Reading for December 1
Daniel 8:1-27
This is starting to get really freaking scary. There's just something inherently unsettling about Biblical prophecy of the "end times", and in Chapter 8, Daniel has another vision - this time of a ram being gored by a goat. An angel comes to Daniel to help him interpret the vision and says this before giving an explanation:
17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,”[b] he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”Oh sh**. That would be my reaction, anyway. "I just saw the end of the world? That's heavy, Doc."
In the vision, the goat represented the king of Greece and the Ram represented Media and Persia. Now, I don't know much about these countries nor do I know whether or not the king of Greece attacked Media and Persia at some point in history, but if I hear anything remotely like that on the news, I'm grabbin my apocalypse survival kit.
1 John 2:1-17
This is a common debate I've heard amongst modernist Christians: is it OK to like secular stuff? Like, do I have to throw out my Jimmy Eat World CDs and my copy of South Park Season 7 because they don't carry the prefix of "Christian"? Many Christians in my generation believe that anything secular should be shunned, and this is the verse that backs up that idea:
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[d] is not in them.This certainly makes a case for choosing that lifestyle. Now on a slightly more progressive level, my friend, Kaas majored in Youth Ministry in college and he subscribed to the mantra "Be in the world, not of the world." Meaning - "Be aware of what is happening in the world, and what people are into, but don't actively seek out non-Christian activities." Oh, but the reading has more to say about this:
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.John lists three specific things that are ungodly that are creations of man: lust for sex, lust for things (I think) and pride. I think anyone who has spent some time with the Bible, or likely any religious text, would agree that those three things are completely destructive to the soul, and sometimes to a society - especially pride.
So in the end, I don't think the point of this was to get you to throw out all your secular CDs and replace them with Christian CDs. The point is to keep your pride and sex-drive in check. And my belief is that keeping these in check is good for you regardless of your belief in God.
What are your guys thoughts on that?
Psalm 120:1-7
More weight on the side of "God actually wants peace and not destruction."
6 Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace;
but when I speak, they are for war.
Proverbs 28:25-26
25 The greedy stir up conflict,
but those who trust in the LORD will prosper.
26 Those who trust in themselves are fools,
but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.
Agreed, it's okay to like secular stuff. Paul had to have read secular writings -- remember in Acts, when he quotes Zeus? Paul was well learned and such, and it wasn't just Jewish material...
ReplyDeleteAlso, all the Church Fathers like Plato and were influenced by the Greeks. So it's okay to relate to Death Cab, I think.
At the same time, keep in check the influence "secular" art has over you. I myself tend to be much more influenced by what lyrics and movies say than I like to admit.