oh, conviction

it has been a long stressful couple of days, but i suppose i will blog feelings about that later, right now there is something on my mind.

my personal battle against complacent christianity continues…

something i read a little while ago in c.s. lewis’ “The Screwtape Letters” really got me thinking. lewis brings out the point that christians often rally around a cause (he actually used pacifism as an example) rather than focus on Christ.

oh, conviction.

i can be anti-war, anti-government, pro-life or whatever, but it shouldn’t replace my relationship with Christ. even christianity itself can become an ideology that trumps relationship. the second i start identifying with an ideology before i identify myself as a child of God, i am treading on dangerous ground.

i spent this whole weekend working on my Hebrews paper, among many other things. my study of Hebrews also shed some light on the subject. Hebrews 12: 17 says, “For you know that afterward, when [Esau] wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears”. i suppose it seems kind of unrelated, but my thought was that when we are identifying ourselves with an ideology rather than Christ we begin to feel a strong sense of right rather than confess our sins. that breeds not only a hatred for our brothers and sisters (for esau it was his literal brother), but a separation from communion with God.

closing thoughts:
christianity (or fill-in-the-blank ideology) without a relationship with God is empty.
keep talking to God, no matter where you're at. this is the most important.