The Myth of Christian Positivity

One of my biggest pet-peeves is what I call "the myth of christian positivity". This myth essentially states that it is a Christian's job to be positive at all times, regardless of the circumstances.

"Certainly there aren't people who are really like that," you might say.
But yes, yes there are. And they have the most loving intentions.

You see, many of these people are simply trying to be like Christ.

"We're called to be encouragers!" they might say.

Yes. Yes we are.

But aren't we also called to be authentic? I think that the world sees things that are fake each and every day. And they're great at spotting these things.

You know what I think we need? Christians that are authentic. That are honest with themselves and the world around them. Christians who recognize that some situations have shades of gray. Individuals who will recognize that sometimes circumstances just suck.

Let's offer hope and peace, absolutely! But let us also be willing to recognize that not everything's o.k. Let's meet people where they're at in their suffering and sit with them for a while. No one's happy all the time. So let's not try to be. People almost universally value honesty. Let's build a relationship and talk with these people about a person named Jesus. A person who sometimes drank; a person who met people in their suffering and engaged them.

Let's be Jesus and engage with honesty and openness and most of all, love.

2.15.2008

Today was beautiful. I don't mean aesthetically.

It actually started off badly. I had made plans to catch up with a friend who I've kinda drifted away from, and at the last minute they cancelled on me and I don't understand why. This had serious damper potential on my day.

But then I went to Sips. . .

Troy, Ryan, Bennett, and myself departed around 1:04 p.m. for Sips, and we had a great time talking and sharing. Joe Farmer got there around 2:30 or so, and he told us we should sit on the couches. Thanks for the excellent advice, Joe! We then sat and talked some more, and eventually an old man came up to us and told us a story/gave us a history lesson regarding the following things: George Washington, George Bush, the Revolutionary War, the Dollar Bill, a millionaire from Belgium, Winter coats, drunk Englishmen, tanks, tank mines, Black televangelists, one or more four-star generals, and a paralytic. Needless to say, we all learned a lot!

Then after Sips we went to Wal*Mart. On the way there we came across the Ron Paul Revolution®. We didn't join, but we did honk and wave. At Wal*Mart I got some essentials, as did the other guys, and after some video-game hunting we went back to Mother Oakwood.

From Oakwood, Bennett, Ryan, and myself went for a walk. It was great. We went down to the reflection pond for some serious reflection. We decided that the ice was too unified, so we broke it into smaller pieces. A great time was had by all- except maybe the ice that got broken up.

After the pond, it was off to the caf for some talk. Then a select group of us, Lyndsey, Joe, Steph, Ryan, and I went to the 586. We had some good food, good convo, and watched some neat videos/listened to cool music.

When our food was finished we headed to the Pioneer RA office and started Fever Pitch. Then TK texted Joe and asked if anyone wanted to come over for some Phase 10. So we went over to TK's apt; but due to extenuating circumstances he couldn't hang with us. We stayed anyway and chilled with Sarah and finished Fever Pitch. It was a lot of fun! I was shocked that such a nice place was in some way connected to Oakwood!

That, dear reader, is the day that was. It was amazing to hang out with good friends and learn more about them.
All in all, it was a beautiful day.