A Phone Call Story

In my previous post we talked about the Christian and the idea of being cool.  There are many more things to say about that, but we are going to look at another topic today.  I would contend that if a Christian could deal successfully navigate this particular area, it will allow them access a level of connection with God through the Holy Spirit that would allow for tremendous spiritual growth.  

Last year I was sitting in my office when I received a telephone call.  It was a lady who lived near the school where I work and she was upset about the marquee-saying that we were attracting the wrong students by putting our messages in English and Spanish.  She proceeded to tell me that the sign represented the reason your school had the wrong kinds of students.  Rage and defensiveness welled up in me and I unleashed on her a terrible lashing with my unbridled tongue.  I don't recall what I uttered, but it was by no means loving or God Honoring.  Thank God for the Holy Spirit who convicted me, after the anger subsided, to apologize to the woman.  Not as a function of my job, but as a function of my faith.  

The following day I searched through the numbers in my phone to no avail.  I could not tell which number was hers, so I was not able to give the apology I deeply wanted to give.  But God opened a door and she called back.  She apologized first, and she said she was a Christian and then I commented that I shared a like faith, and an equally like apology.  The proverbial weight was lifted from my shoulders.  I thank God that He is always so graceful.  

That anecdote, has a lot in it.  There was first a misunderstanding, followed by anger, then apology, forgiveness and reconciliation.  Each one of those things is important in the life of a Christian.  We should look at them all, but today we'll only address the root cause of the original misunderstanding---- PRIDE. 

Yes folks, pride.  My simple definition of pride is putting yourself above others.  Pride is the original sin, the sin that allowed Satan to rebel against God.  If our sin nature is a solar system, then Pride is the sun which all other sins revolve around.  

In my case, my pride made it impossible to listen with empathy to the lady on the phone.  It caused me to leap into a defense instead of calmly giving logical reasons for the marquee.  The truth is, I never understood her argument, and that led to a misunderstanding.  Proverbs 4:7 states that we need to get understanding.  

You all are thinking, where is he going with all of this.  Here it is.  Our pride gets in the way of us understanding others.  If we do not understand others we can never truly present the gospel of Christ in a way that they will understand.  We will never understand where to start.  Instead, we act from a defensive stance, attempting to defend our faith which never needs to be defended.  It only needs to be lovingly explained.  Our pride makes us loose site of the mission---to win souls.  

The remedy to our foolish pride is love and humility.  Neither of these things live in the flesh.  The antidote is to live in the spirit.  To crucify our flesh daily and be guided daily by the Holy Spirit.  This is only done through prayer, study, prayer and spending time in the word of God.  

Brothers and Sisters, this is my challenge to us: to root out pride wherever it may hide in our hearts and minds.  To go after it like a doctor goes after cancer cells.  To pray and read and study until we have allowed God to cleanse us that we may be used by Him.

Can a Christian Be Cool

Brothers and Sisters,

Far too many days have passed since I have last posted.  For that I do apologize.  It has been a long and difficult road back to the blog.  As my son said today, 'we only have one man to thank'.   That's right son.

As I was driving home today from my son's football game (they won 12-13, by the way) I heard a song on the radio about being one of the 'cool kids.'  And it struck me, hard, that my son, who is very cool to me; will never be one of the cool kids if he follows Christ.  And it struck me again, that I, myself, will never be one of the cool kids.

Cool kid is defined here as one who is popular, trendy, and well-liked by his or her peers.

My question, then, is can a Christian be cool?  Let's reason together.

If cool means that one is popular, then someone who is cool must subscribe to popular culture---right?   There may be someone, somewhere who doesn't dress like everyone else, listen to the popular radio station, use the popular slang, or watch the popular movies, who would be considered popular.  Maybe.  But, realistically, no.   To be popular, would mean for most Christians, to compromise our beliefs to be more like the world.  For instance; several 'so-called' Christian musicians borrow style and other elements from popular music and then use those elements in Christian gospel music to make their music more 'popular' or acceptable to the masses.

The Bible says:


Romans 12:2 ESV / 383 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Are not compromise and conformity similar ideas.  Wouldn't your 'cool kid' have to bend this very clear principle to 'fit in' with his or her peers?  

If cool means one who is trendy, then someone must follow the fashion, music, thinking of this world, correct?  Then it would certainly be true that if this world is sinful; then so is the music, fashion and thinking of the world, or at least parts of it.   Thus,  a 'cool kid' must consume some of what the enemy has laid before him or her to consume in order to be considered cool.  They must 'drink the Kool-Aid' in order to be part of the group.   Furthermore; in order to be a 'cool kid', would not a person have to consume said 'Kool-Aid in larger quantities than their peers in order to maintain their 'cool kid' status?  Not only that, wouldn't they have to enjoy and even introduce said Kool-Aid to other aspiring 'Cool Kids?'    

The Bible Says:

1 John 2:15-17 ESV / 107 helpful votes

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

What if cool means to be well-liked.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with being well-liked is it?  Plenty of Christian's are well-liked, right?  So, if this is what we mean by cool, it's ok.  Right?

Generally; people who are well-liked are also somewhat superficial, or shallow.  They are those who can discuss sports, or weather, or trivial matters, but they do not share their opinions, or even possess opinions on matters of importance.  They don't make judgments, or offend people with their speech or behavior.  Christians do not have the luxury of remaining neutral.  God has chosen for us where we stand on matters; we stand with Him.   So when the time comes; a Christian has to render the unpopular opinion, or abstain from the popular activity because their God compels them to do so.  Thus, even through the Christian may have a pleasant disposition, and be fun to be around, eventually the very act of being a Christian will put him or her at odds with their worldly peers.    

  

So, here is my answer, finally.  A Christian can be cool among other Christians.  A Christian cannot be cool in the world.   For being cool in the world means taking on many characteristics of the world.  This would not mean a person is not cool, this would mean a person is not a Christian.  I'm truly sorry, but I assure you brothers and sisters, that is the truth.

This topic may be of special interest in my Black Christian community.  As a card carrying member of this community I must acknowledge my own personal disgust of  a trait that is overwhelmingly present in our community.   It is the foolishness of Black parents that cover their children from head to toe in expensive name brand clothes and shoes (especially) in an effort to make the children both resemble and be more acceptable to the world.  

We are setting up value systems that:
1. are contrary to the word of God
2. are almost impossible to purge out
3. will take their focus away from God and put it on themselves creating self-centered thinking which is an enemy of the Christian walk