Speaking of freedom…
Bob, from “Beyond Church Walls“, has a very interesting post about freedom called “Its not easy being free“. I think his post goes along well with my previous post about freedom and the community. Sometimes a “free” community does not offer the same “perks” that we’re accustomed to. Here is Bob’s list:
You don’t get weekly pats on the back from people who pretend to like you.
You don’t get entertained weekly by live inspirational musicians performing at least one song that you like on their list.
You don’t get easy to understand tidbits of knowledge tossed out by someone else who’s done all of the studying for you each week.
You don’t get to enjoy some earnest creative presentation that is amateur at best, but still entertaining on a regular basis.
You don’t get to sit in you favorite section week in and week out as though you have season tickets.
You don’t get to measure out your spirituality on a regular basis so as not to get too overboard or too over-bored.
But, inspite of the loss of these “perks”, I think there is much more to benefit from being part of a community of people who are free in Christ. Can you think of some benefits to this type of community?
I would say in that kind of community, one could truly live instead of pretending that they are living. In that kind of community one could actually have real relationships with real people, instead of being around people who are just pretending to like you, as well as, pretending that everything is alright. A real life experience could actually happen in that kind of environment.
Gary
Gary,
Pretense… expectations… I think these are community killers.
-Alan
I denfinitely agree!!
I agree wholeheartedly with those sentiments. I would even expand on them a little.
You get to have your faith touch the real world and not be shielded from it. It seems modern churches are little more than escapist fairy tale lands. It’s about shielding yourself and your beliefs from the world rather than sharing your God with the world.