Do you remember the "Real Men of Genius" commercials from Bud Light? Back before 9/11, they were the "Real American Heroes." Take a look at Mr. Way Too Much Cologne Wearer.
Hilarious, n'est-ce pas?
But here's the terribly unfortunate snag: BUD LIGHT IS HORRIBLE BEER.
All of the defenses for Bud Light (as well as Coors Light, Miller Lite, Keystone Light, Natty Light, etc...) are pretty much the same: it's cold, it's chuggable, and it's cheap. So for a few bucks and minimal commitment, you can get yourself to a state of illegal-to-drive-ness pretty quick and easy.
And if all you want is to just get yourself hammered, hey, yeah, go ahead, grab a 30 of whatever awful concoction you find lurking in the back of the cooler at the 7-Eleven and just go to town. Puke your guts out for all I care. Bad beer leads to bad things.
And I realize that taste is a subjective thing, and that you might enjoy terrible beers like the ones I've listed, but the thing that you've absolutely got to understand is that they're still terrible beers. Just because you like the taste of terrible beer doesn't mean the beer isn't terrible.
There are billboards throughout the eastern part of Arkansas - the rice-growing parts - proudly stating that Budweiser and Bud Light are brewed with Arkansas-grown rice.
Wait... Rice? In beer?
Isn't it supposed to be a beverage of malted barley and/or wheat? Since when has rice been a part of the equation?
Oh, right, since companies wanted to start making cheaper beer by using ingredients that still produce the alcohol necessary to get you drunk but without any of the troublesome work of making the beer taste good.
But hey... They got some awesome commercials, right?
On the other hand, I have never seen a commercial for Hoegaarden, one of my favorite beers. It's just delicious. It's what beer ought to be - tasty. Tasty and, you know... not made with rice. Yay for wheat beer. Exellent with a squirt of lemon.
But what about people who have never had anything other than terrible beer? What do we do with these poor souls? How do you show them that there's something better? Can you do anything other than just pour one?
I look at beer and I see churches.
I see churches that have these amazing programs designed to get people into the door, enormous undertakings to get the church name recognition in the community, big trips to get the kids excited about coming to church...
But once you get there, it's just another batch of the same watered-down swill everywhere else. It's been comprimised in the name of making it easier, cheaper... lamer.
I've found myself in more and more situations recently where I've had to clarify my stance on denominationalism (it stinks) and explain to people that all I'm trying to do is follow Jesus. I'm not trying to follow Him the way Martin Luther said to follow Him, nor Alexander Campbell, nor Billy Graham, nor Pope Bocephus the Awesome XII.
(He was a pope, right?)
And I cannot help but see that there are so many things that so many other people in so many other churches get so hung up on because they're trying to filter Jesus through everything else they've ever been told instead of trying to filter everything else through Jesus.
When you make beer with things that aren't supposed to be in beer, you get terrible beer. (Or Dogfish Head.)
When you make Christianity with things other than what Jesus said, you get... well, you get every problem people have ever had with Christianity.
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Love others as you Love yourself.
THAT'S IT.
There are no more ingredients involved in this recipe. There are no more pieces to the puzzle. There are no more Legos necessary for this spaceship. This is it. This is all it's about. Everything else - EVERYTHING. ELSE. - falls into one or both of those two categories, and those two categories fall into each other. Love for God is carried out in Love for others, and Love to others is Love for God. That's BIBLE. Matthew 22. The epistle of James. Everything written by John.
I could go on, but I really hope you catch what I'm slinging here.
The conundrum is that I don't know of any better way to show people what Jesus was actually trying to teach than by doing it. That has certainly been the most effective tactic for me thus far. But it is definitely difficult facing up against a wall of tradition, especially when that tradition is broken.
I've seen what the world outside thinks of church. It's not good. It's a picture filled with judgmental thinking, slavish dedication to rules, and an eagerness to divide things into an "us vs. them" mentaility. That is all completely opposed to what Jesus taught.
Jesus taught universal love and acceptance. Does sin exist in Jesus's worldview? Absolutely. But the chiefest sin is to use God as a reason to oppress people.
Jesus came to free us from the Law. But today's churches have inisisted that our freedom from the Law is apparently only freedom from dietary restrictions. So many Christians live out their faith in a strict legalism instead of the open, free, Spirit-led walk that it was meant to be. Are there rules in Christianity? Yes, absolutely, and here they are: Love God, Love Others. Done. End of story. If you can drink a beer and still Love God and Love Others, then by all means, go ahead and enjoy your beer. If you can't, then by all means, don't. But just because you can't doesn't mean anybody else shouldn't.
Jesus came to unite the world. We are not meant to live as nation versus nation, or denomination versus denomination. We are meant to be united in our Love for God and for our fellow man. That's the point. The people who go to a different church are still going to church, and Jesus said that's OK. The people who don't go to church at all need to be shown the Love of God that compels them to join others in a church, they don't need to be guilted into attending a building.
I have said a lot of these things before, but they just keep coming up over and over again as the things I constantly see deterring people from Christianity.
How about we knock all that crap off, huh?
And stop drinking terrible beer while you're at it.
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