JR. Forasteros - April 6, 2014
The God of Nation
We all love to feel like we belong to something. But belonging easily becomes an idol. When we assume God is on our side, supports our views and policies, we turn a good - belonging - into a god. We sanctify our group, become incapable of admitting that our tribes are as sinful as we are. The only way we can find life is to follow Jesus into the Kingdom of God, to embrace our status as resident aliens. To live as faithful pictures of Jesus, to serve as ambassadors for God.
From Series: "American Gods"
When you think of idol, you think of a little statue. But idols can be anything that distracts or distances us from God. During Lent, we're going to look at some of the most popular idols in our culture. We'll see what they are, and how they pull us away from God. We'll also discover the better way God calls us to. Join us as we discover the identities of these American gods, and turn from them to follow the one and only true God.
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Today’s about Ghost stories. Though they appear in many forms, the quintessential ghost story involves the spirit of a dead person who’s stayed around (usually a haunted house) because they have unfinished business. Maybe they have to deliver a message or ensure proper burial or get revenge. Whatever the case, once their business is complete, they leave into the afterlife.
Unlike our previous two monsters, today we’re not ghosts. Rather, to quote Peter Rollins,
We are the haunted houses. — Peter Rollins
We move through life collecting hurts, wounds and scars, evidence of pain inflicted on us by other people. Some may be slight, exaggerated in our heads – maybe someone who cuts us off or says something cruel or who causes us harm by accident. Others could be huge, life-altering. A spouse who left. An abuser. And there’s a whole range of hurts between.
Whatever their source, however legitimate or not, these people, these hurts don’t just exit our lives.
We carry them around with us, in our heads and in our souls. They haunt us, returning again and again out of the ether to drag us through the past, to relive history, to reopen old wounds.
The problem is we don’t know what these ghosts want. We don’t know how to resolve their business and get them to leave us. We can’t escape their haunting – especially if the person who hurt you is still a part of your life.
