Home | Join! | Help | Browse | Forums | NuWorld | NWF | PoPo   


~ Ping      Ping ~
Proud Heathen
The Out Campaign: Scarlet Letter of Atheism
Subscribe
Subscribe to this to blog if you would like to be emailed whenever it is updated.

Your email

Jesus can't take the wheel. He doesn't know how to drive.
Thursday. 2.21.13 3:05 am
Sometimes it's frustrating having to censor myself to my family about religion. I have most of my extended family on facebook, and it's really hard reading all their entries and not commenting on them. Sometimes I just can't help myself. My cousin (who is 19) has naturally fallen into the trap that most christians fall into. The idea that God is somehow auto-pilot for your life, and that you have to wait around for divine inspiration about what to do with your life.


I fell into this trap as a teenager, so I know all about it. The answer, for me, was becoming an atheist. But even for a christian, you should know better. There's nothing in the bible that says that God is going to make every little decision for you. You're an adult. You have to choose your own path in life. God isn't auto-pilot, he's just supposed to be a moral compass that you point your life toward (if you believe in that sort of thing).


Even worse, are the adults, "wise" in the way of a christian life, that always try to tell teenagers that they'll find their answers in the bible. Which would be totally true if you were a 2000-year-old jewish person. Unfortunately, the bible isn't much of a roadmap for a modern life. It can't tell you what college to attend, or what career to choose, or if you should date that girl from the coffee shop. The bible is a moral guide, not a practical guide. It tells a christian the kinds of choices they should be making, but not the details. Those, you have to come up with on your own.


Obviously I think it's all a bunch of malarky anyway, but the best I can manage when talking to my family is to be vague and try to slip some common sense into their unhelpful aphorisms.
5 Comments.


This reminds me of an old preacher's joke:

A man was living in a town where there were warnings of a flood. Someone came by in a truck and said, "Hey, do you need a ride? Flood's coming". The man answered, "No, I have faith that God will save me."
A little while later the water rose and the man had to go up to his second floor. Someone in a boat came by and said, "Do you need a ride? The flood's getting worse."
The man said, "No, I have faith that God will save me."
The flood waters rose and the man was soon stranded on his roof. A helicopter flew by and the pilot yelled out, "Do you need help? I can pick you up!" The man said, "No, thank you, I have faith that God will save me."

Finally the flood waters rose and swallowed the house and the man drowned. When he went up to Heaven he saw God and he said, "God, I had faith in you, why didn't you save me?"

And God said, "What did you want!?!? I sent you a truck, a boat, a helicopter....!"

» Zanzibar on 2013-02-21 08:37:37

I must say I agree.
I think we have should have plans, but we should be completely ready to drop everything at a moment's notice if it becomes "clear" that God's got something else planned. I'm not really sure what that looks like yet, but I know some people who've made drastic life changes because they felt called to do something crazy.

As for looking to the Bible for answers, there's definitely some merit in that. You're right that there isn't a section for what school to attend, how to date, or how we can glorify God through Facebook. We have to try to apply the principals in our own lives. But at the same time, it's more than just a vague moral guide. It's chock full of specific spiritual and practical goals we should strive for, and plenty of examples of what it looks like to live out spiritual principals. I think a lot of people think of the Bible as a general "guide to being good" and they never dig deeper to see any of the teachings that are more useful or harder to accept. And that's definitely a trap too.

2 Timothy:16-17 ESV

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
» middaymoon on 2013-02-21 11:23:51

Isn't there something in the Bible about how you still have to do stuff for yourself? I thought there was.
» randomjunk on 2013-02-21 11:31:28

I agree
I am proud to say that I believe in God. However, I am NOT religious. I see religion as a politics. We are not puppets. God gave us free will and the ability to make choices. If God was on auto-pilot everyones lives would be perfect.
» Midnight on 2013-02-22 09:30:07

What most people-who-say-they're-Christians don't get is the Bible just tells you *how* to do something, not *what* to do. The rest, really, is up to the individual.
Which is an idea some are only just now getting. "That's what you want to do? Then do it! God will go with you!" That kind of thing.
» invisible on 2013-02-22 04:14:55

Sorry, you do not have permission to comment.

If you are a member, try logging in again or accessing this page here.

Praetorian's Weblog Site • NuTang.com

NuTang is the first web site to implement PPGY Technology. This page was generated in 0.419seconds.

  Send to a friend on AIM | Set as Homepage | Bookmark Home | NuTang Collage | Terms of Service & Privacy Policy | Link to Us | Monthly Top 10s
All content � Copyright 2003-2047 NuTang.com and respective members. Contact us at NuTang[AT]gmail.com.