Category: Guest Column
Fandom Christianity
I recently reposted a link on my Facebook page about phrases that are driving millennials away from the Church though many remain interested in practicing Christianity. This article by Rev Mark Sandlin, Fandom of God is Upon Us and It’s Killing the Church, is another observation about the state of what I call “pop-Christianity.” Rev. Sandlin’s observations are probably more on target than many would want to admit. A paragraph and I encourage you to keep reading. Visit Rev. Sandlin’s blog, The God Article.
The Fandom of God Is Upon Us and It’s Killing the Church
Mark Sandlin | Huffington Post | Nov 11, 2013When the Church’s focus is on fandom practices rather than on kingdom practices it tends to become not only self-centered and self-serving but self-selecting as well. When we are fans of Jesus rather than followers of Jesus, our focus is inward turned, like in fandoms, concerned with and finding full satisfaction in what we think and feel and believe. We are more interested in who gets to be labeled insiders, who are “real/true” fans of God, than we are with following the sometimes difficult teachings of Jesus when it comes to those we see as different. Our world shrinks. It becomes far too easy to worry about those we claim as our “own” and to forget that there is a world of hurting people who we are not only called to stand with but who we are to recognize as equally created in the image of God.
Poverty in America . . . Anywhere Really
A good article from the Opinionator from the New York Times.
Poverty in America Is Mainstream
By MARK R. RANK | The New York Times | Nov 2, 2013Contrary to popular belief, the percentage of the population that directly encounters poverty is exceedingly high. My research indicates that nearly 40 percent of Americans between the ages of 25 and 60 will experience at least one year below the official poverty line during that period ($23,492 for a family of four), and 54 percent will spend a year in poverty or near poverty (below 150 percent of the poverty line).
Even more astounding, if we add in related conditions like welfare use, near-poverty and unemployment, four out of five Americans will encounter one or more of these events.
The solutions to poverty are to be found in what is important for the health of any family — having a job that pays a decent wage, having the support of good health and child care and having access to a first-rate education. Yet these policies will become a reality only when we begin to truly understand that poverty is an issue of us, rather than an issue of them.