Friday, September 17, 2010

Does Christianity have a future ? Part 6

One of our best opportunities today is to create art that reflects the divine in everyday life. The church of media is looking for an authentic experience. Can they find one in the Christian faith that occurs every moment of our life? John 4:23 says “And the time is coming when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and the time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him.” NCV

Our experience in God is not limited to a few songs on Sunday morning. If we are to worship him in spirit and in truth, that means everything we do in life is an act of worship to God. If the church of media is looking for something authentic, this is it—a God that is everywhere. And everything we do is an expression of our love for him. This extends beyond a belief system or religion, it becomes a way of life. It transcends the physical to the spiritual.

Most Christians worship God as if he were not a spirit. Our experiences are limited to a physical place and time. You cannot take spirituality out of the Christian faith and expect there to be any truth left. No divide exists between the sacred and the secular because there is no secular world. We live in a world where most Christians leave church on Sunday morning and enter into a completely different life. For them there are two worlds, one place to worship a physical God and a second place to worship a media culture that allows us to pursue our wants. Unfortunately, many churches do not discourage this approach because it would cause people to find a more convenient place of worship where they can pursue their interests and wants ahead of God.

Our lives should not be defined by our experiences nor our by our media choices. Media missionaries must create art and truth that is defined by a relationship with God. There is no authentic experience in life outside of knowing a living God. John 14:21 says “Those who know my commands and obey them are the ones who love me, and my Father will love those who love me. I will love them and show myself to them.” To experience God is to love God. How do we love God? By fulfilling the main two commandments that Jesus talked about. Our experiences are based on the premise of putting God at the center of our lives. Everything else revolves around God’s plan. Our wants are no longer our main priority in life.

The second commandment that Jesus spoke of is to love our fellow man as we love ourselves. Again, the priority is not what we want but is to serve those around us. If we follow these commandments, we will experience God because the scripture says that God will reveal himself. 2 Chronicles says in verse 15:2 “… NLT whenever you seek him, you will find him…”. We will know him by having a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus. The church of media and our current generation are searching for an authentic experience that is real, valid, worth living for. It only exists in a relationship with God. The Body of Christ must find a way to communicate this message to the media culture.

Tuesday Part 7

1 comment:

  1. I agree that Media missionaries must create art and truth that is defined by a relationship with God. I also believe that Christian art, especially media (such as movies) need to be professional and intriguing. Bella for example to me felt like I was supposed to like it because it was Pro life, not because it was a good movie with an interesting plot. Especially in evangelizing to a nation that is so against intolerance and anti-christian it is important to speak the truth and spread the gospel through the media, but to be effective it can't be in an in your face this is the Christian viewpoint attitude. http://www.capturinghappiness.com/changing-lanes/ does a good way of explaining the Christian worldview of happiness without specifically saying "Hey this is what Christians believe" When you do that you just turn people off.

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