I have decided that I want my life to mean something. I hope that when I die, someone besides my family will stand over my grave and say “my life was better because Myria did blank for me”. The hard part is figuring out what the blank should be. I am like in you in that I do not think I will ever actually practice law. Well, it will be interesting to see where lives leads us.

Greg: I think that is certainly one perspective. Cyncial. The phenomena of big buck religion seems to me a recent development, and fortunately these things too shall pass. It certainly is not an accurate picture of “Christianity” around the world. Chinese religion is not an 8 billion dollar industry, and there is really good work going on over there.

Serving Mexico by building a sound infrastructure is a wonderful example of service and community ideals. Not only does it create a desire to stay in the homeland, it also keeps local tradition and culture alive. We, in the great American melting-pot, are becoming cultureless because of dispersion due to economic potential. One could say that we are forming a new culture, but I would disagree. Over generations, the old ways ultimately perish.

Concerning missions, I too have a distaste, especially for those which replace rich indigenous cultures, which ultimately point to God’s beauty and diversity, with a foreign Western-centered religion. Although I must say that I commend, and currently send financial support, to people who are willing to give of themselves for what they feel is a greater cause than the proverbial house with a white picket fence.

I try not to judge this sacrifice that people make. I have friends in Haiti with two children who help build homes and the wife is a physical therapist. My sister visited Haiti once and was deeply moved. She went home and started Serving Our Savior (SOS), a nonprofit organization that does nothing more than funnel money to Haiti. With her efforts there has been a school built along with children being clothed, fed, and educated.

Lastly, I will note that I saw a street preacher in my home town one recent afternoon. He stood preaching at the cars with rolled-up windows while his young daughter paced with a homemade poster. My first reaction was “fool, what good is it to preach at people who cannot and do not want to hear. Moreover, how dare you submit your daughter to this!” But, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I felt compassion and the urge to pray for the man and his daughter. My heart felt as if this man was sincere and passionate: he was doing what he felt he was supposed to do. And, as I attend SOL, who am I to question the apparently absurd?

Your post is obviously very thought provoking, Jeremy. Good work! I will relent that I do not understand the “porclain throne” gospel. What gives?

I’d always thought that one of the higher aims of religion was to help people find their place. But when I walked past the Bentley parked next to the Zion Baptist Church on Washington the other day, I’m was reminded that even organized religion helps some people find their places better than others.

Still, I don’t think that honor is bestowed in whole upon people who perform selfless acts. Especially when those acts are performed in order to settle-up on some checklist with god. Mortenson’s case, which we might call inspirational, is so remarkable because his inspiration came from within. And if the rest of us are looking to *do *something maybe we should learn to know our true selves (hopefully near-death is optional) and that can help point us to a meaningful direction.

(or not.)

The thought process that you have went through was interesting because as you thought of how maybe your calling was to help empower others, you actually empowered yourself to think of other goals in life besides the general dreams and aspirations of outward success. You have actually considered what may bring greater inward peace as opposed to outward success. By doing that, you have accomplished what most people never accomplish. (Of course you may be just delirious and talking out of your ass.)Either way, good job!

About your problems with the Baptist church and their methods. I also have had struggles with the generic broadbrush religion. This method can sometimes bring people to the church, but as far as any kind of deep meaningful relationship with God, they are on their own. Growing up as a Baptist preacher’s son, I have seen those who absolutely loved the the big churches and felt like they were a part of something great, even though they may not really know why. And then I have seen those who search for something deeper than youth groups and volleyball teams on Tuesday nights. I think it is important to remember to not follow those in organized religion, but to try to learn as much about God as you can and follow him. There are good and bad people in any religion or denomination (or non-denomination). Sometimes the “bad” do good, and sometimes the “good” fail, but God is all sovereign and unwavering.

1) These churches engage in missions (or consider themselves to engage in missions) in primarily three ways, that I have found.

A) The church sends members on “mission trips” to foreign countries or at the very least somewhere over a five hour van ride away. Church members typically help a community in some way on these trips (clean up the community, build a school, etc.), but the principal aim of these trip is to evangelize (or as Floyd has put it, spread dogma). I have no documented support for this, but I would also submit that traveling to such a faraway place allows the members and the home church to pat themselves on the back without really having to come to terms with the missionees’ lifestyle on a daily basis. Don’t recall reading anything that documents Christ doing anything like this…

B) The church creates a community within itself. It creates a daycare, for example, and offers very reasonable rates particularly for single parents…who are members. The church builds a gym for the use of those…who are members. You get the idea. Don’t recall Christ commanding this anywhere either.

C) The church sets up a weekly or monthly Soup Kitchen or Clothes Closet. To me, this is better. The church is opening its doors to give of itself to its immediate community. In my experience, these types of endeavors are not often successful: The members start in with the proselytizing and run people off, members bring their old, out of style clothes to donate, the members don’t actually engage in conversation with those they’re helping or do anything to undertake any obligation additional to what the members are doing at that moment. A legal analogy might be that the church is honoring its deal with only nominal consideration. In the legal world, a party supplies nominal consideration to a contract when he or she is trying to make something look like a valid contract that really isn’t. For example, my parents want to give me a parcel of land worth $100,000. When we execute the deed, I have to give them something in return so I give them $10…Not quite what onlookers would call a fair deal.

2) The other aspect of a church’s outreach that I just can’t bear is the brand of Christ’s love that it offers. Christ commanded his followers to be in the world but not of the world. Not only are many church members no longer in the world (because they are so wrapped up in the whole Jesus-freak ensemb or simply because they’re afraid of what their peers will think), but also in their proselytizing these members tell prospective Christians that they will have to not be homosexual or not drink or smoke or not hang out with certain people who lead them down the wrong path.

When Christ chose to hang out with people, who did he choose to hang out with? Not people at church…well what were the churches at the time. He surrounded himself with the known “lowest of the low,” and he also surrounded himself with controversy. And no, not controversy formed out of conservativeness—the controversy he stirred arose out of openness. This is my most fervent criticism of the Protestant-evangelicals because before I did a degree in this stuff and got into all the historical and textual criticism, I could not find it in my heart to help only people who were willing to listen to how wrong their life was and how they needed to change. I just felt the whole approach to be misplaced and a disgrace to what we all claim to have received from Christ. The love that Christ gives and asks us to share is the one that he first showed us—one without conditions. I was never able to find this in the Baptist church, not even for myself.

I could go on, but I believe I have shared enough. Thank you for your post.