Eric's thoughts

Deanna, I hope these diaBlogs can be a place for this very type of discussion. The how-to's and the real world experiences we see in our own lives. It was refreshing to read how your children question and combat this very topic. It has really caused me to think of how I represent this to my own children.

Thanks for sharing and encouraging us.

ya i think im going to victorias secret today so i think while im in there maybe ill mention to the gay guys working in there that they are all wrong and need to take all their products off the shelves. Ok? Ok! Thank you Ron Lucy

note::

forgive my error...'deceiver' should not have been capitalized!

Eric,

Yours is a great complement question to the one that Jon had posed. Though both are along the same line, yours focuses more on our teenagers and young adults.

Recently my 10 year old son was commenting on the new Todd Agnew song..."My Jesus", he keyed in on the line:
"If Ephesians says to imitate Christ why do you look so much like this world?"
At 10 he struggles with the contradictions he sees in fellow Christians. His words are, "I understand why kids who don't know Jesus sometimes act and dress the way they do. What I don't get is the christian kids acting like all the others."
There are some great conversations to be had about the flesh vs. the Spirit, and peer pressure and the desire to fit in.

SSquared..I've enjoyed your posts..
**"It comes down to deciding if you love things of the world more than you love Christ. It is something I think about daily. Where do I spend my time and does it take the place of Christ? If it does, then I discuss it with others and pray to re-prioritize my desires."**
I think this is extremely applicable to our young people. Having a teenager, I know it's something we discuss regularly.
I don't think Jesus wants my child,"Battling the World," I think He wants her to get to know Him even better and share Him with whomever He wants her to. Staying focused on that priority has helped her from becoming entrenched in the culture. We remind her that no where in the bible does it say this present world will ever get better, in fact the opposite is suggested. That doesn't mean she gives up on sharing the Gospel. It does mean that she guards herself against the Deceiver and his attempts to distract her. What has become difficult for her is the pressure from other christian kids to embrace the culture, i.e., clothing fads, music, etc.

I agree. There is currently a theme going on through these diaBlogs.

To me, we shoud not demand anti-culture, but rather promote pro-Christ. As Christians, if we spend the time focusing on Christ through prayer, His Word, and through other Christians, I believe we can not only stand apart from the world but also embrace the people around us as Christ would.

We need to be careful what parts of a culture we allow into our lives. If we are faithful, then God will show us individually what to allow and what to avoid. Most things, in themselves, are not sinful. Wearing a pair of pants or a shirt is not a sin. Neither is watching TV. But we still need to be careful of what and how often we watch, and how our lives are effected by the 'popular' clothing.

It comes down to deciding if you love things of the world more than you love Christ. It is something I think about daily. Where do I spend my time and does it take the place of Christ? If it does, then I discuss it with others and pray to re-prioritize my desires.

Christians should be neither anti-everything (I mean, God has placed you in this culture. Enjoy it! Use it to God's benefit.) nor anti-nothing (there are definitely things we should avoid). I feel the Holy Spirit convicts each one of us where that line is drawn. It's not really our job to tell people what they can and can't do. But it's our calling to preach the Good News to the world and to be a positive, faithful, ambassador for Christ.

So, "Battle Cry". That says a lot right there. What, exactly, is the battle for? Is it for individuals or a cultural standard? Are the marketers at Abercrombie and Fitch satanic or just marketers doing what marketers do (and where does the responsiblity lie for their actions...with them or the purchasers?). Who is ultimately responsible for sin? The sinner or the tempter? In my daily struggle, that personal responsibility weighs very heavily...and rightfully so.

Not only does your post tie in Jon's recent discussion, but also Steve's post regarding how Christians are viewed as intolerant. In all my interactions with folks, I've never found yelling in faces an effective means of communicating love and concern (or anything else for that matter). It's an appeal to a base emotion...anger...much as the Abercrombie and Fitch catalog is an appeal to a base emotion...lust. I don't see the difference in what you describe and what the folks at Abercrombie are doing. It's all pretty antithetical to Christ's message and that's a problem.

How did the kid's feel about it? How do you talk about the mixed messages in a way that doesn't turn them off?

Thanks Tomas-that's exactly what I am hoping to do, to get some discussion going about the topics that were presented. There were some great things that happened on the trip and somethings, that were, at the very least, confusing and hypocritical. And I was not alone in that thinking.

To me, it's bigger than Battle Cry. It's about Christians living their lives in a bubble or being so entrenched in our culture that we are not influencing others any longer. This seems to be how Christians are viewed, as either too worldly or living on another planet.

Wow, Eric -- sounds like quite an experience. Do you think we could hear more about the experience and feelings about it from those who went? This would be a great forum for people to share what they liked and didn't like, how it changed them or made them think, etc. Did the youth group as a whole feel uncomfortable there? I saw an article in the newspaper saying the leaders of San Francisco said they wished the Christians would just leave. Thanks for giving us some insight as to why they wanted you to leave. tb