Anatomy of A Christian Myth
- The Question: How do religious myths get started anyway & what’s the big deal?
- The Problem: If religious people are getting it wrong, others will miss out on reality.
- The Informing Text: In Luke 4, Jesus preaches a sermon in the town where he grew up, attacking the racism, self-righteousness, & nationalism of the hearers, enraging them to the point that they attempted to throw him off a cliff.
- The Big Idea: The myths that compel people to reject Jesus are based in 4 types of selfishness:
- Control
- Greed
- Familiarity
- Comfort
After thinking about the discussion this week on Alcohol, I believe some conclusions can be made. In Paul’s teaching he is dealing with individuals that were Drunkards,living in debauchery,lust, and orgies. 1 Peter 4:3. In this period drinking was a fad. The people here would drink so much they would get drunk and sin. I believe Paul was trying to wake them up and make them realize that you must look at the whole heart. Drunkenness leads to sin and other things. I believe that we are to look at ourselves as individuals. If I am drinking a glass of wine every so often, like they did in Jesus’s time, is it effecting me,or am I sinning more. I think each person can evaluate themselves. Some may have personal convictions and that’s fine. It’s wrong to judge. But, it would also be wrong to drink alcohol in front of a friend who has such convictions. Like the bible states not doing something to cause a brother to slip. I think it is important to respect each others convictions however each and everyone should evaluate oneself ask God is this effecting me if I am drinking some or is it causing me to fall and then clarity will come for each one of us!!!!
Jason, I think the most important phrase in your post is “then clarity will come for each one of us”. In our next discussion we will explore this topic more as we dig into the grand-daddy of all Christian myths – “Religion Saves”. Our informing text will be from 1 Corinthians 8 where the first church wrestled with this very thing, only it wasn’t alcohol – it was meat that had been sacrificed to idols. You can read the early church response in Acts 15 where they wrote a letter to Gentile believers. We’ll see where the discussion takes us this time. Check out this week’s pre-post that will set up the discussion. I appreciate your participation and look forward to seeing you there.