I grew up watching "Walker: Texas Ranger" probably because I have a father who, I believe secretly, wants to be a cowboy. I watched Chuck Norris solve the world's problems in an hour every week. Granted there were worse things to watch but I'm sure hoping there were better things too. But I'm disturbed that this picture was used as a sermon illustration. I believe that the point that the pastor was trying to make was that people and communities of faith need to have vision and a plan on how to make that vision a reality. Somehow this picture of Chuck Norris exemplifies this? I'm all for people of faith and congregations having vision and goals. But I have issues with this picture. First machine guns???? Who are we going to go kill in order to bring about this vision or goals? We're to be militant and use violence? Then the theme of patriotic loyalty. Vision is only for the United States? We're the only group of people that God blesses? It's okay to promote violence as long as it's in the name of a nation? There are just so many issues I see with this picture. I'm not against Chuck Norris, I'm not against being patriotic. What I do take issue with is using this picture of a person to highlight the idea of going out and working towards your vision and goals when there are plenty of others available of him that are not with guns pointing and in front of flags. This image carries so many more thoughts and meanings then I think the pastor intended that I believe that it diminished the point of the sermon. This is a clear example that just because you can Google an image and that it might be seen as funny (lets face it who hasn't laughed at a Chuck Norris joke lately???) that as leaders we need to think through things a little more clearly then others. God have mercy.
In a conversation with a more conservative Christian then me (take in mind I call myself a bed-wetting liberal and I’m also a big time Process Theologian) the person started rambling off scripture quotes (proof texting really) to make a point. I have never claimed to be a great memorizer of anything. And even though I have read the Bible many times and own many copies of the Bible, I am still not a person who can just pull out scripture references in mid conversation. I do have several verses that I turn to and love dearly but I can’t tell you word for word what John 2:5 or Ruth 1:4 says. This got me thinking, why do Christians really feel the need to qualify their faith based on the amount of scripture that they can recite from memory? While it may be very handy to be able to quote scripture in a variety of situations, I believe that this can be dangerous. Proof texting (pulling scripture, from any religion, to support an argument without careful and learned consideration for its cont
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