I am a Christian.

What does that really mean?  The word “Christian” is just an associative term we use to identify a group of people.  A group who supposedly follow the tenets and canon of Christianity, or the teachings of Christ, a guy named Jesus who lived more than 2000 years ago.  He was executed by the rural arm of the Roman empire and some pissed off local leadership and his followers went on to write a bunch of materials which were combined with older Jewish teachings into a book we call the Bible.  This book and the religious fire set alight by Jesus’ disciples went on to form the largest religion in the world, with some 2+ billion followers today.

That’s what a Christian is, as a social category at least.  But what does being a Christian really mean?  What is the purpose?  What is the physical and psychological embodiment of the word?

Many people have an answer to this question.  I would surmise that an even greater number do not.  They “are” Christians, as in they exist and identify with that moniker, but they do not know what it really means.  They understand the history and the basic metaphysical implications, as in “a God exists” and “Jesus was sent by God to die on the cross and now we hunt for chocolate eggs to celebrate”.  But understanding history and reciting the facts is not an understanding of the meaning, the significance, and the sheer weight of its purpose.  How do I know this?  Because I’ve seen those who truly do hold this level of understanding  and are so convicted of it that it literally changes their lives in ways that they can’t help but espouse the awesome power and beauty of it to others.  Say that 10 times fast.

The rest?  They muddle through life, just existing.  A beer here, some fleeting relationships there.  Perhaps a marriage, held together only by some raw determination or stubborn expectation of duty.  On Christmas or Easter they will go to whatever church into which they were born.  Perhaps a few other times a year if Grandma is especially convincing that day.

I know this because I was a Diet Christian for a good chunk of my life.  I won’t go into the reasons, suffice to say that in my experience a good number of my generation and even the generation before mine hit the same rough patch and lost all of their Christian calories.  In my case, it was a reaction to the staunch and unbending ritual and routine of the Catholic church, but it happens in many other denominations and religions too. The important point here is that I understand the mindset.  I understand the rationalizations that go on, and the complete apathy toward forcing yourself to pursue a deeper understanding of what being a Christian should really be.  I’ve lived in the ceremonial refugee camps.

Why can I make this assertion, that this lifestyle is somehow the sugar-free version of Christianity?  Why can I speak with confidence about “what a Christian should really be”?  Because I’m not just making this up.  The ground rules were laid 2000 years ago, and have, despite some truly rough patches of religious corruption, held up over 2 millenia of scrutiny. I’ve got the collective wisdom of 100 generations at my back, baby.  Despite disagreements about the mechanics of life itself or other politicized topics, the deep foundations of morality, love, ethics, honor, respect, dignity, compassion, and so many other virtues that are so very vital to our existance and social equilibrium are woven into the very fabric of the bible, not because of a random lightening strike, but because generations of scholars were deliberately inspired to construct such a foundation.  I find that the more I study it, the more the pillars of the various books support each other.  The brilliance and depth of the ideas expressed in the Good Book hold a far deeper complexity than most give credit.

I won’t make a diatribe here in rebuttal of the criticism that has been made of the Bible or the faith that has been built on it (again by billions of people), there are others far more capably equipped than myself to do that.  Some of them even have fancy degrees and letters after their names. What I will do is make my final point regarding the apathy of Diet Christianity: if you are dozing your life away in this category, it’s time to wake up.  You’re holding on to a title for no reason.  You maintain an association that you do nothing for.  If you truly want to make your Christian badge useful, open your eyes to the faith around you.  Put the religion on hold for a moment and pay attention to what the God you profess to believe in is truly doing.  There is a deeper truth at work than you realize, and the path to find it is always right in front of you.

Here are the practical steps that have unfrozen my senses and assisted in my own, personal revival:

1. When you read the bible (and you should; I say this knowing full well that I don’t read it as often as I should, that’s a topic for another time), don’t just read the words.  Examine them.  Dissect them. If necessary, get a study guide, or better yet check out http://www.blueletterbible.com and check out the translation and other tools there.  You can unlock a lot of meaning by cross referencing translations.

2. After you’ve read the bible, read the bible.  Again.  Maybe again, again. This time, don’t just strive for reading comprehension, but take to heart what you find within.  Realize that the writers didn’t just randomly unleash their prose upon the page - it was inspired by God himself for a reason.  If the creator of everything you see took the time to inspire human writers to create a 1000+ page book that has existed for 2 millenia, countless critics, and forms the actual physical anchor to our faith and the man who died for our sins, then he probably has a reason for it.  Despite differences in translations, there is a core intention in every verse of that book.  Take it literally, but not too literally.  Don’t be a jerk about taking it literally either, a little common sense goes a long way.  The parts of the book with the rules are fairly explicit and hard to miss.

3. Once you’ve read some of the Good Book, or had a good preacher explain some of the trickier parts to you - and this is probably the most important part here - GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER.  Realize that the #1 priority in your life is God.  Everything that exists in your life exists because of him.  If you make God your priority, the rest of your life, even the chaotic, turbulent, difficult, trying, heart-wrenching, angering times will go so much smoother and less painfully.  I know, I’ve been there.  Really.  When you make him a priority, you’ll realize just how much stupid, sinful crap you do and how much you justify it to yourself.  Grow some willpower and do the right thing.

4. Listen.  God talks to you.  He really does.  I hear it as these contrarian thoughts I get when I’m going about my life.  If I’m going to do something, and suddenly my train of thought goes down a different, completely perpendicular path, that’s the big guy giving me advice.  As with everything, we have free will, but God gives us nudges, and if you learn to listen, you’ll pick on them.  Given the whole omnipotence thing, I’m inclined to trust his judgement over mine.

So, read the bible and realize it really is the guide book for truly, meaningfully being a follower of Christ.  If you aren’t following what it says, get your act together and change your life.  Once you’ve done that, open up your senses and your mind and God will do the rest.

This is in reference to the recent Miss America Pageant where one of the contestants was directly asked her opinion (which by all accounts was known ahead of time), and then penalized for expressing her religious beliefs.

That’s about as un-American as you can get.

Observe:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/27/were-here-were-queer-and-were-hypocrites/

Do I believe in gay marriage? My question-as-an-answer - what are we talking about when we say “marriage”? Are we talking about the recognition of two people’s love for each other before God, as the bible talks about? Or are we talking about the political / societal reward for creating a stable environment which will further society? Most Christians you ask are generally talking about the former. Most politicians you ask are generally talking about the latter. Don’t bother asking most Muslims, as homosexuals are put to death in the middle-east, so I hear.

Frankly, I’m the wrong person to ask. I’m in favor of a flat tax at the federal level, and getting the government out of my personal life as much as possible. Given that marriage is about as personal as you can get, I’d be happy if they took their grubby paws out of the marriage topic all together.

Also, when did we start electing hate-mongering-homosexuals* to start judging a FEMALE BEAUTY pageant**?

* I’m not calling homosexuals hate-mongering, I’m referring specifically to paragons of humanity like Perez Hilton. Yes, I take a bath in sarcasm every morning
** I’m not a huge fan of beauty pageants either, but Miss America is generally tamer than most, and though probably fading, it is an example of a modern American tradition

I’ve used that phrase 2 or 3 times in the last 24 hours.  ”You owe it to yourself”.  Mostly out of habit, though it was used intentially in place of other phrases.  However, I just re-read my earlier post about the Town Hall for Hope, and realized my recent excessive use of this phrase.  This realization came with some self-analysis, of course.

What does this phrase mean when we use it?  We’re implying that a debt exists, as you can’t “owe” something that doesn’t include a debt of some kind.  Whether that debt is currency or something else doesn’t matter.  It’s still implies a transaction has taken place and you haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain yet.  Thus, debt.

But how can you be in debt to yourself?  If you own yourself, as we believe in this country that you do, and any debt to yourself implies a transaction with yourself, how can you have a one-sided transaction with yourself?

We have a phrase in the world of computers and blinking lights called a “technical debt”.  A technical debt is a debt which you rack up with yourself by not being diligent about how you do your work.  If you don’t document properly or often enough, or you cut corners with functionality, you are building up a technical debt.  You will be forced to repay this debt later, with interest, through the difficulties your lack of documentation brings, or the bugs your corner cutting introduced.  Thus, the debt to yourself exists because it is a liability (in the accounting sense) - much like credit card debt, it will eventually prove a major weakness when trouble comes knocking.

You can be in debt to yourself by creating situations in which you leave loose ends or openings for trouble to expose your weaknesses.  If you see these unpatched holes in your life, you are just racking up interest by procrastinating on the maintenance.

Back to the topic at hand, regarding my usage of this term “you owe it to yourself”.  To answer my line of questioning: while not strictly a debt of work left undone, the debt we create with ourselves shares the same consequence - it will prove a liability when trouble comes knocking.  In the case of politics, the debt we create is a debt of ignorance.  The currency is knowledge.

“You owe it to yourself” means you need to repay your ignorance debt with truth and awareness.

If you haven’t heard of it, you owe it to yourself to check out Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall for Hope at http://www.townhallforhope.com. I won’t go into the fuzzy wuzzies of the word hope, or the message that Dave wants to spread. Some people like the guy, some people don’t. Frankly, I think he’s got good things to say, even if a lot of it is common sense. Often enough I find that what I think of as common sense really isn’t all that common. As with everything in life, finances and politics tend to lock us into that deep focus, that tunnel vision that clouds our thinking and our perspective. Sometimes it takes someone bringing that common sense back to help us find perspective again.

What I take away from the Town Hall for Hope idea is something more practical than a simple boost in perspective or a dose of common sense - the idea that our current economic troubles and the deep uncertainty the world faces is both a cause of and a symptom of fear. And as Dave Ramsey says, hope is the cure for fear. Barak Obama spoke those words too, though from his actions and the actions of our congress, I don’t think he really understood them. Most politicians don’t - they are too busy trying to push an agenda.

We need to take a stand as a people and quit relying on the media and the government to give us hope. The media isn’t financially incented, and the government doesn’t exist to create things. It’s up to us to make our own hope. We can do it through common sense and an acceptance of what’s going on. Despite the fearmongering of those in power, we will pull out of our crisis, and those who are positive and proactive are the ones who will truly profit.

I can’t speak with the eloquence and knowledge that Dave Ramsey can, so I’ll leave it at this. Visit the Town Hall for Hope. Listen to the common sense. Then turn off the poison on TV and go out and do something positive.

“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

In which I share my advice whether you want to hear it or not:

Don’t trust someone who can write citations without an appeals process.  Liquor board and electrical inspectors, I’m looking at you.

“From a libertarian perspective, your generosity is reflected in what you do with your own money, not in what you do with other people’s money.” -Arnold King (http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2009/04/some_libertaria.html).

http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=84662

“If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

from http://rulesformyunbornson.tumblr.com