I just finished reading "The Short History of Christianity", probably the first non-fiction book I've actually started and finished in a while (usually it's just John Grisham or Star Wars).
Stephen Tomkins wrote it from a religion-neutral standpoint and injection his own brand of humour. I guess much of the history I knew from reading European history, membership class in PLMC or visiting churches around Europe. Even so, I gotta say, the history of the church is gory, distasteful and sometimes downright sickening. Also reminded me of my tremendous discomfort when I visited the Vatican and saw statue after statue of popes and saints.
So how does one react to it? I see it as this - people are imperfect, the church is fallible. But God is not. His Word is not. So no matter how discouraged one can sometimes get looking at some churches or church leaders (disclaimer - I'm not pinpointing anybody or any church!), we can find our bearings and comfort from the Bible.
It reminds me of what I was told as I was starting out as a Sunday School teacher almost 10 years ago. Our lessons must always draw the points back to the Bible, because that's the foundation of what we believe in. If not it's just a guy telling stories to a group of teenagers.
Quite excited that I started reading again. :)
So how does one react to it? I see it as this - people are imperfect, the church is fallible. But God is not. His Word is not. So no matter how discouraged one can sometimes get looking at some churches or church leaders (disclaimer - I'm not pinpointing anybody or any church!), we can find our bearings and comfort from the Bible.
It reminds me of what I was told as I was starting out as a Sunday School teacher almost 10 years ago. Our lessons must always draw the points back to the Bible, because that's the foundation of what we believe in. If not it's just a guy telling stories to a group of teenagers.
Quite excited that I started reading again. :)
0 comments:
Post a Comment