The Atheist's Nightmare..?
I seriously hope that this video is a joke... unfortunately I don't think it is.
I'm just embarrassed to be associated with this kind of "Christianity"; I'm ashamed that Christians would behave in such ridiculous ways and say such incredible things.
The fact is that as Christians we are representatives of Christ; His "ambassadors" (2 Cor. 5:20). So what happens when Christ's ambassadors foolishly represent Christ? What happens when one ambassador is ashamed by another? In Luke 9:26 Jesus says, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory..." (NIV).
All throughout history Christ's "embassy", the Church, has made unfortunate decisions and misrepresented Christ. I think specifically of the medieval Church insisting that the earth was flat ("ends of the earth" Mk 13:27) or that the sun orbits the earth (Ps 19:6) when ultimately they were completely wrong. I can't blame them too much for being wrong (I've been wrong about a lot of stuff too) but why be so insistently arrogant about it? Is it really necessary to condemn people as heretics because of their understanding of the solar system?
So I wonder...
Are there ways in which our Churches are currently behaving that misrepresent Christ?
Will future generations look back at us now and think of us with embarrassment?
Was this guy on "crack" or does a banana actually, finally, and conclusively prove God's existence?
5 comments:
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!!!! That was the coolest thing ever. Imagine, proving God's existence using only a banana. We run into problems however when we look at Coconuts. I mean think about it, not shaped for our mouths (picture MY facial expression), not nice to grip and no matter how many times I bang my head on it, the darn thing doesn't want to open. Oh well, maybe proving the existence of God through fruit isn't all it's cracked up to be (is a coconut a fruit?). Maybe the banana analogy pealed away from the truth somewhere and is slipping down a fruity slope.
But is it possible for us to remain so disconnected from our world in safe old Christendom to realize how cheesy these things are. I mean, granted, God is amazing in creating the banana but I hardly think it proves His existence entirely. Think about it, it took the Simpsons to show us how we look to the rest of the world in Flanders. Come to think of it, I'll bet Flanders would like this video.
I think the Church today has a heavy line between the secular and the sacred. I believe that we all need to strive for Holiness, however is holiness an actual line between sacred and secular? And why are all of our lines in different places? Maybe that is our embarrassment, inconsistent lines of Holiness when Holiness isn't found in a line.
Tim
I remember I used to want to read a whole bunch of books and do a whole bunch of school so that I could be the smartest person in the world. With these smarts, I wanted to be able to 'prove' God to anybody and everybody. I wanted to be able to back people into corners and 'stump' them with my questions.
Maybe, just maybe, I would have thought this video was cool back then.
Okay probably not.
Maybe we should all keep focusing on bringing heaven to earth/advancing the Kingdom, and thereby showing the beauty of Jesus' way. I guess lately I've been thinking about all the Bible talk about the way that leads to death and the way that leads to life. The life Jesus 'prescribes' is the way that brings abundant, real life. That pumps me up. Who doesn't want abundant life?
There's always going to be someone who is smarter than you, who can argue better than you, who can back you into a corner and make you look like an idiot (it just so happens that this banana guy made it extremely easy for 'that someone' to do just that).
We need a faith that is affirmed by our obedience and nothing else.
I think that there are plently of better examples to prove God's existance through creation than the Bannana. You have to appreaciate his effort though... Creativity - 10/10!
OK, since this is embarrassing Christianity I have to tell a story that happened today. There is a Gospel Jamboree on this weekend and the church parking lot across from where we live has turned into a RV park. Our non-Christian neighbor saw some kids over there in the new RV park and thought it would be nice to invit them over to play with her kids in their pool (it was 31 here). A nice thought but when she and her kids went over to ask, the Grandparents who were taking care of the kids asked her if she was a Christian. She responded, "No I'm sort of Catholic". The RV people then told her that their kids could not come over to play because she was not a Christian. Her response to us. "Doesn't really make me want to become a Christian does it." What do I say to that. "No it doesn't, but let me tell you a story about a banana." Do people not realize that they represent Christ where ever they go? Especially at a Gospel Jamboree! How long will it take to heal the scars on my neighbor by these "Christians"? And you thought a banana was bad.
That makes me sick to my stomache... they're quite the ambassadors of Christ:(
The thing that really frustrates me is that we all get painted with the same brush when people do stuff like that. Some well intentioned but clearly mislead Christian does something stupid and we all end up looking stupid along with them. So we end up having to do damage control because of embarrassing, ignorant Christianity.
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