It seems that pastor Grover has meddled once again. The text today was 1John 2:15-17. Towards then end of his homily, when nobody was expecting it, Grover caught us against the wall with his shoulder, then drove it in a few times for good measure. Just when we figured that we were doing a great job as Christians here in the USA we were reminded that "whoever loves world does not have the love of the Father in him." Grover explained the world to us as essentially culture. What makes us tick? Is it our submission to the Lordship of Christ, our imitatio dei, and his substitutionary death on behalf of those who follow him or is it the gadgets, loves, desires, wants, and worldview of 21st century America? Consumerism and comfort or Christ and crucifixion? These are great questions to ask ourselves. Beware this kind of introspection might cause us to become weird.
The band mewithoutYou sings a song in which the lead singer's attractions to millions of "half loves well worth leaving" makes him say, "Oh my G-d(he has jewish friends), I want to shoot myself just thinking about it." You think it is hyperbole until the next lyric, "you think I don't mean what I say, well I mean every word I say." I hope the words of John's letter give all of us a bit of a complex in which we will not and cannot be content with anything other than God, but that with God in Christ we would be content though we have nothing else because we know the blood earnestness of God's commitment to save those who trust him.
