Thursday, April 19, 2012

Idolatry of an Unconventional Type

So i'm a part of a mailing list for Christian women, that's associated with the magazine Above Rubies. The group is comprised of fairly conservative women, which is fine because I tend to fall more in that category myself. I get a lot of emails on this group from ladies asking for advice, or sharing homemaking tips...sometimes it's just women sharing their lives together. All-in-all it's a pretty nice thing to be a part of, but one email kind of set me back a little today, and not in a good way. 


I want to hesitate to give too much information, because I don't want to inadvertently identify her to someone else. I certainly didn't want to call her out or bust her chops over the subject, but it did get me thinking about some of the more unusual things that Christian women seem to have as idols. 


Anywhoodles, the gist of the email was this. A member of this group was concerned about a family member of hers and felt like she needed to reach out to her regarding an issue of potential sin. In an attempt to reach this family member, she tried to hand her a copy of "Above Rubies" magazine thinking it would set her straight. Her family member rejected the offer, and the member in question was angry about the rejection of this gift. She in fact expressed that she felt her sister was rejecting God by rejecting the offer of this magazine. 


Anybody see where I am going with this? No? Well, I read emails like that and it leads me to a conclusion about the culture of Christian women today: we idolize other forms of Christian information over the Bible. 


I know, I know. Sounds a little weird. But it's true! Think about it this way, the member didn't offer her family member a Bible with highlighted verses in an attempt to witness to her....she handed her a magazine. A good magazine by all accounts, but still....a magazine? How is the rejection of a magazine a rejection of God? I suppose it is an easy conclusion to come to if you believe that a magazine is the word of God. But we all know that isn't true.


There are countless materials on the internet for women who are trying to live Biblical lives. Things like Vision Forum, Above Rubies, Roo Mag, Women of Faith....these are all great resources with Biblical content in them that women can surely count on for wonderful faith-promoting ideas and thoughts. 


But they aren't the Bible, and nothing BUT the Bible will ever be the word of God. A magazine with a few lines of scripture in it is not the same as holding that blessed book in your hand and asking the Lord to help you understand the pages within. 


 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 
2 Timothy 3:16-17


Want to teach someone about Jesus? Give them a Bible. Want to help them correct their sin? Show them where God discusses it in the Bible. Want to uplift your own day and prepare your own heart for correct? READ THE BIBLE.

I am just as guilty as anyone regarding this subject. I can think of a million times where I spent a half an hour on Women Living Well (an awesome website by the way) just gobbling up lots of uplifting writing...but then my own Bible sat on the shelf all day. It's a terrible habit that i'm trying to work through myself.

Anyway, it just got me thinking. Perhaps we Christian women need to break the habit of giving SO MUCH focus to these websites and magazines and books and instead spend the bulk of our time in the WORD.

Cheers,

The Uncouth Christian.




Sunday, April 1, 2012

PURGE.

I've moved from Wordpress to Blogspot. I decided a while back that I needed a change, and after a year of working on my language and attitude I finally made the switch. So I apologize, but all my old followers are no longer on my blogroll. I sent everyone on the mailing list a copy of my new address, and as of next week The Uncouth Christian on Wordpress will be deleted.  This will be my permanent home, and hopefully everyone will be able to find me again.

I'm hoping that from now on my blog will be a little less "uncouth" and a little more "Christian", but He's still working on me so stick around for the progress.

Also, many requests for patience as I put together a new layout. I still haven't determined what I want yet, so a premade is what's left.

Cheers,
 The Uncouth Christian.