Houses of Glass
This piece was originally destined for Brian Bailey's Other Voices series, following my first foray. I wrote, rewrote, and heard no word back from Brian. Then I saw that he?s taking a blogging break, so I asked him about this piece. He said he may still use it in the future, and I could post it with no worries. So here it is. The long holiday weekend has drained me (my sleeping schedule goes nutzo on weekends like these), so I?m not in the writing mood today.
With that said, I hope you dig this one as much as I did writing it.
Houses of Glass
Okay, my first piece was nice, polite, endearing, politely coaxing you along for the perilous journey into the heart of the non-believer. The disagreeing voice, the world of which you most likely do not inhabit.
Worse yet, I'm going to pick on the outcasts of Christian society: The thumpers.
Oh yeah, I went there. Bible thumpers? I don't like them. I didn't like them the first time I saw one, in my early teens, playing the Godforsaken Devil's Own Violent Video Game of the Month. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, whatever. It didn't matter. Whether it was blood on the screen or a thong in the cartoonish female's carefully drawn rear quarters, it didn't stop the wooden nickel from being handed to me.
The thumper in question muttered something about hell and damnation, their favorite topics, and then wandered off. I read a few words on the gift left behind, something about hell and damnation, then I tossed it into the nearest recepticle. I had better things to do, then and today, though I'll admit you're not going to get a 13 year old to do much of any listening period, let alone in that situation.
There is a broad spectrum of believers out there, from nut, thumper, believer, worshiper, etc. I'm not calling all christians Obsessed Bible Lovers, and I'm not going to put anymore words into that effect. If what I say beyond that offends you, well, then, that was kind of the point.
I don't like it when people tell me that I'll be going to hell for buying a magazine. For not going to their church service. For not listening to their rhetoric. What makes carrying a big cross around in midtown traffic so righteous? Who gives them that right? It's free speech, but does it represent what you, as a Christian, want it to? Is it really encouragable?
What they seem to want, what they need is to be heard. They want to be listened to. They delight in the idea that they can bring salvation to someone.
Wow, just typing that out gives me a little chill. Bring Salvation To Someone. That's the goal, right? Saving to be saved? Hoping that you can make a difference, save a life, keep a soul intact?
I see the man on the street preaching to a group of disenfranchised teenagers, and I wonder: At what age do they become responsible for their own actions? When do they need preaching to? Is it when they can drive? When they can vote? When girls have their first period or when boys' voices crack? At which point is it required to get salvation, and just when do children lose their innocence anyway?
These questions roll through my head when I see someone spending a lovely afternoon on a streetcorner, yelling for salvation. Get it here, get it here. There is an infinite amount, you must only believe. These street dealers of worship make a mockery out of the goodness of Christianity and can literally scare people away from your faith. If your drugs are joy, mercy, and compassion, then your street dealers are doing a terrible job.
Maybe the next time you see a "Bible Thumper" hocking his wares to all those in earshot, perhaps you could point him to the nearest house of worship to help, and not hinder, his passion and his goal. I'll bet that time and energy is much better spent in there.
And just think of all the times you could then say "If I had a wooden nickel for every time I heard him preach..."
Why you gotta act like you know when you don?t know?
It?s okay if you don?t know everything
2 Comments:
I think you are right. As a believer I do want to share my faith when the opportunity arrives. However, I am not going to push it down anyones throat. These people are doing much more harm then good. It is a shame because they do have zeal but they are pretty much idiots who don't know what to do with that zeal. The sad thing is they don't want to know what to do with it.
It was people like this that kept me out of church for a long time and it is people like this that drove me to start a church that was different.
there used to be (probably still is) a couple that used to do street preaching at my college campus, and the campus ministry groups (all good, "normal" groups with caring and tactful people) absolutely hated to see them come around. many kids there learned to relate Christianity to those kind of tactics, which was pretty sad if that was the only encounter that a kid had with Christianity (which sometimes was the case because the legit groups didn't want to push things down people's throats or use any tactics that would be even potentially associated with the street preacher).
you know what they say... the squeaky wheel gets the grease... or in this case, all the attention AND a bad rep for all Christians.
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