Saturday, April 15, 2006
Dead Saturday: spirit over form
I'm never sure what to call today since I grew up in a church that didn't make much deal about Easter. Googling, I find it called Silent or Holy Saturday, neither of which it rings "right." My title is no better (or even worse) but is a good reminder of what took place between Good Friday and Easter.
Anyway, my real objective is commenting on what I've read in "The Life You've Always Wanted" of the first few pages of Chapter 3 "Training vs Trying," about getting ready for a marathon is not about trying but training. Yet in the back of my mind, I'm thinking: churches which are focused on the form are more about "thou shall nots" [but detailed analysis of the Bible], while the churches which are more spirit lead (Pentecostal or charismatic) are more about feelings with little or no details from the Bible. I'm not trying to artificially divide into two types of churches but that's the impression I have gotten over the years where I've encountered various churches.
My wife is into dancing [classical ballet is what she was trained in but she takes all kinds of lessons today] but our current church is the form focused kind so dancing has been put "aside" (for now). She gets asked to dance at other churches (usually the spirit lead kind) and I join her at times.
I am really writing all this because of my sons: I don't want them to see Christianity as list of do's and don'ts and concerned only about the forms. Christianity is about Christ: encounter with the Savior from our wickedness and the only way to wipe out the past (without committing suicide) and to start a new life. And that life is about interacting (i.e., being in love) with Him and as the love bond grows stronger, the following (obeying) Him part should be the natural outcome. And yet we (myself included) put the form over the spirit/love and I can see why children get turned off of Christ and Christianity.
Where am I going with this post? I'm not sure and I may have to edit or rewrite it from scratch but I do want to capture my thoughts of this morning....
Anyway, my real objective is commenting on what I've read in "The Life You've Always Wanted" of the first few pages of Chapter 3 "Training vs Trying," about getting ready for a marathon is not about trying but training. Yet in the back of my mind, I'm thinking: churches which are focused on the form are more about "thou shall nots" [but detailed analysis of the Bible], while the churches which are more spirit lead (Pentecostal or charismatic) are more about feelings with little or no details from the Bible. I'm not trying to artificially divide into two types of churches but that's the impression I have gotten over the years where I've encountered various churches.
My wife is into dancing [classical ballet is what she was trained in but she takes all kinds of lessons today] but our current church is the form focused kind so dancing has been put "aside" (for now). She gets asked to dance at other churches (usually the spirit lead kind) and I join her at times.
I am really writing all this because of my sons: I don't want them to see Christianity as list of do's and don'ts and concerned only about the forms. Christianity is about Christ: encounter with the Savior from our wickedness and the only way to wipe out the past (without committing suicide) and to start a new life. And that life is about interacting (i.e., being in love) with Him and as the love bond grows stronger, the following (obeying) Him part should be the natural outcome. And yet we (myself included) put the form over the spirit/love and I can see why children get turned off of Christ and Christianity.
Where am I going with this post? I'm not sure and I may have to edit or rewrite it from scratch but I do want to capture my thoughts of this morning....
