First World Problems

  A while back I heard a story about Christian living in dangerous country.  The speaker had visited a missionary in a persecution zone, and asked, "How do you remain faithful against such opposition?" The missionary appeared shocked, replying to his American visitor, "How do you remain faithful without it?"

I think this is indicative of Christianity in our American culture. We've a persistent idolatry that is so embedded in our cultural proclivities, that we scarcely realize we worship American Gods (I'm not in the slightest embarrassed by my Gaiman cultural reference, here).  Gods of money, prestige, the internet, individualism, capitalism - the subtle, prevalent gods that eke worship from our daily desires. It isn't even always a materialistic tendency, though sometimes that's easiest to pinpoint.  

As Christians, we are called to be giving, loving.  Yeshua initiated the ultimate sacrifice and gift, and we are called to live Christ-like.  As givers, we are called to surrender portions of our resources: time, money, talents, for furthering the kingdom of God.  If I personified gods as Gaiman so adeptly has, would I consider my sacrifices to God as many as my sacrifices to the god of money, the god of media, the god of culture?

Sometimes I believe I write from a very philosophical standpoint rather than a existential or practical.  This means that I analyze, and fail to exact change within my own experience.  Speculative dreaming without any positive changing. I suspect I devolve into a cyclical, recursion, wherein I see a problem, analyze, and then progress into more living, without appropriately transitioning from knowledge into wisdom.  Knowledge is easy; wisdom: the more valuable, and difficult, goal. Knowledge without wisdom is holding a sword that wrong way: knowing a sword is a weapon, but not how to use it, is more harmful to self than anyone else.