What It Means To Be; What It Means To Me

Well, the title is really a play on words and not so much the driving force of topic today. Really, the two topics I've been pondering of late are thus:

1. What church really means to me (how I developed the title - duh); and,
2. A quick analysis of a Friedrich Nietzsche quote I came across as I was stumbling (<3 StumbleUpon).

Hokay, so. Church. I've written about this particular topic before, but more as a means of dumping some anger at misunderstanding (it was posted on my myspace blog, and not here, if I remember correctly). This will be a slight re-iteration of that, along with some nitty-gritty goodness of my perspective on church and what it means to the Christian relationship/faith. (Henceforth, relationship/faith shall be known as relationfaith. yes).

Here's a brief history of my previous thoughts on church. It's not a building. It's not something to go to every Sunday and put on your pretty clothes and a fake smile and then proceed to eat somewhere somewhat shnazzy afterwards. It's a community. It's a way of life. It's a support network of fellow belivers (no misspelling here - it's another invention of mine, meaning living belief [that is to say, you live out what you believe]) who can boost you up, hold you accountable, and strive toward the goal with you. I know, I know. I'm a heathen. Whatever, get over it.

Note, that I am not knocking the Sunday school variety of meeting (after all, it is said in Acts that they met unceasingly, and I believe Sundays are a great way to do that for a busy world). I am simply pointing out the miscalculation that was made somewhere down the line that got people thinking it was the church.

That said, I must make a quick quip about tithing. I, again, am not against tithing to a "Sunday church." I do believe that tithing can be in other forms, however. For instance, I serve in a ministry called Young Life. I feel that, if I am giving up my funds as a faith step and offering (I know, I know...tithes AND offerings...blah blah blah), then God will bless me for it. After all, any money tithed to a "Sunday church" would just go back into ministry anyway. I realize this type of thinking puts a damper on pastoral income, but you must realize that God will provide no matter what the circumstance, and you don't need a million-dollar lifestyle, regardless of what your calling is.

Alright, so we've done that. Now here's the new part that I'm not sure I've quite discussed openly before. "Sunday church", to me, is a place to recharge. I attend two bible studies during the week, which I also consider recharging times. You see, Sunday mornings are just another way of meeting with the true church (read: community of belivers). You can praise God any time of the day. Lord willing, your lifestyle alone is an act of worship to Him. And the more you read your bible and teach yourself (online lessons are amazing, so I find, as are devotionals), the more of God you know. You don't need "Sunday church" to know God and to love Him with all you've got. Besides, this "Sunday church" seems to be the cornerstone of the criticism against the true church these days. What with Catholic priests getting handsy (and crotchsy. yes, I went there), televangelist pastors who run super-mega-ultra churches who get caught laundering money or some other heinous offense (that we all are guilty of in some form or another). The limelight rests upon this supposed Sabbath-day sanctuary.

Again, I'm not knocking it, I'm just describing what I see and believe. This whole idea goes into the "organized religion vs. relationship" debacle that's going on. So you know, I stand on the relationship side firmly. Religion is a man-made form of spiritual suicide, if you ask me. Theology can be important, but never more important than love and grace. The Bible isn't a rulebook, though too many believe it is. Yes, there are laws, but also know that we are freed from the law by Christ, so we are no longer bound by it. Notice, here, that I am (again) not saying the law is bad; as a matter of fact, one way of naturally showing our love from and for Christ is by subconsciously following the law (y'know, to a degree. We don't slaughter goats no mo', or worry so much about a guy's hair length. Seriously).

But. Just...bah. Let's just say that's where I'll stop. I could ramble for hours most likely, so lets avoid that disaster.

Onto Nietzsche!

I found this quote this morning while skimming the internetz for goodness and mental noms.

"...And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music." ~Friedrich Nietzsche

So okay. If you know anything about Nietzsche at all (and I really don't know much) you'll know that he's been considered a god among atheism (haha, get it? because there are no gods in athe...nevermind). Now, those who've actually studied up on him, don't go jumping down my throats about his philosophy and a bunch of other useless jargon I could honestly care less about. I know he dealt with nihilism, existentialism, and the "death of God" which is how I attribute his work in this scenario. Feel more than free to refute me, as I understand I don't know the guy like you might!

Anyway, I found that quote to be quite comical. You see, if you consider Nietzsche (that's a b!tch to continuously write, you know) as a pro-atheist philosopher, and if you knew Christ well enough, you could already see the folly at hand. Granted, dates would be nice for this quote, as I'm not sure if Nietzsche ever recanted or anything. But I digress; let's move on.

So, he talks about dancing around and people who don't hear the music think they're insane. What's so funny is, Christ gives us a song that no one else hears. Sometimes it may be in music form, sometimes not. But look what King David did when he received the "song":

"(14)He was dancing for the LORD with all his might, but he wore only a linen cloth. (15)He and everyone else were celebrating by shouting and blowing horns while the chest was being carried along. (16)Saul's daughter Michal looked out her window and watched the chest being brought into David's City. But when she saw David jumping and dancing for the LORD, she was disgusted." - 2 Sam. 6:14-16

Shocking, eh? A king was so filled with God's love and joy that he literally danced in the streets. And guess what? Someone who didn't quite hear the tune of joy was soon filled with scorn for the dancer. Go figure. Now, of course this "song" is metaphoric in some cases, but it literally can be a song, you know. I, for one, am incredibly blessed by a lot of the music God has inspired and allowed me to listen to. And with the recent introduction of iPods and portable mp3 players, you really CAN hear songs that no one else does and dance along to that if you so choose (although I still think it takes a total disregard of your surroundings [aka a focus point bigger than the world...God, maybe?] to do so). But that's just for the sake of cynics =).


Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your stay here in Cabeza de Me. Actually, I don't know what I just said, but you get my drift.

Give me some feedback if you so choose. Arguments, refutations, general comments, requests, questions, etc. are all welcome.

love, peace, and chicken grease!

~@othern