Comments on: The Suburban Jesus Hates Me

By: jesusfreak_elle

jesusfreak_elle — Tue, 12 May 2009 15:31:13 +0000

few comments on your “ranting” i myself have had similar qualms with the church. I am 21 years old and have been a christian for 3 years. I grew up in a broken home, poverty and experienced a childhood no child should ever see. Having the Lord in my life felt so AMAZING because at the time I truly had no other. Having a relationship with him took precedence over anything else because I had nothing else. When I went off to college I noticed that there were these Christians there whose background was so much different from mine. Ones who accepted Christ at 7 and whose beliefs and theology where fed to them by their parents. Kids with shiny new cars and “perfect” childhoods who never really knew what it meant to suffer for the gospel. 2 Timothy 3:12 says everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will be persecuted. The world should hate us because we don’t belong to it but if we bled in, if our lives are not radical, if we choose that career path over what God has willed, if we follow the status quo, is the Gospel of Truth really being preached. Jesus didn’t come to Earth to bring peace but a sword. He came to set a man against his father, and daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

“Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:34-39

By: Mrs T

Mrs T — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:40:36 +0000

I agree with you. For me, it was NOT wanting to go to the suburbs. For many years, it was hanging over my head as that’s where the jobs were for my husband. Somehow, we ended up staying in the city near our church(& he has graciously commuted the many miles).
But even a simple life in the USA is so much more comfortable than the foreign mission field, so I’m sure that many who live simple lives here struggle with that. As for my kids, I would be thrilled if they were called to missions or any job where they could serve the Lord(secular jobs included).
I had never heard of you before Andrew Marin shared about your book review yesterday. Now what he does ‘ring my chimes’ rather than mowing the grass & playing golf in suburbia. I guess I’m more of a minority in that interest, but more have been going his direction over the years. I love people & because they need the Lord, I like to build those bridges. Pray for Andrew as he is getting so busy! I wish you well in your work, too.
Mrs “T”

By: becca

becca — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 05:14:34 +0000

iMonk,

i resonate with the things you have said here strongly. A friend sent me this link because of what you said about people thinking missionaries are great as long as it is not someone in their own family. Welcome to my world. Since i was fourteen i have known that a ministry of missions is what God is calling me to, and my parents have resisted every single step of the way; encouraging to not ignore the talents God has given me, to not dismiss the intelligence he has blessed me with (as if, i suppose, to be a missionary requires no brains and no talents…). i love my parents, but i love Jesus more. i just do not know how to make them understand that.

Also, i wonder how to make them understand that the simpler way i wish to pursue is not a rejection of what my parents and (especially) my grandparents worked, dug, and clawed their way out of a hole to get for us. i appreciate that the opportunities i have been given to have resources and an education (as well as the opportunity to renounce my wealth in favor of a simpler life) have been bourne out of all of their hardwork, but i see also that their hard work is informed as much by a striving to social middle-class norms as it is by a desire to give their children something better than what they had. That norm, that prosperity gospel i have been fed my entire young United Methodist life, that idea by which my mother can find no other way to express herself than to buy me things, is what i reject.

Because i just keep coming back to Jesus, who does not seem to seek better for himself or for any one else. The last shall be first? Blessed are the poor (or the poor in spirit, depending on the Gospel…)? We sing a song at the kid’s camp i work at that goes “humble thyself in the sight of the Lord; and He shall lift you up, higher and higher, and He shall lift you up.” I keep coming back to the desire to CHOOSE humilty, to choose the end of the table, to choose to be last. Will parents ever come around to this? i pray that if i am ever a mother that i will not resist the pull on my children’s hearts to go in whatever direction the Lord leads them.

Thank you for your words. i am glad to know that i am not the only person who struggles here.

-rebecca

By: Bible Verse

Bible Verse — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:26:33 +0000

Excellent post.Sustain the oustanding work,You should definitely have to keep updating your site

By: Mrs. B

Mrs. B — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:06:55 +0000

Wow, I can not say how much this post blessed me.

I grew up in a upper middle class home and was a suburban Christian, when the Lord blessed me with a husband it was a husband who had the call of the Lord upon him to be a pastor. It was a call to poverty, in some peoples estimations. To have my husband be everyone’s except mine. To give up all for the Lord, and yet he has never forsaken us nor have we ever begged bread. And yet my family has not always been supportive. My family was upset at the way we have followed the Lord and yet it is the call he has given to all who claim his name. To give up all for him. What a blessing.

Thank you for the encouragement that you have given to this pastor’s wife.

In HIS Keeping,
Mrs. B

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:08:37 +0000

For the most part I agree with your points. I pray Christ will give you that extra touch of humility when people are willing to take you a step farther. Eric Phillips’ comments above come to mind.

Grace and peace to you in Christ as you intently follow Him!

By: Mike Stidham

Mike Stidham — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:16:02 +0000

Dave wrote:

“I stood in Family Christian Bookstore yesterday. I almost cried. Most of the place is full of Make My Life Better books.”

I WORK there. Imagine how I feel. Some of us there prone to reflective moments want to go past crying straight to primal screams now and again. But we hang in there for the few, rare moments when some opportunity of exhortation, encouragement, even witnessing present themselves in a way that doesn’t always happen at other jobs.

In between those moments, we sell “Make My Life Better” books and mourn that the real MMLB book is sold in another part of the store.

By: Ming

Ming — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 05:17:44 +0000

I’m really late joining the party, but I just wanted to thank you for your bluntness, honesty, and willingness to say things alot of other people are scared to say. I really really appreciated it and hope that I can walk this narrow road along with you.

I was listening to a sermon the other day and I thought an excellent point was made–if you had been an alcoholic before you were saved–wouldn’t people council you to maybe avoid bars for a while? Maybe it would be wise for you to avoid the temptation?

Can this mindset also apply to our consumeristic mindset? Our greedy temptations?

See here’s my fear–maybe I’m not strong enough to withstand the pull of my culture–my culture that cries that life is found in getting married, having a stable job, nice family, and owning a house. Maybe I’m not strong enough to stay here and not fall into the trap.

If you are–good for you. You’re stronger than I can.

But if I can’t live here without falling into this trap–then I’m leaving, because if I really believe what Jesus said–then this is more important than anything on earth….

yeah sorry if that doesn’t make alot of sense–it’s late and I’m tired…so yes please excuse me…

By: Rose Mawhorter

Rose Mawhorter — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:36:30 +0000

Thanks for the great post. I agree with you 100%. My husband and I have been preparing to become missionaries in about a year. We haven’t received a lot of flack for the fact that we want to live in poverty but what we (especially my husband) do occasionally get flack for is the fact that we’re considering spending time in South Africa without all the elaborate security that the rich people have. People also give us trouble because we refuse to save for retirement or pay for any voluntary insurance. I think that the underlying issue is the same. People don’t trust that God will bless those that faithfully sacrifice things/security for his sake.

My heart grieves with you over the church. I long to see all those that call themselves Christian living wholly committed to him. If only I manage that myself first.

By: Oloryn

Oloryn — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:02:26 +0000

The question that has niggled at me since is why people in poverty in other countries starve to death, but somehow poverty here is tied to abundance?

I suspect it boils down to, by and large, the poor here do get food, but it’s not necessarily good food. I do know that in my and my girlfriend’s efforts to lose weight (more hers than mine, though I could use it more), we’ve found that good food is more expensive than bad food. Bad food, e.g. tends to have more fat than more expensive good food. Plain white bread (which is really not that good for you) is much cheaper than whole wheat or multi-grain bread. Our poor become obese because they can only afford the cheaper, more fat-and-sugar-laden foods.