Pop Christian Movement should be Banned
What is the pop christian? It is the christian in a charismatic church that does not fully understand what he believes, yet decides to give his life to Jesus when he feels the 'love' and gentleness surrounding him.
His basis of believe does not stem from anything other than peer pressure. Soon, doubts plague him, yet week after week, day after day, the family love he feels in this community draws him back and banishes the questions he have away.
He seeks them out, but not in the correct manner. He engages in pop christian texts, throwing away the CS Lewis and welcoming Tim La Haye, Rick Warren. Engaging, practical authors, but something still feels lacking. He doesn't read non christian philosophies on life, and the only time he reads them are in christian texts which always presents them in the most narrow minded and skewed context. (This in itself is normal, for everyone has difficulty writing impartially)
He has many meetings to attend. Out of love for his community he goes. Sometimes, when he is overloaded with life itself, he would still make the effort to go. Not being there, he feels guilty of abandoning his God that shared this special love with him. He feels guilty, and decides that no matter what, he must still go and worship his God who showed him love through his people.
When he gets angry, he prays in the name of Jesus to remove his anger, and believes all will be alright. He does not recognise the self righteous manner in which he does it, that will come later as he matures.
In all of it, he learns how to pray, what the holy spirit is, how the bible is supposedly the most reliable text and most coherent text ever to be written over the ages.
He goes to church, worships, and breaks down before this God, because he cannot understand why life is so hard. He shares his problems with his community, and they support him with love. Then he feels great again, though the situation does not change.
This is to me love in the most perverse manner that the charismatic church has infected its young with.
This is love in the basest manner, a perversion of agape.
In my ex church, the pastor would say, '..and jesus died on the cross for all of us', proceeding then with tears welling up in his eyes. I have no qualms with that, but he in this manner actively presents the overt way of understanding Christ.
The other way of understanding christ is not overt, it has to do with the heart, and true understanding. It has to do with understanding the mystery and essence of God. The charismatic movement and mega church does none of that. Sure, they have spiritual warfares, manisfestations, but these are all coming out of people in a very overt way, void of true meaning and use for the heart.
The encouragement given in the charismatic church to jump and praise with intense physical joy is no doubt a valid form of worshipping God, but I am a firm believer in dual opposite effects, that this causes intense emotional swings and this pop christian will be susceptible to manic depressive states that only a constant dosage of church can seek to curb it.
Charismatic church and this emotional movement is like heroin. One depends on greater doses to live, or he cannot deal with life and mood swings. He has to be either fully immersed or else he cannot be filled with joy and peace. He does not know how trapped he is in this system, and continues fumbling onwards, with his mind and soul constantly being pulled in multiple directions in the process. If he is lukewarm (for generally 95% of people are in what they do, the 5% becomes someone great like Jesus, Einstein, Beethovan, Edward De Bono etc) in the christian sense, he is simply SPIT in 'God's' eyes.
XXXX
THis is the pop christian movement which I am strongly against. This way of understanding christianity has ruined lives of people who cannot truly fathom why christianity presents only one form of way to understanding the Godhead.
There will always be different kinds of people needing God differently. But charismatic churches ruin lifes of people who are not able to fit in with this method of worshipping the divine.
The movement of course did not start out to ruin people but to build them up, but it has to be abandoned for something better.
.
His basis of believe does not stem from anything other than peer pressure. Soon, doubts plague him, yet week after week, day after day, the family love he feels in this community draws him back and banishes the questions he have away.
He seeks them out, but not in the correct manner. He engages in pop christian texts, throwing away the CS Lewis and welcoming Tim La Haye, Rick Warren. Engaging, practical authors, but something still feels lacking. He doesn't read non christian philosophies on life, and the only time he reads them are in christian texts which always presents them in the most narrow minded and skewed context. (This in itself is normal, for everyone has difficulty writing impartially)
He has many meetings to attend. Out of love for his community he goes. Sometimes, when he is overloaded with life itself, he would still make the effort to go. Not being there, he feels guilty of abandoning his God that shared this special love with him. He feels guilty, and decides that no matter what, he must still go and worship his God who showed him love through his people.
When he gets angry, he prays in the name of Jesus to remove his anger, and believes all will be alright. He does not recognise the self righteous manner in which he does it, that will come later as he matures.
In all of it, he learns how to pray, what the holy spirit is, how the bible is supposedly the most reliable text and most coherent text ever to be written over the ages.
He goes to church, worships, and breaks down before this God, because he cannot understand why life is so hard. He shares his problems with his community, and they support him with love. Then he feels great again, though the situation does not change.
This is to me love in the most perverse manner that the charismatic church has infected its young with.
This is love in the basest manner, a perversion of agape.
In my ex church, the pastor would say, '..and jesus died on the cross for all of us', proceeding then with tears welling up in his eyes. I have no qualms with that, but he in this manner actively presents the overt way of understanding Christ.
The other way of understanding christ is not overt, it has to do with the heart, and true understanding. It has to do with understanding the mystery and essence of God. The charismatic movement and mega church does none of that. Sure, they have spiritual warfares, manisfestations, but these are all coming out of people in a very overt way, void of true meaning and use for the heart.
The encouragement given in the charismatic church to jump and praise with intense physical joy is no doubt a valid form of worshipping God, but I am a firm believer in dual opposite effects, that this causes intense emotional swings and this pop christian will be susceptible to manic depressive states that only a constant dosage of church can seek to curb it.
Charismatic church and this emotional movement is like heroin. One depends on greater doses to live, or he cannot deal with life and mood swings. He has to be either fully immersed or else he cannot be filled with joy and peace. He does not know how trapped he is in this system, and continues fumbling onwards, with his mind and soul constantly being pulled in multiple directions in the process. If he is lukewarm (for generally 95% of people are in what they do, the 5% becomes someone great like Jesus, Einstein, Beethovan, Edward De Bono etc) in the christian sense, he is simply SPIT in 'God's' eyes.
XXXX
THis is the pop christian movement which I am strongly against. This way of understanding christianity has ruined lives of people who cannot truly fathom why christianity presents only one form of way to understanding the Godhead.
There will always be different kinds of people needing God differently. But charismatic churches ruin lifes of people who are not able to fit in with this method of worshipping the divine.
The movement of course did not start out to ruin people but to build them up, but it has to be abandoned for something better.
.
posted by deadpoet at 12:34 AM
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