Bikini-clad, chainsaw wielding ninja Grandmothers…with chainsaws
Desensitization is a word that you may not recognize by itself, but most likely have felt the effects of. The Wikipedia defines it:
“Desensitization is a method to reduce or eliminate an organism's negative reaction to a substance or stimulus”
Contrasting even the last five years with 50 years ago, it is surprising how much the North American culture, and we as Christians in that culture have allowed ourselves to be desensitized. For our grandparents, it was risqué for a woman to wear shorts. Today, models in lingerie are posted larger than life on billboards. For our parents (those of us under 25), depiction of extreme violence was rare. Today, murders and cannibalism are shown on TV during mainstream hours.
If we compare recent history and modern culture, we will continue to see continually widening gaps between moral and ethical values.
Working at a hardware store not only affords me the opportunity to observe people firsthand, but also to be near the head of the juggernaut that drives our culture: materialism. As both Halloween and Christmas are right around the corner, we have begun to set up decorations for the holidays, first focusing mainly on Halloween, but even now setting up gobs of Christmas decorations.
As customers walk through our Halloween decorations and toys, those called the ‘Baby Boomers’ almost always make a comment about how they never had this kind of stuff when they were a kid. ‘This is great! We never had a skull that oozed steam when I was little’ ‘Wow! I never had a demon bat, or a cat eating a rat when I was a kid! This is great!’
One of the most graphic decorations we are carrying for Halloween is a yard stake. About four feet high, at the top of the stake, sits an impaled head. Quite realistic, Cousin Bob’s head sits in all it’s gory glory, tongue sticking out, with bloody, jagged edges around where the neck would be.
On May 17, 2004, America's first state-sanctioned, same-sex marriages took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since then, over 6,100 couples have been married. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/14/national/main846230.shtml)
I watched in disappointment as the Episcopal Church appointed an openly homosexual bishop, which in turn opened up a Pandora’s Box that never should have even existed. How can blatant disobedience (in any form) to God even be a question of ‘is this really such a big deal?’
Our country currently has spent over 200 billion dollars and over a thousand lives on the war in Iraq. As tragic as this is, many people never hear about the near 25 thousand dead Iraqi civilians. (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/press/pr12.php)
What happened? How did we as a culture move from one extreme to another? Can we blame it on the ‘advancement’, or change of our culture? Or should we use the cop-out that people have to make their own decisions, and that if it works for you…?
In the movie Hotel Rwanda, Joaquin Phoenix’s’ character comments on the reaction of the western public upon viewing video footage of the genocide in Rwanda (1994): “If people see this footage, they will go, 'Oh God, that's horrible' and go back to eating their dinner."
I believe that one of the main reasons our culture has become so saturated in, and desensitized to, sin is due to the gradual move away from God and his Word. As we slowly took God out of our schools, our workplaces, our government, He slipped out of our homes as well. I once heard a quote that related God to a gentleman. He won’t force himself on anyone, but rather waits to be invited.
I also believe that all too often, the church as a body has been way too silent. While there are a few on the front lines, most of us have stood on the sidelines, not wanting to get involved. Why? Are we not the church of Jesus Christ? Has he not called us to be the salt and light of the earth? How can we as his collective body look at what is going on in our world, and say ‘that’s horrible’, then go back to our dinner?
I think part of the answer lies in two places. First, we must have the right heart attitude. Over and over, Jesus talks about how important the attitude of the heart is, even more so than the actions themselves.
A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. Luke 6.45, NLT
Once we have our hearts in the right place, we are able to implement the second piece of the puzzle: practical application of our faith. It seems to me that with over 2 billion people claiming Christianity as their faith, this world should be radically different. Look at how much 12 Christians did during the formation of the Way. How much more could we do today if we had only a handful of people totally sold out to Jesus?
By truly living our faith through our actions, words, and especially our thoughts, we do truly become the salt and light in the world. Start by putting aside your fear of rejection, your pride in self, your bigotry against whatever, and devote yourself completely to Jesus. Be willing to be willing.
-AT
“Desensitization is a method to reduce or eliminate an organism's negative reaction to a substance or stimulus”
Contrasting even the last five years with 50 years ago, it is surprising how much the North American culture, and we as Christians in that culture have allowed ourselves to be desensitized. For our grandparents, it was risqué for a woman to wear shorts. Today, models in lingerie are posted larger than life on billboards. For our parents (those of us under 25), depiction of extreme violence was rare. Today, murders and cannibalism are shown on TV during mainstream hours.
If we compare recent history and modern culture, we will continue to see continually widening gaps between moral and ethical values.
Working at a hardware store not only affords me the opportunity to observe people firsthand, but also to be near the head of the juggernaut that drives our culture: materialism. As both Halloween and Christmas are right around the corner, we have begun to set up decorations for the holidays, first focusing mainly on Halloween, but even now setting up gobs of Christmas decorations.
As customers walk through our Halloween decorations and toys, those called the ‘Baby Boomers’ almost always make a comment about how they never had this kind of stuff when they were a kid. ‘This is great! We never had a skull that oozed steam when I was little’ ‘Wow! I never had a demon bat, or a cat eating a rat when I was a kid! This is great!’
One of the most graphic decorations we are carrying for Halloween is a yard stake. About four feet high, at the top of the stake, sits an impaled head. Quite realistic, Cousin Bob’s head sits in all it’s gory glory, tongue sticking out, with bloody, jagged edges around where the neck would be.
On May 17, 2004, America's first state-sanctioned, same-sex marriages took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since then, over 6,100 couples have been married. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/14/national/main846230.shtml)
I watched in disappointment as the Episcopal Church appointed an openly homosexual bishop, which in turn opened up a Pandora’s Box that never should have even existed. How can blatant disobedience (in any form) to God even be a question of ‘is this really such a big deal?’
Our country currently has spent over 200 billion dollars and over a thousand lives on the war in Iraq. As tragic as this is, many people never hear about the near 25 thousand dead Iraqi civilians. (http://www.iraqbodycount.net/press/pr12.php)
What happened? How did we as a culture move from one extreme to another? Can we blame it on the ‘advancement’, or change of our culture? Or should we use the cop-out that people have to make their own decisions, and that if it works for you…?
In the movie Hotel Rwanda, Joaquin Phoenix’s’ character comments on the reaction of the western public upon viewing video footage of the genocide in Rwanda (1994): “If people see this footage, they will go, 'Oh God, that's horrible' and go back to eating their dinner."
I believe that one of the main reasons our culture has become so saturated in, and desensitized to, sin is due to the gradual move away from God and his Word. As we slowly took God out of our schools, our workplaces, our government, He slipped out of our homes as well. I once heard a quote that related God to a gentleman. He won’t force himself on anyone, but rather waits to be invited.
I also believe that all too often, the church as a body has been way too silent. While there are a few on the front lines, most of us have stood on the sidelines, not wanting to get involved. Why? Are we not the church of Jesus Christ? Has he not called us to be the salt and light of the earth? How can we as his collective body look at what is going on in our world, and say ‘that’s horrible’, then go back to our dinner?
I think part of the answer lies in two places. First, we must have the right heart attitude. Over and over, Jesus talks about how important the attitude of the heart is, even more so than the actions themselves.
A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. Luke 6.45, NLT
Once we have our hearts in the right place, we are able to implement the second piece of the puzzle: practical application of our faith. It seems to me that with over 2 billion people claiming Christianity as their faith, this world should be radically different. Look at how much 12 Christians did during the formation of the Way. How much more could we do today if we had only a handful of people totally sold out to Jesus?
By truly living our faith through our actions, words, and especially our thoughts, we do truly become the salt and light in the world. Start by putting aside your fear of rejection, your pride in self, your bigotry against whatever, and devote yourself completely to Jesus. Be willing to be willing.
-AT
posted by ATS at
10/14/2005
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1 comments
