Sometimes, I wish we all acted like children. No, I don't mean fighting over the crayons or getting ketchup on our foreheads when we eat fries - but in a more innocent, imaginative way. Kids have this tendency to simply say what they're thinking, without taking any thought to how it will be perceived. Because they're children, you have to really hear what they're asking or saying, rather than jump to conclusions about why they said it. Kids (most of them anyway) don't have any kind of ulterior motives or hidden agendas for asking things, they honestly ask them for one simple reason: they want to know the answers.
For example, one of the things I think all of my kids (except Ruth) have asked me in one way or another is this question:
"If you could wake up tomorrow and be anyone you wanted to be, who would you be?"
Isn't that a fun question? Oh the conversations we could have with this question! One day I might want to be my cat, to find out where he went when he disappeared on June 6th (yes, I know the day he left, and I miss him). Another day I might want to be Lydia, in the Scriptures. what was life like for her? What was a regular day like, in Lydia's life?
One my kids might answer and say they want to be Spiderman, or Atomic Betty, or Sponge Bob. It's a great way to foster imagination in kids, plus you get to find out how their little brains really work, when you ask them this question. Try it, and see what I mean. But you have to play fair, you have to let them ask you too! (And you have to answer).
The reason this came to mind is due to something Steve Camp (aka Campi) wrote on his blog yesterday.
"My Favorite Blogs This Week:"Emergent NO" by Carla Rolfe. This is one bold woman--the Ann Coulter of Christian blogging. Here inexorable dedication to the truth of Scripture and to fearlessly confronting the pabulum and abhorrent teachings coming from all aspects of the EC ecumenical movement is to be applauded; and more than that, appreciated. If you've never visited her blog, click here and be ready to get shaken up out of the status quo, “Ozzie and Harriet”, “Peter Pan”, nonsensical, postmodern influences that plagues much of evangelicalism today."
My reaction when I read that (and no, I had no idea he was going to do that) was rather mixed. It's okay if I talk about Steve's comments here, he doesn't read this blog anyway, so shhhh, it'll be our little secret.
First, do I want to be thought of as the Ann Coulter of Christian blogging? I don't know. If I could wake up tomorrow and be her, I'd enjoy the hair for sure. I'm not sure I'd enjoy the criticism she gets though. I know I'm not enjoying the criticism I get, and to be honest it's taken a toll on me that I didn't expect. I'm sure it's taken a toll on her as well. And yet, she still has great hair.
You have to admit though, this was good "inexorable dedication to the truth of Scripture and to fearlessly confronting the pabulum and abhorrent teachings". I love the way Steve writes, he makes it sound like I actually know what I'm doing! Campi rocks, that's all there is to it. And in all seriousness, yes, there is inexorable dedication to the truth of Scripture, even if I did have to look up the word inexorable. It's not a word I hear or use every day. It means relentless and/or incapable of being persuaded by entreaty. This part is true of me to be sure. Some hate this about me, others appreciate it. It's weird but it's who I am.
Campi says if you visit ENo you'll be "shaken up out of the status quo, “Ozzie and Harriet”, “Peter Pan”, nonsensical, postmodern influences that plagues much of evangelicalism today."
Hmmm. Well, yeah. The thing is, I'm not posting anything any other solid, Bible believing Christian doesn't think, talk about, or write about. Am I? It's strange, but it seems like we're living in a time when you actually have to say "no Mister Believer, it's not okay to slug your wife in the face, rob a bank, live with your girlfriend or verbally abuse your kids". Then, once you tell them that, they want to argue with you and tell you that So and So Mr. Philosphical Theologian Pants (no relation to Sponge Bob) says you're wrong, and it is okay to do that stuff and be uber-authentic Mister Believer.
So then, you point them to the Scripture and say "see, it's not my word, it's not my opinion or my painfully Colonialistic Victorian Era Moralist Truly Reformed mindset blinding me to cultural realities, the Bible actually says right here and here and here and over there, that this conduct is unbecoming a follower of Christ". Then they argue some more, quote Dr. Theologian Pants, tell you your adherence to Sola Scriptura actually makes you a retard, and that Calvin was a murderer anyway so you are excused as inauthentic and irrelevent.
So what would Harriet Nelson do? Well, in her lovely housedress and apron, in true 1950's Betty Crocker fashion, she'd give "the look" (the look that says "you've just crossed the line, and there will be wrath to come, son") and say "just wait till your father gets home".
And at the end of the day, there's really nothing more to say, is there? When you've got folks that refuse to pay attention to what the Scripture actually says, in favor of some culturally relevent "practioner" that looks like Dobey Gillis' on a bad day (did he have good days?), all anyone can do is point back to the Scripture and say "wait till your Father gets home". At the end of the day it's not about what I write, or what you write, or what Dr. Theologian Pants writes. It's not about whether I'm going to shake up what's being accepted by some of the more wacked out liberal nutbars out there today, or whether my blog can beat up your blog.
At the end of the proverbial day, it really is between them, and Him. You can stand on the street corner all day long and proclaim the word, but you're never going to make anyone believe what you're saying. You can blog till your fingers fall off but you're never going to convince anyone that what you're writing is truth, and from your heart. You can give lectures, preach till you go hoarse, write books, teach Sunday school, sing songs and even do charades (if one were so inclined).
The truth of the matter is, until or unless the Holy Spirit removes the blinders, opens the understanding and convicts the heart, there is not 1 person that will be convinced that what you say is truth.
I know there are a lot of brothers AND sisters out there in BlogLand that are shaking up the pomo-istic influences that have latched on to evangelicism like a bad skin rash. I'm grateful for them, and I appreciate the heart behind what they do. Truth does matter, doctrine does matter, and declaring it from the rooftops (or blogtops, as it were) isn't something we do to get noticed, it's something we do because we can't not do it.
I appreciate Campi's words of encouragement, and his support for truth being declared. I appreciate my fellow contributors at ENo, Denise (Surph) and Nina (even though Nina doesn't post often, she's a big contributor behind the scenes) because these are sisters that also care enough about the truth to declare it and make no apologies for it. This isn't common in our day, and it certainly isn't common among the sisterhood of believers. To be certain, there are theological SOLID sisters out there, and you probably read them just like I do, but you know exactly what I mean when I say they are few and far between.
Instead, compromise and wishy-washy waffling goes on and some ludicrous attempt to be Earl-Clyde the Theological Fence Ridin' Mystical-Ecumenical Rodeo Champ is actually the order of the day. To that I say "pffft, get a position and stand on it!". It's one thing to honestly not be sure of something and refuse to be dogmatic on it, but it's entirely another matter to purposely sit on the fence and fake some sort of pious uncertainty, embracing mystery, engaging in the experiential journey and all that other annoying, flowery lingo.
So with that said, I think I would like to wake up tomorrow and be a combination of Ann Coulter, Harriet Nelson, Betty Crocker, Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Sponge Bob. Oh, and I want to sing like Campi. And write like John Gill.
Leaping tall buildings in a single bound, will be optional.
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