The Hypocritical Post

The hypocritical post. It's judging you. Feel the judge.

Actually, that's not what this is about. I'm not going to write about hypocrisy. That would, of course, be hypocritical.

Instead I'm going to write about something that I've noticed in other people that could use some improving. I could also use some improving in the same area. That makes this quite a hypocritical post.

It's hard to exactly pinpoint what to call this problem I've been seeing. I guess it's kind of an intolerance of anything that you view as less spiritual than your own preferences. That's a wide area. It also falls into the category of things in Romans 14. Don't bother looking it up, I'll summarize.

That's the chapter that talks about not eating meat or not drinking wine if it will cause your brother to stumble. The reason it would cause your brother to stumble is because your brother has weaker faith and you'd be leading him astray by doing something if he can't understand why it's all right to do it.

So what I'm seeing are some weird ways that people do this.

1. Praise music This is possibly the number one thing I hear people complain about in church. Whether it's people who don't like modern music or people who simply can't stand hymns, everyone objects to one or the other in some way. I personally am slowly but surely developing a vendetta against a lot of praise music. I happen to like hymns because they're more prone to having really really meaningful lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I love so much praise music and it moves me more often than hymns do. Also, hymns can be preeeeetty shallow too. But the point here is that, as annoying as it is to put up with music that you don't like, guess what? Someone else is getting something out of it. I mean, I won't mention any names but I know someone who absolutely loves the responsive readings in hymnals and gets more out of those than out of music.

2. Christian movies I made sure to bring this one up because this is one I'm completely guilty of. I don't like them. I like Amazing Grace. I like Veggie Tales. That really might be it. It's just that in my honest opinion there isn't too much out there in the Christian film industry that isn't unbearably cheesy (like cheese on pizza. ... whoops, relapse...). But I do know that the majority of people I know love these movies and find them inspiring. Or something to that effect. I'll try to curb my dislike.

3. Devotionals/Bible Studies Maybe I am just restricting myself to hypocrisy I'm guilty of. Sorry guys, confession day for Elizabeth. There are very few devotional books I've read that I've gotten much out of. Short of Chesterton or Lewis. I also often have difficulty in large Bible studies because I just get sidetracked when no one will answer obvious questions. It's no one's fault, I'm just an impatient human being and have been in waaaaay too many Sunday schools.

So on the surface what this actually looks like is "A List of things Elizabeth Finds Annoying But Other People Appreciate." That would look like I was trying to seem a little holier than thou. "I don't get anything out of these things because I'm so much more spiritual than you."

Goodness, no!

It really makes me a lot less spiritual. God had a hand in making both the deep praise songs and the shallow hymns. He certainly had a hand in making those Christian movies come about and kept an eye on the authors creating the Bible studies. If I can find inspiration in fog and spiderwebs shouldn't I be able to find something new about God in even the things that seem shallow to me?

Here's kind of what brought this on, I'll give you one of those overly familiar verses:

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

Most little kids I know don't object because I don't use the right version of the Bible or sing "I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N" rather than "Father Abraham." (If you're that little kid you're obnoxious. Don't take it personally. I was probably that little kid.) But also, key word: Humble. It's probably about time to start humbling myself and not think "Why is this guy teaching us a lesson we could learn in fifth grade Sunday school?" and start thinking "Why is God sending me this lesson?" He does have a lot better grasp of my maturity level, after all.