You remember these questions from college roommate surveys or ice-breakers.
1. If you could invite any three people to dinner, fictional or non-fictional, historic or contemporary, who would they be and why?
2. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only have one book, which book would it be and why?
If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, do you have to answer "Jesus" to Question 1 and do you have to answer "The Bible" to Question 2?
My first (reflexive) response is to say, no, being a Christian doesn't mean you have to give Christian answers to survey questions. David Crowder is not my favorite artist, John Piper is not my favorite author, and Facing the Giants is not my favorite movie. I always get annoyed when people have to put "Christian" answers to their preferences. Christ came to set us free, not entrap us in Christian cultural bases.
But my second response is that I'm supposed to be hinging my life, here and eternal, on the fact that Jesus is my first love, creator, best friend, and savior. And the Bible that sits on my shelf is supposed to be the living word of God, a "lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path," the ultimate source of day-to-day truth. If I'm at all serious about any of it, are my honest answers not obligated to be Jesus and the Bible respectively?
If I were given two free tickets to a Caribbean cruise, should I not take my fiancee? Sure, it's my choice in a technical sense, but if I chose anyone other than her, you'd be in the right to smack me and say, "What's the matter with you?"
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5 comments:
You're right, the stereotypical Christian answer is so for a reason beyond just culture. It reflects what (should be) the response, given the Christian commitment and belief.
That said, you should totally take me on the cruise.
"Christ came to set us free, not entrap us in Christian cultural bases." Touche on one hell of a nice way to put it. I can definitely relate - this post reminds me of when you (I think it was you) critiqued Fireproof, the Left Behind series, etc for similar reasons.
The concluding thoughts reminded me of Lewis' words - if true, Christianity is of the utmost importance, if false, none at all. "the only thing [Christ] can not be is of moderate importance". And so we grow in to that, until we begin to give the right answers for the right reasons as well.
Note: I think I'd answer Jesus to #1 for sure (it'd probably be anyone's best bet of resolving the historical Jesus debate), but not necessarily Bible to #2. More preferably, I'd like a book on how to survive and escape a desert island.
And no, take me on the cruise. Or at least, bring Emily and buy me a ticket. I'll pay for it with romantic guitar playing.
i agree. i like this post. too bad you don't actually get to take emily on a cruise.
yeah, i'm a christian and all, but i'd be pissed if you took jesus on a cruise instead of my sister. jesus has his own yacht, you know, and can go on cruises whenever he pleases. :)
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