I saw a t-shirt today that said, “Keep Talking, I’m Listening. -God”. It got me thinking…about the language contemporary American Christianity uses…about the commercialization of Christianity, and the bizarre or even frightening subcultures that can exist within the church. When did we get so strange?
Is it really all about us talking, and God listening? Really? Is it about our grandiloquent prayers, our pious acts of service, our speaking in tongues, or hollering amen, or shaking and quivering with hands raised toward the church ceiling … and God blessing us for our displays of devotion? Is it really about us chattering at God like so many needy little children, unable to look past our own wants and needs…our own spiritualized sense of entitlement? And there He sits on His throne, ready to send money, or power, or influence if we chatter loud and long enough? I’m not ranting from a pedestal…I’m as guilty as anyone.
When did we get so strange?
I look to Christ’s disciples who walked with God in person…in relationship…with doubt, and attitude at times…with foolishness at times…with devotion and love at times. Their subculture didn’t emphasize the outward appearance of religiosity (in fact, how many times did Christ Himself confront that very thing?) …they didn’t wear t-shirts or bracelets asking “WWJD?”. In between the lines of every statement Christ made as they walked with Him were hints of loss, of hope, of humility, of betrayal to come, of passion and of death. After He came and went, there didn’t seem to be any inflated egos hollering how Jaeeesusss blaesses those who give…not among those who walked with Him, talked with Him, betrayed Him, lost Him and found Him. They simply lived from a place of changed perspective…and they could only speak Christ, even if it meant death for them as well. The promise was real, the hope was tangible…grace took them from self-centered to Christ-centered.
Compliance with the cultural expression of American Christianity will not earn us a spot at God’s right hand…there’s nothing we can do to earn it…we are already there. Perhaps we could stop talking for a moment, and start listening…
Where are we speaking over His voice? Where do we need to die, once again, to ourselves?
I’ve been amazed of late by the vitriolic language/stance that some people in the Protestant community use about contemplative prayer and how it’s “invading” the Protestant spirituality (just google contemplative prayer on YouTube and you’ll see what I mean). I don’t blame them for not having any knowledge about the history of contemplative prayer in the Catholic Church (many Catholics don’t either), or for not being open to the mystical path inherent in all the great world religions, but I am taken aback by their fear of “listening” to God rather than constantly talking/petitioning, etc. And what of being taken beyond listening… it is so sad to see people locked within such thick walls of fear.