Posted by
Gman on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 10:59:33 AM
"The message of the cross is complete absurdity to those who are
headed for ruin, but to those who are experiencing salvation it is the
power of God."
-1 Corinthians 1:18
A few weeks ago
while camping, my friends and I met some ladies and got into a big
discussion about different hot-topic issues that just about everyone
sees as problems with the Church. Despite hours of fireside
conversation, their minds could not be opened to the concepts behind
our arguments. From abortion to contraception, from the heirarchy of
the Church to the very idea that men and women were created
differently, they simply could not understand how we thought the way we
do. They were intelligent people, but they all had masters degrees in
the world and it taught them that only altar-calls run on faith, that
men are neither to be respected nor trusted, and that nothing beyond
their own gain is worthy of sacrifice.
But why? Behind all we were
saying was the simple message of love in sacrifice for another. Was
their own view of Christianity so watered down that they could not
recognize this? What would their all-accepting Jesus do? For these
women everything we stated was an infringement upon their rights; from
their right to choose what to believe to their right to murder.
One
of the things that amazed us so much was how far away they seemed from
the basic truths we held as our foundations. What was right and wrong
was turned upside-down in a relativistic frenzy to protect themselves
against absolutes. How did they get so far from the values we all once
shared? How slippery the slope must be for those who have given up
hope. But here it is in Corinthians explaining just that. For those
headed in the right direction, the message of the Cross is power,
freedom, hope. But for those headed for ruin it is absurdity.
It
frightens me to think how the sins I no doubt daily commit can lead me
to that. These women we met, they were not bad people. Sainthood has
not preserved us from their opinions, but grace. But that slippery
slope I walk leads to it. So I pray for the grace to keep on believing
in the message of the power of God, Jesus Christ on the Cross.