsiders believe.
It’s true that the rich stars who had to evacuate probably have plenty of money to rebuild with, making it hard to feel sorry for them compared to the other people, still it’s their home too.
And there are many more people who are not well off, and were just doing their jobs. I know one person who had to leave a hospital they worked at over this.
I’ve noticed that we humans tend to rush to assume things are karma and judgment when disaster strikes.
Even I do, and I wonder why. Because while making sense of it is something we want to do, I don’t really see how it makes us feel better.
I mean, it could be, but the tricky thing about assuming that, is that you have to ignore how many people who are good and were innocent get caught up in these tragedies.
People like to cite religion as a source for saying all this was judgment, my own father likes to do that.
However, at least in the Bible, many disasters are recorded that were not God’s judgment. The bible even kind of makes it clear that not all bad things are a judgment. Sometimes, they are just bad. Sometimes, there may even be other forces at work besides God.
Why do we rush to assume we know what it is? Like we all know the Mind of God?
Besides which, all the churches, hospital, charities, that get affected by this, are we going to say that God judged them also?
I guess some people might believe that, but I have a hard time swallowing it.
If you’re wondering what it feels like to live through this, it’s weird how things can feel normal, in one way. As long as I don’t step outside and inhale the smoke that makes us feel sick and cough.
And as long as I don’t turn on the news.
Or check my churches’ small group chat to see how many people have family in danger right now.
It’s been strange to me many times how easy it is to ignore tragedy even when it’s close to home, because it’s not right in my backyard.
Yesterday, there was even a faulty alert sent to our area, and then another one this morning, scaring people, who thought we were out of the burn zone.
For a second, we weren’t sure if we might have to evacuate after all.
The thought went through my head that instead of just losing money from not working, I might be facing losing my house and stuff instead.
Thankfully, it was a false alarm, but even for a few minutes, I understood a little better how other people feel.
People are coming together, that’s the nice thing. It’s a lot like how the hurricanes affect people on the East coast.
I feel like I’d prefer the hurricane to this, but I’m pretty sure if I actually saw one, I wouldn’t think so. They’re still more destructive in the long run than the fires.
Still, I think of how scared the students at my school probably have even this week, and it’s weird. Mostly we only worry about school shooters and fires being started in the lab in our schools.
And even that’s bad enough, but you’re used to that threat, so you become dull to it.
You don’t really get used to the threat of wild fires. They’re unpredictable.
They think humans may have started it. We can hope by accident.
Maybe tha’t why we assign blame for this so easily too. Fires, unlike storms, can be started by man. We’ve all seen Bambi. It’s easy to blame the pot heads and crazy people out here.
Yet, it often is an accident. Or just faulty equipment. Not malicious intent (sometimes it is, and then I do think those people deserve what they get.)
The reality is tragedy can be tragic because it’s accidental, and it just happens.
I can’t moralize really about to, since eI don’t know how it started either.
I know we’ve been praying a lot out here, though some people have reported that their family/friends didn’t appreciate the gesture too much.
Whether you believe in God or not, I think it’s good to understand that people pray because they don’t know what else to do to help, but they want to do something. And some of us have no other way to intervene. I’m not offended by Muslims or Buddhists praying for me, even if I don’t acknowledge their gods. I appreciate the support.
There’s no reason to be harsh to people who mean well. Though, when we’re stressed, it can be hard to remember that, so I also hope we can be forgiving of people who may get snippy with us under the circumstances.
I was told we might get some financial aid from the government for my coworkers and I, but honestly, I think most of us don’t need it the most of anyone. If we’re going back to work at all, we’ll be better off than thousands of people right now.
I hope the government directs its resources to the people who will be homeless and jobless for months after this.
I guess that’s all I have to say. Things have taken a better turn today, and if the weather cooperates, we may get all the fires contained by Sunday, at least partially, so I hope if you pray, you’re praying that the weather will stay clam and the wind will not return.
If you are interested in donating to this, there are many things people are setting up to help the victims of the tragedy, if you look it up online, I’m not a patron of any particular charity, but I saw that some are being put together on social media.
Every year this time, my Church does this thing they call “Dream Sunday” which happens to be today.
I take the chance around this time to reevaluate my goals in life and ask what I still want to do.
I tend to make two lists. One for the year, and one for my lifetime.
I’ve had getting married and having kids on the lifetime one for years and years–God are you there?
(Just kidding. I know everything has to happen in its time. It just gets hard to wait.)
For other life times goals, becoming a paid professional writer has been on the list since I was a teenager. (Hey, help me with that one and like this post guys.)
But because I know that it takes time to acheive some things, I also make short term dreams.
I don’t like to use the word “goals” or “resolutions” when I do this. Not because there’s anything wrong with those words, per sec, but because I know myself too well. If I treat it like it’s a demand, I won’t want to do it.
A dream is something I can try to do, but if life doesn’t work out that way, I can always find a new dream, just like Tangled told us. (That’s not my favorite Disney movie, but it is probably on my top 10.)
I’m not too disappointed when I don’t meet those goals. And I’ve also learned what dreams are reasonable over the years. When I asking myself a number, like “get 200 followers” then it won’t happen. I can’t control other people.
But if it’s a goal like “get a new car”, or “read 30 books”, something that either isn’t a set number to it one that I can be flexible with, and that I can control, I can usually do it. Even go above and beyond it.
As I mentioned in a different post, I just got the new car. I can’t even remember if I put that on the list last year, or if I just decided I needed it now.
I do know though, that owning a blue Toyota has been on one of my lists, though if it was the dream one or the bucket one, I can’t say, for a long time.
What? I just like what I like guys.
And that’s basically happened. I mean, it’s kinda blue-green, but hey that’s my favorite shade of blue. Light turquoise to aquamarine. I’m a beach girl.
I also just got my wisdom teeth out, yesterday, and while I wouldn’t call that a dream, I’ve had jaw problems for a couple years and I’ve hoped doing this will help a bit, so in a way it’s a dream. Also I was able to get it done quickly and around my work schedule, that was a blessing.
Also, it was way easier than I expected. I barely had any reaction to the anesthesia, and I’m able to chew already the next day (soft foods of course, but still). I apparently am lucky, my mom and sister said they could barely open their mouth for days.
Also I had a best case scenario pretty much, so while I wasn’t jazzed about getting surgery for the first time, I was blessed that it wasn’t a bad experience. (Is it weird if I prefer it to a regular dentist appointment? I hate drills.)
I hope if you have to get yours out, that encourages you.
Anyway, not everything was planned, but they were things I wanted.
And things that were planned, like finishing more stories, and getting a better job, I got and then some. Like last year, I put a better job on the list, and I got a much better and longer one than I expected.
It might not be everyone’s dream job, but it was perfect for me, at this stage of my life. Helped pay for the car, after all.
(Btw, I sold my old car to my sister, though I got it for free, and people are judging me for it. She wanted it that way. I offered to give it to her and she didn’t like the idea of accepting it that way, so I said I’d just sell it to her instead. She wanted to feel more independent, and I 100% respect that.)
Just because I got it for free doesn’t mean I really wanted it that way. I just could never have afforded it when it was given to me, I plan to pay for my own cars going forward if I possibly can. I’m not above getting help, though. I’d do the same for anyone else, I figure, so it’s no big deal to accept it. And I mean that, my family shares bills a lot.
I’ve been able to go out with friends a lot this year. And I think making more friends was one of the things on my list, too. (I haven’t found it yet, but that sounds like something I’d put on it.)
Also, I’ve planned my first get away trip without my mom’s help.
I may actually file for taxes finally, another dream, weird as it sounds, but it means I’m not impoverished anymore.
Now, does all this mean my life is perfect? No.
It’s been a good year.
But I don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. I share all this because I see it as God’s goodness.
But to level with you all who might feel like your life sucks compared to mine (and mine’s not that glamorous, so if yours is worse, I’m sure you’ve got it rough), maybe I can encourage you a bit.
This is a recent thing for me.
For many years, I’ve had a lot of these wishes, and honestly, I couldn’t even work towards them for the longest time, I was just hanging on barely to what I already had, not expanding.
I’ve not had a lot of friends for most of my life, and it’s been weird to make more.
And it felt like I had one issue after another the last few years. I had health issues, though they seemed small, but not to me.
I had job problems constantly.
I got frustrated a lot and I had a lot of anxiety.
And I still sometimes do. I know that none of this stuff I have now will last forever. Friends come and go, so do jobs, vehicles, and health can be changing too.
Money will rise and fall for me, and so will success.
Now that’s no reason to assume I’ll end up worse off. God takes us from glory to glory.
And I don’t mean that in a cheesy way. I’ve seen it play out.
While things have been both bad and good for me, I have noticed a different aspect of life with God in each season. Sometimes it’s his kindness, sometimes it’s just the strength to keep going. The voice in my head that says it’ll get better.
And no, it doesn’t happen overnight.
Christians love to share our testimonies of God’s goodness, because it makes Him sound better to outsiders, and we don’t want to seem like we’re doing badly, when we’re supposed to represent how much better life is with God.
But the wisest of us realize that if life is better with God, it logically must mean that even the bad parts of it are made better by God.
Jesus warned us we’ll never get out of suffering in this life. No matter how good we have it, there will be trouble. Not because God wants us to suffer, but because the world is not a safe place. Suffering is inevitable. Jesus suffered a lot.
And we think that means only the Cross, but no, Jesus was tired, hungry, hurt by his friends and family, mocked, accused, and that was before he even was killed. He slept outside a lot.
Often, we don’t have the mental picture of just how difficult it must have been for him, as a man, though He was God.
So, no, no one gets out of suffering. He wasn’t floating around in a nimbus, people, not feeling the burn of walking everywhere. That’s not how it happened.
But Christian artists have always portrayed Jesus as somewhat above suffering. Not I think, out of a lack of understanding perhaps, always.
But because they recognize that our inner self, that is what makes suffering seem impossible or bearable to us.
Jesus was strong on the inside, so He rose above his circumstances. He was not raised by rich parents, in a well known district. He came from Nazareth, the bad town of the ancient world. Everyone thought it was awful.
He has his high moments, to be sure. His entrance to Jerusalem, he was worshiped, given gold, frankincense, and myrrh by the wise men.
The point I’m making here is that Jesus wasn’t always sad or always suffering, but he certainly wasn’t always doing well either.
His life, like ours, had its ups and downs.
So when Christians say that God will make your life better, we don’t mean your problems will go away. We mean that God will get in your problems and make it better for you.
And I would say that’s the truth, in my experience.
I had depression and anxiety, they didn’t just go away because of my faith (they have gone away mostly now, though). But while I had them, I felt God with me. Not always in a distinct feeling of peace, but at least, I felt like I was not alone.
I think that’s the worst part, really being alone. Ever notice that no matter what experience we suffer, the loneliness part is always the worst. Even if it’s painful in other ways, somehow what horrifies us is that we’re alone.
Humans do not like to be alone.
It’s funny too, I’ll see people online saying they like to be alone–in a public comment section, where they’re commenting on other peoples thoughts and getting likes and comments back.
I’m thinking “you don’t like to be alone, you’re asking for sympathy from strangers, and giving your opinions on their lives, because that’s just a less risky way to have companionship. You get to have it on your terms, that’s all. You’re not truly trying to be alone.”
Let’s say no one who’s on the internet is ever trying to really be alone.
Maybe if you go off the grid and live in a log cabin without a phone, then you’re really trying to be alone–and you’re not reading this post then.
I do notice though, that people who say they want to be alone, have small dreams.
Like it or not, we need other people to make our dreams happen. I know mine never would have happened without people–and some of them literally require other people participating to make happen at all. I can’t marry and have kids with myself, can I?
So, no, I don’t leave other people out of my dreams.
And I submit everything to God.
The word says if you commit your ways to the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart.
This doesn’t mean, I think, that we get every single thing we want. I think that there are desires that God gives us, in our lives, that He will make happen, if we don’t go against His will.
Often something would only be good for us if it was through God. Otherwise, it would end badly.
Not just because God won’t bless it if it’s not through Him, but often the ways we try to get things without God are very selfish. We lie, we steal, we cheat. We try to get ahead.
I don’t really want to be rich, now.
I’ve wondered if it would be nice, but honestly, I think if I didn’t have to work, I’d feel pretty useless. I would like to be well off enough to work only at what I like doing, instead of what I hate to do, but, that’s not a requirement, it’s just what I prefer.
But if I got a billion dollars or something and never need to work again, I’d feel empty.
Sure, a lot of money would help me…
But honestly, right now, there’s not that many problems I have that I really need to fix with money. There’s a few, and long term, yes, I’ll need more.
But I can say for what I need right, now, I have enough. And I’ve noticed that’s always the case. God has never given me an overwhelming amount of wealth, but He’s always given me as much as I need for my current expenses. And that’s been true even as my expenses increased.
Sometimes I want to get ahead, and I get frustrated that I can’t, but I know I have no real reason to complain.
It’s the same with my dreams. They didn’t all happen when I wanted. And they still haven’t all happened.
But enough of them have happened for me to know that God is good.
And I’ll get the other things, if I need them.
Though I don’t think that God only does things when we need them. I do think some stuff is just for the fun of it. Just because we want them, too. But that’s more depending on if it will hurt us or not. You can’t be more generous than God, but He knows what we need to be happy.
That’s the thing too, I think that’s maybe why I haven’t gotten further ahead. Working for all this makes me feel more satisfied with my life.
Would I really be happier if it was easier for me?
I don’t know. I kind of doubt it, somehow.
I do hope that one day I can live below my means and still have enough, but, I’m trying not to worry about it anymore.
See, goals and money problems were what plagued my dad constantly while I was growing up. The funny thing was, we were never starving or homeless. I’d say we really weren’t that bad off. But he obsessed over every money problem anyway.
And all his other goals, he’d forget about them and just worry about business.
And, we never had that many other goals. We’d talk about it, but eventually it always came back to business. He didn’t stick to any other goal.
My dad is good at business, so it’s not like it’s not his gift, but I thought it should have made him happier than it did.
That’s why I have other goals, ones I don’t have to pay for.
And some things I will have to pay for. Both.
Because success isn’t just in money, but money is usually part of success. Put that on a plaque.
So yeah, you know, I’m happy.
Lastly, let me say, I do still sometimes have the fear that all this will go away just as fast as it came.
And it’s true there are no guarantees in life.
But I realize that this was kind of hurting my ability to enjoy it.
I’m not perfectly good at blocking out worry yet. I think it would be hard for someone like me, who’s been like that most of her life, to unlearn it in 1 or 2 years, but, I am better than I was.
See, I’ve heard the cliche that you won’t fix it by worrying, but I only recently started to realize just how logical that is.
I guess I lacked maturity before to really embrace it. And this is not an age thing, so many older women than I are obsessed with worries and fears.
So I say if I’ve changed, it must be a God thing.
So, to get back on topic, not every dream may happen. And some things that I have now, I may not have later.
Hoesn thoguh…so what?
I mean there are always other things you can do. The world is full of stuff, why get hung up on losing or having one thing, or one person.
True people are not replaceable, but you can always let new ones in.
I mean if I quit because of bad experiences, I’d have quit years before I made any real friends.
That’s the thing, why do we give up? Why do we settle for our life the way it is. Nearly every problem gets better with enough time, energy, and innovation to try to fix it.
I mean you can make money at home in so many ways now, you can’t have really tried everything if you’re broke.
Maybe there’s so many things we can do, that we can’t settle on one.
I really do suggest making a dream list then. Things you always wanted to do, or things that just sound fun to you.
Try to do them. At least one of them. In the next year.
I should get started on mine.
Happy New Year to you all, and stay honest–Natasha.
You ever talk to a Christian who thinks everything has to have some spiritual tagline?
Like a coffee shop has to be called “Holy Grounds” or “He brews” (My churches’ coffee shop is just called Cafe Vida as a nod to the Churches’ name, but, that actually sounds like a normal cafe name. Guess we dodged that bullet.)
Or Christian gum? Or Christian versions of literally everything? if you go to a Christian bookstore, you’d be surprised how many eye-rolling puns and rebranding you’ll find. (Heck, it’s like going into Hot Topic but without the punk goth style.)
I’ve grown up around this stuff and some of it always seemed a little odd. Other stuff, it seemed cheesy but harmless.
And honestly, I don’t think cheesy rebranding is really that big a problem. People make fun of Christians for it, but, in a culture where anime fans buy plushies and body pillows based on fictional characters, and write fan fics shipping themselves with real and imaginary people, and there’s a brand store for pretty much every group out there (including Satanists) I think we could all just acknowledge that it’s not a Christian thing to be cheesy, it’s a human thing.
We like to have our little groups and to make our merch for them.
Nothing really wrong with that.
However, I’ve noticed that the attitude of everything needing to be Christian can also translated into “everything needs to be spiritual.” Everything needs to be rebranded into a certain interpretation.
I’m guessing you clicked don this post for one of three reasons.
You’re a Christian who is already set to be offended by anything I say to criticize Christians–or you may secrets agree with me about it and don’t have an outlet at your church.
You’re a non-Christian who wants to read about how nuts Christians are (very popular now I know)
You actually follow me and read it because I haven’t posted in a month or so. (In which case, thank you so much for your support.)
I’m probably going to annoy you if you’re group 1, I don’t know about the other two.
Now to be clear, I’m not hating on my fellow believers. By and large they are the nicest people I meet, no matter where I go. Sure, there’s some bad apples, but, if I took the bulk of non-believer I met, and the bulk of believers, the believers would win out as to who has been the most kind, helpful, supportive, and positive influence in my life.
However, my critique is more than Christians only help with some things, but often have this weird blind spot that I think is not biblical and not wise, especially in this day and age where people’ have forgotten all common sense approach to anything in life.
In fact that’s what I think we’re missing as a whole: Common sense.
Or, wisdom, if you prefer the Bible word (see what I did there?).
Some people also call it discernment, but that often gets mistaken as just being about spirtual warfare. In relay, discernment needs to be a skill evyeron uses, even if you’re not a believer.
What made me start thinking about this right now (thought not for the first time) was a conversation I had with a friend at the Bible study group last night.
This guy had shared several months ago about a problem with losing his enthusiasm for doing spiritual things. He still has his faith and still love the Lord, but doesn’t feel the same drive to pray, fast, or worship. He was worried that his closeness with God was being damaged.
Honestly, I could relate to it, as I’ve had the same feeling for a couple years now. However, in working through it in my life, I’d come to see some things about it.
My immediate reaction was to say I thought it was probably just the normal dying down of enthusiasm. This guy has been a Christian less than 4 years, and I would have expected it to happen a lot sooner. We all eventually lose the first passion and have to replace it with something deeper.
However, I was the only one who had this perspective.
They meant well, but every other person in the group jumped either to “some unknown sin” (Think of Job’s comforters in that story) or to “spiritual attack” and that we needed to pray it away and stuff.
Well, I knew that wasn’t going to work. And I wished I had a chance to talk to him more about it because I felt sure I knew the real problem. But then, I wondered if I was just being arrogant and thinking I knew best, as I usually do.
Months go by and I don’t hear any more about it, but then yesterday, he brings it up again and asks if we can talk about it (well I offered too since he was asking for prayer, but he was eager).
So me, and my sister sat down and heard the story.
I can’t lay it all out, but suffice it to say a lot of lifestyle changes, new responsibilities, and probably just the natural passage of time’s effects on our emotions seemed like the root cause. There was no sin, no religious trauma (this guy didn’t grow up in church really so it’s not an aversion to spiritual things based on past experiences) and no one in his life was really making it harder. It’s just that life changes, and our passion and energy change with it.
And since the issue had not changed, despite the prayer and other “Spiritual” advice, my sister and I figured we were right. It wasn’t sin or warfare.
After we got done talking, the guy said what we said did seem to help a little. And we asked what was helpful and he said that while he’d talked to our pastor and other believers about it, no one had really given him the practical angle like we did.
Our suggestions were mostly lifestyle based.
We didn’t say to pray the problem away, to fast, or to worship.
My personal thought was he probably over did it as a new Christian, and that was why he was burned out on it. But I didn’t say it that way, I just suggested trying other things to connect with God that weren’t so spiritual, and that it was fine to use things like exercise, (my sister suggested using art, movies, and stories to find meaning that God might have for you).
I also suggested (as I always do) to read a book. The Screwtape Letters talks a lot a
bout spiritual burnout and how to deal with it. And it’s an easy read, while a lot of theology books aren’t (I love them but, they’re very dry usually.)
Whether bro will take our advice or not, he seemed relieved that we didn’t make the whole thing into even more of a spiritual crisis.
The real problem here is often that we start to feel guilt and shame for not wanting to do these things.
Personally, I’ve found it much easier to pray when I’m exercising, whether it’s just walking (what many people do), or dancing, or literally lifting weights and doing pushups. It’s easier to worship that way too.
Sometimes activating my body helps me and my soul and mind. And that’s not a new idea. Paul wrote that bodily exercise is good, but spiritual exercise is better. (1 Timothy 4:8)
C. S. Lewis addressed the loss of early enthusiasm in the Christian walk many times in his writings, like The Screwtape Letters:
“Let him assume that the first ardours of his conversion might have been expected to last, and ought to have lasted, forever, and that his present dryness is an equally permanent condition.” [Chapter 9]
He also states that we forget that we are mind, soul, and body. That if we treat our body unwisely, it will make our spiritual lives harder. We’re all united.
Also why doing the right things will make our bodies healthier. There’s scientific research to back this up, but anyone who paid attention really would notice the same thing in the people around them. My family members who lived the most sinful, undisciplined lives ended up with a myriad of health issues, while the ones who did not have even for the most part, the healthiest.
Now it’s not always true, some chronic disease are just genetics or not our choice, but, it’s true more times than it isn’t, in my opinion (And health experts agrees).
That said, do you know how many times I’ve heard any Christian go to that when someone tells them a problem.
It’s weird to me actually, how divorced we are from our everyday lives when we go to church.
I’ve heard plenty of believes give life advice that was practical when they were having our outside of church–some of them still rely solely on spiritual stuff, but many will suggest lifestyle changes outside church–but insides church, they will only say prayer, fasting, worship, whatever.
It’s like we’re ashamed to be normal human beings with normal problems.
This attitude is not remotely biblical. I’m not even sure how it got so widespread. and it’s not even just America.
I used to go to an African church (I mean they mostly were Africans who went to it, it wasn’t in Africa), and they were actually more this way. Anything could ever be cussed just by health issues, it was always the devil. Nothing could ever be irresponsibility on your part, it was la the devil attacking you.
Maybe here and there one person might suggest it was something else, but, they never really got much attention.
It was so weird for me. I mean, I wasn’t sure whether to agree or not.
But going to many different churches in my life, and listened to different problems people have, I’ve thought most of the time “You know that to could easily be resolved if you’d just mature, or make a change to your life that would be smart. You don’t need prayer, you need discipline!”
I’m not by any means saying we shouldn’t pray about everything (Philippians 4:6). But there’s another aspect of this the Bible covers, particularly in the book of James. Which makes it clear that we are not to only pray for people’s blessings. We are also supposed to bless them ourselves, if we have the means to do so’
14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?…15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” [James 2]
And there are chapters and chapters of how Christians are supposed to live, how we are supposed to grow in self control and kindness and modesty (not the clothing kind).
So it’s not as if God doesn’t make it clear that we need to address our mind and our bodies as well as our soul.
I don’t know why this has gone out of the Church’s Sunday Sermons, Bible Studies, and general ideology so much. At most, we give lip service to it. But people often get very offended if you dare to advise them on any practical matters.
(Though some of us would be really glad for it.)
Despite being raised in a Christian home, where my parents both turn to the spiritual aspect more than anything else when they address issues, I’ve always rushed more to any practical explanation first.
Actually, that’s probably why. For years I’ve watched my father deal with lifestyle and behavioral issues, and he always went for prayer on them…and nothing happened.
I don’t think it’s that prayer isn’t a real help for many people. I think it’s that prayer must be followed by our actions. Unless it’s a situation that we can’t do anything about. But, if we’re honest, 80% of our problems are ones we could easily do something about, and people often use prayer as an excuse to do nothing.
They act as if God will take care of it. God will magically change your personality and life habits for you.
Yeah, well, even if God could do this, why would He?
Don’t you think God might find it demeaning to be asked to fix problems for you that you could fix yourself? Many parents and even professionals find it annoying to be asked to fix stuff for people that they could fix on their own.
And like your mom when she cleans your room, if God fixes your easy problem, He may do it by eliminating some things you don’t necessarily want gone, because it gets to that point where it’s too frustrating to deal with it anymore. (I mean that sounds like what happened to the Israelites when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.)
I guess the big question now is why do we do this? And how harmful is it?
I’ve spent some time describing why we need to take action in the here and now, but is thre really any reason not to say that’s also spiritual.
Well, according to James, it is spiritual. True religion is serving the people who won’t be able to pay you back for it. Often, who won’t thank you for it.
C. S. Lewis said that kind of true Christian would be someone who seems to always have a lot of time, and never talks about their problems extensively or their achievements.
I’m not there yet, certainly. But Lewis tried to practice what he preached. He tried not to think of his influence on people, as one of his friends documented. (An introduction to the the Weight of Glory tells the story.)
That said, Lewis was always wary of spiritual pride. The temptation to think that being more “in the know” about spiritual things makes you better than non-believers, or even new believers.
And we do that a lot in the modern church (I suspect it’s always been the biggest problem in any church, really).
We don’t think of it as pride.
But when we tell someone who’s opening up about a struggle that they should just pray more, or do this or that spiritual thing, but we don’t offer any other help to them, that’s pride.
It’s like saying “If you did all these spiritual things I did, you wouldn’t have problems.”
Chonda Pierce, a famous Christian comedian, told how in her struggles with depression, that was what got on her nerves the most when people told her. No one just wanted to listen to her vent and be supportive. Judgment free.
Most of us probably mean well (I’ve done it myself once or twice), thinking that’s just what we’re supposed to say–and then there are some who are just mean and dismissive because they truly don’t care.
Either way, it doesn’t help, but people generally forgive the first kind more easily.
The thing is, this or that said in prayer doesn’t always really matter. Shocking I know. But God knows our hearts. He knows what we mean, the Bible says that too. Saying magic words doesn’t make anything different.
There are things you can learn to pray for better, sure, but I never thought formulas were a good idea. Too much like the way pagans worship their false gods. Repetition. Jesus warned about that.
And he warned that over complicating things is also the work of futile religion.
The best thing to do is pray simply and honestly about what you need, thank God, and ask forgiveness. in some measure all of us should be praying those three things on a regular basis. Whether you do it daily in that order, or you do it was the need arises.
The bible also never says how long to pray, or how many days a week you should. Though it does support doing it every day, it sounds like in some place, but God never commands it in the New Testament in so many words. Jesus says “our daily bread” as the closest thing to it.
I’m not saying you should pray every day, but I’m saying that people make up all these standards. Pray for an hour, pray for half an hour, pray 5 times a day…and it’s all unnecessary.
Pray when you can, when you should, and when God leads you. Figure out the rest to fit your life, that’s what I tell people.
Reality is, especially if you’re a parent, you can’t devote hours every day to prayer. Telling people that’s the answer is ridiculous.
Telling people that more worship will fix every issue they’re having is also ridiculous.
Yes, it may help. Worship does help us relax, it does help a lot of things, but, that doesn’t mean you should be doing what you can on your end.
An old saying is “Heaven helps those who help themselves.” It’s not the bible, but the Bible does say to work and to live wisely. which is pretty much the same thing. That phrase has fallen out of popularity in our entitled, spoiled generations.
Honestly, people who work hard to make what they want happen often don’t demand as much from God anyway, and are more grateful for the hlep He does give. But they often need less to begin with because they do work for themselves.
And why should we earn part of our own success? There are things only God can give you, it’s true, but you have to remember the parable of the talents. Everyone has so much and they need to do so much with what God gives them, or it goes to waste.
And all this asking God to give you more, instead of figuring out how to use what you have better, is not a good lifestyle.
And this applies to mental health issues as well. People ask for prayer for anxiety and depression all the time…if you dare to suggest that they probably should exercise more, cut down on sugar, sotp reading angsty teen novels or watching depressing movies, and stop hanging around people who only company ob t life–well then you’re part of the problem. You dared to expect something from them.
Look, I don’t know how else to say it, if something is enough of a problem for you to ask for prayer from other people about it (since most of us don’t like sharing our problems anyway) then it’s nos you need to be willing to take action to fix.
And who’s to say God does not answer prayer by simply telling you what to do to make it better? Many of my prayers have been answered that way. And many people I know have shard similar stories.
Like when Naaman asked a prophet what to do to be cured of leprosy, and he was told to bathe in the Jordan River 7 times. He refused at first, thinking it was too silly and unnecessary, and his servants asked him “if he had asked you to do a hard thing, would you have done it?”
And so, realized that it was simple to do it, he did, and he was cured.
Simple things can be the hardest, because we can do them ourselves, we just don’t want to.
And we’re afraid to tell each other that, because peopel get the most offended when you say they need to change.
But, that’s life. Most things in life only change when you yourselves change. Tough crap if you don’t like it.
One more thing…
Perhaps a lot of this sounded only like basic common sense after all, and nothing really unusual.
But what if I said I don’t even think the attending church weekly, and participating in ministry is really most of what Christianity is about.
That might shock you.
Ministry is important, but, again, most of the ministry done through church is just more church. More 6 week lesson series, studies and prayer meetings.
Which is fine, but, rarely changes anyting in your life big time.
Helping the person you sit next to in school, on the bus, at work, that’s much closer to real Christianity.
But those are the poele who often annoy us the most, aren’t they?
Or being kind to your own family, that’s not the popular topic now, is it?
But that’s what the Bible, and really, most faiths that have nay merit at all, describe as real righteousness. Personal and private life things being in order before public or professional ones.
Yes, the public ones are important, but never as much as private, though it’s counter-intuitive to most of us to think of it that way.
But a thought to keep in mind is that Jesus Himself did not often attend church, though He did go to temple when he was in town and could. Before they drove Him out.
Jesus spent the majority of his time traveling, eating, drinking, and teaching his followers. He settled disputes, provided food, and did many miracles in private, not public. He taught often about how to live with your neighbor and your brother, not with your public.
Why? Because that’s what He was really about fixing.
And how to live with God. How to honor Him truly. How to show Him your love.
Jesus didn’t have 4 worship songs, a prayer time at the end of service, and offering.
All that was a part of his life, but in a different way. He wove it into his full life, he never separated the two like we are.
And compartmentalizing it into just chruch stuff is part of our problem. We should see following God as holistic.
You can follow God while you’re working out at the gym, reading a book, babysitting, taking kids to school, doing a desk job, doing a physical labor job, teaching, sleeping, showering, whatever.
Do everything as to the Lord, the Bible says. [Colossians 3:23]
And if any area of your life is out of balance, the best way to serve the Lord is to bring it into balance, whether you need a physical, mindful, emotional, or spiritual solution. Often it’s more than one thing.
Adn yes, there’s time to use prayer and fight on another plane, but, it should usually be only one step, not the only step period.
Food for thought, and I think I’ll end there.
TLDR: We do this because we’re afraid to admit we have non-spiritual problems because it makes us sound more ordinary and we think a good Christian should be spiritual.
But, we’re all human and it’s part of life to have normal problems too, which sometimes need normal solutions as much as spiritual ones.
Thanks for reading, and until next time, stay honest–Natasha.
I’ve written about the Chosen before (see The Chosen). I started out liking the show but after season 3 I had problems with it, and now, I’ve had to watch season 4 as part of a Church thing (not because I wanted to).
And I think I now have a better idea of what I think about it than before, and I am more sure that season 3 was not just a fluke. Season 4 was already on shaky ground, but after the death of Raymah, and subsequent alterations they made to match that, it has completely derailed from scripture.
Even where the Word says that Jesus lost none of His followers. [See John 16 and 17:6-12 especially vs. 12.]
I think the Chosen has a real problem with certain parts of the Bible, and the Faith of Christianity and I’m going to detail why in 10 points.
So let’s do this thing:
1. Sometimes it’s more risky to show miracles then it is to show tragedy.
Actually, it’s always more risky.
It’s a strange truth about human beings, we find it easier to accept bad things happen, then good things.
The easiest way to prove this is to ask yourself how your expectations are effected by a positive or negative outcome of any situation.
When something ends badly, and the same situation repeats itself again, is your first thought to expect it to go wrong? Or do you clear the board and have no expectations?
And conversely, even if it goes well, do you still think it will go badly the third time? Or, at least, are you just as worried about it?
How many good experiences does it take to cancel out a negative one?
And how many negative experiences does it take to ruin something for you?
The problem is that many people treat God like this.
When I looked at the controversy around Season 4’s killing off of Raymah, (who was not a biblical character to begin with, so I guess they thought they could get away with it) the most common defense fans made of the decision was that it was a good risk to take in storytelling, and that it was good to depict that God does not always answer prayers.
Which is a rather presumptuous statement. How do we know that God does not always answer prayers? The answer may simply be one we did not understand.
It is true that we don’t always get what we want.
Therefore, according to the writers, it’s okay to change the Word of God, as long as it makes a point that is not found in scripture, but is a common teaching of the modern church.
The Chosen writers claim they are not changing the Word of God, that they are simply depicting the story.
What I find interesting about this claim is that it’s like they think as long as they are not writing the words into the physical Bible, they are not changing the Word of God.
Did they forget that the stories of Jesus were originally passed down through oraltradition, just like every other religion’s stories. The Gospels were not written for a few decades after Jesus died. (Probably they were written because many of the first Disciples had died and so there were less people who could tell eye witness accounts of it, and the writers of the Gospels realized they needed a record of it.)
But for the first 20-4o years, all we knew about Jesus was by word of mouth. And that was enough.
So it was crucial that they told it accurately.
And the writers of the Chosen also seem to ignore that most of Jesus’ teachings were in story form: Parables, and that changing the words Jesus used would change the parable’s meaning.
Not to mention how often both Jesus, and other prophets used visual teaching aids to make their point. Temples, rocks, trees, dust, etc.
So yeah, the Bible has always been passed down through oral and visual means, not just the written word, and if you change it in spoken or visual depiction, which a TV show would be, you are still changing the word of God.
Words are spoken before they are written aren’t they? If you change what God said in what you speak, performance or otherwise, you are changing his Word. Like a false prophet would not give accurate prophecies.
This is not to say nothing the chosen has done has ever not been good. They do show some things as they happened, and that is going to have power, no matter how mutilated the rest of the show is…
But that does not excuse it.
The thing is, even if the imitation has some power, the unfiltered word of God always has more power than a paraphrase. The real thing is always better. And this is true of all things.
You’ve seen copies of great art, or remakes of movies, even when they are good, do they ever hit you quite the same way the first one did? No…there’s a freshness in originality that moves us more than imitating it does, no matter how well we do it.
Knock off brands are never as good as name brand food, or clothing, or medicine, or anything.
Iconic things are iconic for a reason.
2. The Pride of Assuming we can make God’s point better than He can.
The disturbing thing about people’s justifying changing the Word of God because it’s more ‘realistic” is that it’s very arrogant to assume we just know what God thinks about things.
Tragedy is real, I’m not the type to ignore that.
But the whole story of the Bible is about how God will overcome all evil in the world, including the evil of loss.
So it was important that Jesus overcome all evilest he was faced with, in His time on Earth.
The only time Jesus ever failed was when it depended on people’s free will to accept him. Which healing and resurrection do not. That is a different matter.
But when it came stopping to the things that plague our world, Jesus never failed to do that. You won’t find one story incident of Jesus saying no to someone who asked for healing, or failing to resurrect anyone he wanted to.
In fact, it’s kind of surprising that Jesus never once said no…almost like it wasn’t about worthiness.
(BTW, Jesus raised at least 3 people from the dead. The Chosen and most other depictions of the Gospels leave out the widow’s son for some reason.)
What I find odious about what the the writers of the Chosen are doing is that they are using the Word of God, which God meant for His own purpose when He had it recorded and told tho the world, to instead teach a message of their own.
It really wouldn’t matter in the least if they are right or not about they way God sees loss. I think it’s not really as simple as they made it out to be.
People like to act as if there is only one reason anyone ever dies, but the Bible actually teaches clearly that there are many reasons someone can die. Sometimes it’s sin, sometimes it’s just their time, sometimes it’s evil on someone’s part, and sometimes it’s so that God can do a miracle (which is the most rare, but happens.)
Or some may give up their life willingly as an act of sacrifice.
God seems to see death as a complex issue, and since, to us, it certainly is complicated to experience loss, I’m glad the Bible does not give a generic answer to the problem. That would be kind of silly. And show it was not a true faith.
That said, the Chosen has no business trying to simplify it either into something so packaged and vague that you can’t ever say for sure if it’s legitimate or not.
The reason for not raising Raymah from the dead given is that “it’s not her time.”
But, God no where in the entire Bible, not just the Gospel, says that it’s not someone’s time to be resurrected. That reason never comes up, there’s not that many cases of resurrection in the Bible, but none of them contain that.
God also, to my knowledge (and I did look it up to be sure), never even says that there is a set time for people to be raised to life, aside from the final ressurrection, which is of a different kind.
So they are making this up as way to explain to people why they do not get what they want.
Because, you know, so many of us ask for resurrections on a regular basis…
Yeah, I’ve never asked for that.
Making the lesson about resurrection is suck a presumption because it’s a mystery even in the Bible why and how God does it.
Now the message bout not all prayer being answered (at least right away) could be addressed, but it should have been around something that the Bible addresses itself, not something that we have no authority to speak on. Because, we really don’t. We don’t know the rules. We shouldn’t presume to know God’s reasons for things when He does not outright give them to us.
Do you think I’m being a snob? But God says in His word: “My ways are Higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:9]
I’m showing the respect to God that I think He deserves.
And I don’t set up my own wisdom to be the authority on God’s ways. I only know that by His own Word, which He gave us to judge by, this does not line up.
And that should really have won the argument right there. That anyone can even still supports this is telling about how little anyone in our cultural respects the Bible anymore.
There are a few people who agree with me, but, they seem to be in the minority, even out of the Christian audience.
3. Our own lack of faith is being used to justify this writing decision.
Because we find it hard to believe in miracles we don’t see everyday, that makes it okay to say Jesus would not have always done them…because that sounds too good to be true.
Newsflash: Jesus is supposed to sound too good to be true. That’s how we know He was God in the flesh. If he wants limited the way a man is limited, we’d know he was just a prophet, which is what the Muslims believe.
But we believe He was God, so you cannot limit Him like a man.
Case in point: When Jesus cast a demon out of a boy his disciples couldn’t cast out, He was able to do it easily, He had more authority that His disciples who He said would need to have prayed more, and fasted, in some versions, to do it.
Almost like Jesus, the one who gave them authority, inherently has more authority than them. Who is greater? The one who bestows authority? Or the one it’s bestowed on?
Heck, even Disney’s Aladdin got this right. “The [genie] gave you your power, he can take it away.”
4. The Chosen plays it safe.
While it has no problem putting in things that out right contradict scripture, the Chosen also is omitting everything in the Gospel that would actually be difficult for the moderm audience.
As I said, it’s astonishingly easy for people to accept tragedy. As evidenced by how many people accepted Raymah’s death, and who are showing disgust with those of us who think it was wrong to write it in.
But strangely, the topics Jesus taught on that would really be a problem for our modern culture, they have been omitted from the entire show.
I kept expecting them to start including more stories and sermons, but they haven’t.
Like Jesus’ teaching on marriage, it would not be popular now, so they omitted it.
They omitted His teaching on any and all political issues, which He didn’t cover a lot, but did a few times.
They omitted His teaching on hell entirely, which does not surprise me. Most people do when they cover the Gospels.
The omitted His teaching on many other things, his parables of the talents, the poor stewards, the last days, the servants, the straight and narrow way to life…anything that might make anyone uncomfortable.
By contrast, teachings about forgiveness and acceptance of differences never really bother that many people. There are some who think it’s too lenient, but in our culture, for the most part, it’s approved of to preach acceptance and forgiveness.
And those are important, and undoubtedly the best parts of the Chosen, when they do focus on it. But they waste so much time on things that never happened, and they don’t cover many things that did.
Jesus did so, so much more than what they’ve shown.
And you may say: “Well they don’t have the budget to show all of those things.”
I’m aware they don’t. No one could…but it would take less budget to pay for people to just sit and talk, which most of the preaching would be, or to show parables, when they are very simple stories, than it would to pay for all these action scenes that were never real.
And to me, it’s disrespectful, it’s like saying Jesus didn’t do enough things worth talking about for them to cover, they have to add all this stuff He never did, to make it more interesting…because the Gospel was not interesting enough already.
And yes, it may not interest everyone…but if people are watching the show to learn about Jesus…then they need to learn about Jesus.
But the story is supposed to be about his followers!
The show says it’s about the lives of the people He called…but what were they learning?
Peter said Jesus had the words of life?
If we’re going to show the disciple’s lives, it’s imperative that we show what they were really hearing and experiencing, not making up stuff that never happened to them.
(FYI, they were never stoned either. The attempt was made on Jesus, alone, but, He escaped, and none of the disciples were injured at any point. That was all a flat out lie.)
And I don’t object to then the how just covers them having fun with each other, or having asides that do world building. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you can stay within the realm of possibility based on the Gospels, without committing heresy and blasphemy by portraying Jesus incorrectly.
And it is, whatever they say, incorrect. If you cut out all the hard things Jesus taught, like about divorce, and hell, and judgment…then you cut out part of Jesus…and that cuts out some of the power of His message and life.
And without the full power of it, what are we basing our lives on?
5. What this twisting of the story is really doing:
I hope that all this is not intentional on the writers’ part…
But unfortunately, I kind of think it is.
I don’t see how it couldn’t be. They are studying the Bible to write this show, they know what they are doing is not biblical. They know it’s changing the events of the Bible to suit a more ‘dramatic narrative.”
But they are also changing it so that it matches more their image of God.
Someone who is patient.
Someone who confronts people who are judgmental, the pharisees, but only for the reasons we are okay with. Like objecting to healing.
Never for the reason that we don’t like, like think they knowGod better than Jesus did…
Wow…something that might actually make us question the writing of the show.
I mean, clearly, the writers of the Chosen just understand Jesus better than us. They’re doing all this research…you know, with non-Christian scholars (look it up), to really understand what the founder of our faith was all about.
And they clearly leave out half of what He taught (if not more) because they just understand what we need to see about Jesus, more than we do.
And heck, they know most people no longer read the Bible or care what it says, so they’ll get away with it.
And that’s not exploiting the ignorance of the population, and the gullibility of new Christians who don’t know better yet, in order to make money…Since they run this thing on donations.
And of course, us all subscribing to it on our streaming platforms….
I mean, there’s no ulterior motive here at all.
(I notice they also left out Jesus’ teaching about money for the most part….though they do represent greed as a bad thing…I think. But more sympathetically than other sins.)
6. What this show represents is False Gospel.
And people being okay with it because they think it’s a better story show two things:
a. We have fallen very far off track in the Western church and our love of scripture. We don’t love it anymore, we’re embarrassed by it. Because all of it does not fit pop culture. So, changing it is for the best in our eyes.
b. People do not really understand the beauty and wisdom of the Gospels.
I’m a simple woman in one way only: If I say I believe the Bible, I mean I believe all of it. Even the parts I don’t like, the parts that confuse me, and the parts that seem hard.
Because, I accept that I am not all knowing. That God has always seemed difficult to understand to all poeple, in all times…but that is not unusual in life.
All the most real and beautiful things in life are hard to understand.
Love is.
Great art is.
Wisdom that really works for life is.
Life itself, with all its complex functions, is hard to understand.
So is the biological life we experience, and the natural world, they are hard to understand.
Even the things that are unpleasant have a purpose, and thousands of years ago we did know what many of them were, but we do now.
Why should God be any different? How could He be? He made the other things.
So yes, I don’t understand it all…but I don’t need to.
I accept God’s real because I have seen Him work in my life and the lives other, and I know He is real and true. so I can accept what I don’t know.
Not being able to do this, either on in a show,or in real life, seems to show a lack of faith to me.
Also a lack of sincerity.
If it it’s so hard to believe that Jesus was as powerful as He was, but that in our lives, we don’t get everything that we want…well…
Tough.
7: A response to these issues
See, our loss does not make it okay to scoff at someone else’s blessing. No more in the modern day than it did 2000+ years ago.
Just as Peter asked if John would die for his faith, as Jesus warned Peter he would, and Jesus said ” What is that to you? You follow me.”
See, John did not die for his faith, he was the only one who did not.
Peter picked the right one, I guess.
John was exiled,but, he died of old age.
Would it really have made Peter feel better if he knew John would die also?
Is someone else sharing our suffering necessary for us to bear it?
I think not. I think that’s selfish.
And Jesus told Peter He wouldn’t answer that.
And that the same for us, I think.
No, we do not all get the same miracles… We all get our own. However many we get.
And more than we like realize, since we’re not privy to all things that could be trying to harm us in our lives.
But, that does not mean we should presume to know why.
Jesus didn’t explain Himself.
I think that it did not need to be explained.
God knows the allotment of suffering we all will get.
Yeah, it’s disproportionate…but, what in life is ever in equal amounts to all people’?
Never in nature, only humans ever try to give everyone the same amount, and how often does that backfire as we realize that not everyone can have the same amount.
Two people can eat two different amounts of the same food.
Some people can’t even eat some foods.
We’re not all ready for the same thing. We’re not able to do the same things.
People who lose people in their lives now and feel the need to project that into the Gospel to feel validated…well, they are playing a dangerous game.
Both the writers, and often the fans.
I can’t stress this enough: THE GOSPEL IS NOT A VEHICLE FOR YOUR PERSONAL PROBLEMS AND YOUR ATTEMPTS TO RECONCILE THEM WITH YOUR CONCEPT OF GOD.
You learn from the Gospel, you do not use it to promote your own solutions to things that are not officially in the faith. Not as if they are doctrine, anyway.
Do we really need something so pathetic as needing to think Jesus let people die who were following him, in order to feel better about our suffering?
As if we’re the same as those people?
We’re not in the same time and place they were.
Some times just have more protection then others.
(Though, in my life, I’ve heard probably hundreds of stories by now of people being held, and even of being resurrected a few times and either I assume every single person was lying, even ones I know personally to be honest people, or, I assume that God still–shock–does miracles.)
I don’t see this as an issue.
And I don’t think they needed to waste our time with lies, just to push some half baked doctrine.
There are some passage in the Bible about prayers not being answered right away, but they are for more than one reason.
It can be lack of persistence. It can be the prayer is delayed by evil forces in the world (see Daniel). Or it can be God says no…but that’s rarely the reason given (to David and Paul are two of the only examples I can think of, for different reasons). Usually, it’s just not the right time.
8. Is everything in the show bad?
I don’t want to go that far. I might make the error of sinning in the opposite way if I do.
Being too judgmental and eager to quench any good the show may do, is not a good attitude to have.
But I must point out some things.
I rarely hear this taught on (only by John Bevere, actually), but not all good things are necessarily God.
At least, they may seem good, but that doesn’t mean they are good.
See, often poeple can start with a good message, or good deed, but do it only to do a worse evil.
Like how a child predator will use affirmation and rewards to lure a child in…but then do unspeakable;e things to them.
And if you think that’s painting it too strong, the word says that Jesus compared twisting His word and causing people to stumble, to misleading and sinning against children, and said it would be better to be drowned with a heavy stone, then to do something like that.
So if Jesus takes false teaching that seriously, then I think we probably should not be so flippant about how media is treating it.
Media like the Chosen takes some good things from the Bible, and dangles it in front of the Christian audience, who are starved of it, because the World tends to mock us and tear us down in entertainment.
So we’re desperate already.
And then they mix in their own twist on it, just when we’re not looking, and start threading it with things that really did happen or are really Biblical, we may not even notice.
The devil loves to use Scripture out of context, He tempted Jesus that way in the wilderness, so why not us?
[Another thing the Chosen constantly does is take the stories of Jesus out of the context he spoke them in, rendering the meaning utterly different. Just recently they did this with the story of the final judgement of the Sheep and the Goats. They made it seem like he was teaching this to explain the idea of the coming kingdom, but He told that story as a warning to His followers, not to correct misconceptions about him. He did address those at other times, but that’s not where this teaching fits into the Bible. It had nothing to do with Mary and the oil. It took place a few days before that on the mount of Olives, and there were no pharisees present, just him and His Disciples, which Matthew 24:3 makes a point of making clear. They ruined the moment of Mary’s anointing just for more e’em impact…but I thought it took away the emotional impact to mix it up with the politics.]
9. What is the Chosen even really about?
I challenge you all to look very carefully at what the message of the Chosen has really become.
Consistently, it is only a message from the most flimsy parts of Christianity (by which I mean, they are making it unbalanced), and hardly even Christianity anymore.
It does focus on the healing and kindness of Jesus to a few people, yes, but, it ignores the main thing He taught.
That His real purpose was to teach us how to follow God the best way, which has not been covered at all by the show.
Not how to pray, how to worship, how to fast, none of the things Jesus said about serving God.
Not even his speech about loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength”
None of His new teachings about being closer to the Father. Like “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.
But Jesus’ whole ministry was to reconcile us to the father.
His healings were part of that. Since physical and demonic ailments often are a hindrance to being close to God. (Also He was compassionate. It can be more than one thing.)
Since all that is gone, the show is very superficial.
It centers around what Jesus did for his disciple, and what He didn’t do…that’s it.
It’s not about God’s glory. It’s not about Jesus’ heart for His father, or His passion for His name.
They have no had the Temple Cleansing scene yet, I’ve heard that they will in season 5.
The issue is that, with the way they wrote this, they are going to make it look as if Jesus did these things just to anger the Pharisees. And the temple cleansing is Him adding to that.
But that was not why Jesus did it, at least, we’re given no hint that it was. It was Him showing zeal for Gods’ house, not to anger the Pharisees.
They take away huge parts of Jesus’ character, and by existence, His Disciples.
It’s not okay to ignore that they were real people.
Jesus is not just an idea you get to use to show whatever side of Him you are comfortable with.
He is His own person, and you should show Him in His own words and deeds.
Who can explain God better than Himself? And who can possibly hope to undrstand Him but Him?
So how can we think changing Jesus, in any way, is acceptable.
I don’t think they need to show ever sin thing He did, but what they do who’s should be what He did, and what He was like, not what we think He should be like.
A if we could ever know that, apreit form Him.
AS C. Lesis wrote, we shold pray to God “not to WAht I think Thou art, but what what Thou knowest Thyself to be.” IF w’re to be really honest about it.
10. My conclusion about the show
Boldly, I think no Christian should support what the Chosen is doing.
The good they have done, I question how good it really can be.
How can showing people a fake version of Jesus really help them?
Yes it may get them to read their bible…
But the thing is, that doesn’t help them, if in doing it, it has taught them to read it looking for the version of Jesus they’re seeing on the screen.
To read it with a bias, and filter out what they don’t like.
And if you think a show could not do that…then you don’t understand psychology. Because media does that all the time to us, and we’re lucky if we’re at least aware of it.
Movies try to make us feel most things are the way they show them, and it’s convincing.
Bad enough they corrupt sex, family, dreams, and art, but, you stay away from my Lord and Savior, you liars.
People will always try to twist Jesus to suit them.
But I must say, I’ve never seen anyone do it so openly, and gt so little flack for it from even Christians.
Yes, skeptics often praise watering down Jesus because they don’t like Him the way He is, but I expect that. Though it annoys me.
But those of us who are supposed to love Him, if we don’t really love Him, as He is…What are we even doing?
Why call yourself a Christian if you don’t like Christ?
No one seems interested in answering these questions who supports this show…
But I still have to keep asking them. I can’t afford to let myself be hypnotized by fancy special effects and decent acting to accept things that are not true.
And no one else should either. You have a responsibility to crack open your bible and find out if this show is right or not.
And not to just to look for it to confirm what you’re seeing, but really, really look.
And sorry to the writers , but any real perusal of the Gospel will show clearly that Jesus is not like what they are showing.
At times, yes, He may be something like it…but never as cut and dried as they want. Never as non-confrontational, or non-controversial.
It’s His teaching that still offends us to this day that gives us a real taste of what it was like to follow him.
And they should cover it, or they should shut up about it, because Jesus does not need you to show only part of who He is to the world. The world can do that itself.
It’s our business to show all of Jesus, as much as we can, since we are entrusted with the spirit and knowledge of Him to do this.
And throwing that away, frankly, makes me wonder if the chosen writers ever really had it to begin with.
But that’s not for me to say. I only wonder how much they can love God, if they would not even show God in the most simple way we have, His word is as simple as it gets, every other experience of God is harder to endure than that, so if you can’t even get that right…
Well, I don’t know. God knows their hearts. Maybe they are sincere.
But it looks bad.
And even if they were, it doesn’t make right, only makes them seem more sympethic.
That said, I urge you all to be careful about this show. Even approving of it partially is still sending a message to the world that we really, honest;y, don’t care that much about our Bible.
Mostly because I think the perspective when you start a fast and when you end it is totally different.
I mentioned before that I have a hard time with the prayer part of fasting.
Well, I decided to do something about that finally, at the urging of the Spirit, I think. And start committing more time each day to God.
So far, it’s not anything spectacular.
But I was watching this YouTube video the other day after I had already started, I’ll try to link it here:
But this lady is talking about how 1st century Christians had it rough, and how we in the West, 21st century are spoiled, I’ve heard it before. I’m tired of it, you know?
But then this part of the video, at the end, that she impressed me with is where the 1st Century Christian makes this summary.
Basically pointing out that we have the Bible, we can meet freely in public, and we can openly have our faith…but we don’t read the Bible, we shirk church, and we hesitate to tell others about our faith. And our pastors often encourage this attitude instead of rebuking it.
And this lady says “I (the 1st century Christian) can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I have it better.”
And I thought that is just so true.
Of course, as many commentators were quick to point out, there’s many countries where it’s still deadly to be a Christian. We in the West can feel like the world revolves around us.
I believe God let us be the safe haven to persecuted Christians for a purpose, so we could support them and give them refuge…but a lot of us don’t even remember that it’s our job. That Paul told us to remember those who suffer for Christ as if it were us ourselves.
I suppose it would do no good to worry about it, but, I do think, I could be more aware of it.
Of course it’s getting more dangerous even in the West, but we’re still a far cry from the East and Middle East.
But it’s a more mature attitude to realize that for all that, it’s better to be real about your faith, even if you’re suffering, than it is to have no real faith, and have it all.
Why do we do this, in the West? We squander what we have, and waste our oppertunities.
Not everyone may be a door to door evangelist, or a street preacher, and nowadays, that isn’t received so well anyway.
But tagging Christian Instagram posts and tweeting Bible verses is not exactly witnessing.
I’m sure it blesses some people, but it’s not witnessing in of itself to do only that, and not get more personal, and that’s where we seem to freak out.
I remember this line from “The Devil Wears Prada” where Nigel confronts Andy about her superior attitude towards the fashion industry. “Most girls would die to work where you only deign to work.”
Couldn’t that be said of us? “Many people would die to do, or say, what we barely deign to do or say.”
I don’t mean to be too harsh. Many of us here have found ways to influences others and minister to them even in our wealthy and overstuffed culture. And I’ not hear to disparage that. What is this blog but my attempt to use the internet as a way to tell people about God, instead of just distract them from Him.
But we can’t deny that, at the very least, we brush things off much more easily than our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world do. We examine ourselves less, and we compromise with the world more.
Case in point:
Pre-fast, I’ve been exposing myself to more and more sexual content in fiction on the net. I don’t do it on purpose, but I read stuff that has it, and I can’t always scroll enough to skip it. (They ought to make some kind of button for that.)
I don’t think it really affects me…at least, at first I thought that.
But sure enough, those thoughts end up in my head more.
I find actually, that for someone like me, the biggest trap of sexual content is not that you start to lust after the characters or actors involved, I don’t, but it’s that you start to read it into everything. You assume it’s there, even when it isn’t. And your mind supplies the subtext.
Even if you don’t like it, you expect it, and it becomes part of the experience for you.
Post-fast, I read something last night that was like that, more than I expected it to be, and I felt so disgusted it surprised me–because I haven’t been feeling that repulsed for a while.
But I just felt like God was looking through my eyes at it, and it embarrassed me, even if I didn’t intend to see it. I scrolled right quick, but I still felt dirty. And yes, I repented, but it was still jarring to have that experience again. In a way, though, it was relief, at least it still bothers me.
Sexual content is tricky. You can be disgusted by it and still find it addicting just because of the way our brains and bodies are wired. Why else do we like cringe comedy?
And we like that judgmental feeling of being above that, but still viewing it.
I know a lot of Christians who fall into that trap.
The good news is, if that’s all it is, you can get out of it fairly easily. Just cutting out the source will usually do it.
A real sexual addiction is much harder to kick, but not impossible, with God. I’m thankful I’ve never had this problem.
Some people would argue that it’s not bad as long as you’re not engaging in it…I don’t think that’s biblical.
But I give into temptation to let it slide.
And I honestly think, that’s more our temptation as young Christians. The devil doesn’t tell us to think it’s good, not at first. He just tells us to let it slide.
Let it slide when you see LGBTQ content that you know is unbiblical, but it’s popular, so don’t knock it.
Let it slide when you see a sexually charged scene, because it’s not like you’re doing it.
Let it slide when people are expressing attitudes that are anti-Christian in a blatant way.
And i don’t mean that they just aren’t Christian themselves, of course we’ll encounter that, but some creators go out of their way to pollute and corrupt Christian ideology when they write about it, I do think that’s dangerous. If you don’t know your bible especially, you’ll believe anything people say about it.
I remember I was watching this Tiktok compilation of people who left Christianity, out of curiosity, thinking maybe I’d understand it better.
And, it was full of bitter, ignorant people who clearly didn’t really know what Christianity taught at all. Their church either failed to explain, or they weren’t paying attention.
And hey, sometimes it’s that you’re not paying attention. Even the worst churches are bound to get something right, I find most people who complain pick and choose what they listen to from a church, instead of listening to all of it. My father could go to a church that taught basically what his Church taught, but find the one point they didn’t express the same way as him, and make that all he heard. And one time I remember he said he didn’t like a worship song’s lyrics, and then misquoted the lyrics to mean something that the song did not actually say. I was astounded by how he could convince himself it was bad, when we’d all heard the same thing…I thought.
One person in the compilation mentioned reading the whole bible all the way through (which in one sitting, or even over a few days, I found questionable, even I can’t do that and I read very fast) and saying she found so many contradictions.
I’ve read the same bible all the way through more than once, and I was like “What contradictions?”
A lot of minor discrepancies are just misunderstandings, which if you research actual scholars, can be cleared up very easily. They can also be mistranslations, depending on what version you use.
And other contradictions the Bible itself will explain, and acknowledge. They are not really contradictions. The God of the Bible is a collection of paradoxes, much like humans are. He’s Just and Merciful. Stern and Kind. And we’re told that we will perceive Him through the lens of how we ourselves act.
Which is just true of world views in general. Ever notice how prideful people think everyone is proud, and selfish people think everyone is selfish? And kind people tend to see more kindness in others. It’s because we look for what we put out.
Maybe I’m just too biased to see the problems with Christianity, but I’ve heard a lot of criticisms launched at it that only proved the people didn’t understand what the religion actually teaches, and only believed some twisted version of it they got from someone else. I mean, if I want to criticize Hitler or Marx’es philosophy, I would read something they actually said, or did. Not just what their enemies said they did. That’s just smart.
All this to say, just because someone disagrees with you does not make them worth listening to. They could be lazy, ignorant, and stubborn. Taking criticism of the faith fro people who actually study the topic is more useful.
But I think we’re a little too trained to listen to all complaints against Christians, from everyone, regardless of whether they are the kind of person who’s likely to be honest about it or not.
To get back to my original point, I think due to all this confusion, we are worst off than early Christians in some ways. Though we have a lot more opportunities.
But valuing God for Himself is the best gift we can have, and that is the thing we struggle with. We devote our time to so much else.
Now, when I started my fast, I only stopped doing one thing. I kept all my other distractions the same.
But you know what? I stopped wanting to do them as much.
Funny, but watching movies, and reading fics just didn’t seem quite as important without this other thing I was already sacrificing. I still did it, but, I just didn’t feel the need to as often. I began doing things outdoors more, interacting more with my sister instead of just sitting alone doing my own thing.
My energy improved. I felt tired at first without the high of my addiction, bu over the last week as I replaced that more with outside time and time with God, and have recover form being sick, I feel much more energized. My mood is better.
You see, this is what I was saying in my other post. When you give up even one thing, you realize how many things you don’t really have to have in your life. It feels like you do, but then it’s gone, and you find there’s always something else you can do. We don’t rely just on one thing.
Fasting makes me a little more disciplined that before, even if it’s for a short time, but usually, after a fast, discipline comes a little easier for a while, that mindset sticks with you for a bit. Eventually, you do lose it, that’s why fasting is supposed to be a reoccurring practice.
My family is also nice enough to encourage me to stick it out, and not to give it up. Which is always helpful. And to help me occupy my time in other ways.
I find that even doing other things, my thoughts center more on God just because I am aware that I am not doing something, for Him.
(I hear this works in marriage too, for making you feel more loving to your spouse because you know you’re doing or not doing something for them, even if they don’t know. Try it.)
Perhaps the most embarrassing thing I’ve realized though, is that my lack of interest in God is mostly my own fault.
When I get bored with Church and worship and prayer, it’s because I have filled myself up with other things.
I remember the Avatar movie (the blue one, not the travesty of the kids show’s live action one) where the Tsuhik (not sure I spelt that right) says to Jake:
“It is hard to fill a cup that is already full.”
While that movie is far from perfect, I do think they nailed one thing about having a simple, spiritual life. Jake later says “They don’t want anything.”
Funny, when you are filled with Spirit, you really don’t want a lot from the world.
And when you are filled with the world, you don’t want a lot from the Spirit.
We can’t have both.
I think, once upon a time, God made it so we could. The world was made to be pure, and being full of our lives here, and our lives with God, would have been one and the same.
And someday, God promises, He will put it back that way.
But till then, the world has fallen to evil, and if we fill ourselves with it, we turn from God. It happened to Solomon, the Wisest man to ever live before Christ.
And if I think I’m beyond that, I’m kidding myself.
Fasting does humble a person.
I’m not saying I’m a new woman, I think that’s more for God to say. I’m saying that I just have remembered somethings I was letting slide, as you might say.
Not all change is dramatic, you know.
Man, we are so hooked on that in church though. The breakthrough, the breaking off, the strongholds, the mountains moved…
Which is all good, in its time.
But so much change is quiet, gradual, or if it sis sudden, it’s private and not something to yell about until we’ve walked it out.
All my moments of real breakthrough were alone, or silent, or quiet. I have always wondered why.
But when I saw others have big, loud moments…but remain unchanged afterward, I started to wonder if Gd maybe did it that way on purpose. Maybe when it’s big, an d shiny, we focus on that too much, and forget the actual change.
A change of heart happens in an instant, perhaps, but it happens inside. And it’s better to show that with how we act before we tell someone.
We want to hear it right away now. We ask people what they feel or think right after we pray and talk.
But, usually people need more time than that to know if something really stuck with them.
There’s a resewn God is always telling us we have to be faithful, i. e. consistent with our religion. We can’t just do it every once and a while and expect it to change us.
I’m only saying what hundreds and thousands of other people say in the church…and maybe we all say it because it’s true.
So hey, if your Christian, and you’re not liking what I’m saying…oh well.
And if you’re not Christian and you read this anyway, that’s amazing! I hope you got something out of it.
You know, I kind of hope I am making some Christians uncomfortable by saying we need to quit it with the big showy stuff so much. Good.
I know I do have a lot of readers from out of country, though, and maybe you live somewhere where what I’m saying couldn’t’ possibly apply on a cultural level.
Still I think the truth of faithfulness is something all of us need to hear, even if we’re somewhere where our faith is tested everyday. Because it’s just another kind of discouragement.
Suffering and abundance are both tests of our faithfulness. Who knows which is really harder? All I know is we have to face whatever we have, now, if we really want to please God.
I hope I will keep this going, and learn more from it. I’m only human, but God is God.
If I can end my fast, but still maintain some discipline and boundaries, that’s a net gain.
drybonestruth 