the southern image

a nice article recently in The State Newspaper of South Carolina about what it means to be "southern." They ask if the southern image is blurring and consider some statistics about religion and military..interesting read..

"Church attendance figures compiled by David Olson, director of the American Church Research Project, show Southerners are much more likely than the average American to go to church — though, as a region, their Midwestern brethren have a slight edge. The Arbitron broadcast rating service finds Southern dwellers are 48 percent more likely than others to listen to religious radio programming.

And what of the closeness of extended families associated with the South?

Six of the states in the top 10 for highest divorce rates are in the South. And the Census Bureau recently reported the South is home to seven of the top 10 states with the highest percentages of out-of-wedlock births. (The Census counts Delaware and Maryland as Southern states.)"

who do you worship?

over the past, from when i wrote that "iam no longer a christian, but i am a follower of christ," people seem to be a little "off" on that. while ihave not recieved death emails, or people sending me chicken parts in the mail, there have been some interesting emails.

one person said, that i said, "christ is great, but christians suck." well, that was not what i said, but i think it is a very valid point to say "christ is cool, but christians suck" because i think that is something the church needs to know - even if you disagree with it, people think that way because experience tells them that it is a reality they live with. one may not like it, but it is the reality of the way they see the world. one of the things i strive to be in my life is more like christ and less like a christian - because i believe that they seem to be exclusive of each other. it seems that this idea that "christians are off limits" develops from a very distorted "christology" and one we need to get a grip on.

i am not seeking to have a "high christology" because i think it leads us to a place where jesus did not want us to be. instead of a "christology" focus i am seeking to walk closer to God. now, some may say that they are one in the same, a "christology" is equal to "walking closer to God" but i wonder if that is the case. what we must remember is that jesus never said "worship me" - jesus said, "follow me" [matthew 8:22; matthew 16:24;matthew 19:21;mark 8:34;mark 10:21;luke 9:23;luke 9:59;luke 18:22;john 1:43;john 10:27;john 12:26;john 13:36;john 21:19;john 21:22]and then he told us to "worship God."

i believe, that when we seek to walk closer in christ and know the path we are to follow we naturally get closer to God. i seek to follow jesus and walk in his path, that path leads me to a closer relationship with God - but if i worship Jesus, then i miss out on the path and the teachings to walk in the way. no place in scripture are we told to "worship jesus" or "worship christ" - so, that becomes a very interesting starting point in our walk of faith. the starting point, i believe, is that we see christ as our path to God and follow the teachings of jesus to the face of God.

keep this in mind, it is easy to spot the difference between a christian and a follower of christ - because as jesus told us, "they will know you are my disciples by your love." when we strive to follow jesus and worship God, love will be a product of our lives and we will see the truth expressed in the life, words, deeds, and sacrifice of our lord jesus the christ.