Baptism: On Marketing Our Way to Insipid Christianity
Our revival-inspired evangelistic sales pitches minimize the cost of following Jesus. We sound far more like the used car dealers — “Bankruptcy? No problem! Bad credit? No problem! No down payment? No problem!” — hiding the very high cost of the transaction in order to make a sale.
In a world of liquid identity, there can be no definite answers to our questions about our own identities.
No answers, that is, unless humans have been inescapably created with a meaning that transcends us, that shapes us, and gives us definition beyond that which we give ourselves. A meaning that helps us to understand where our common humanity begins while giving shape to each and every person as a unique individual.
Indeed, what does it actually mean to be made in the image of God? It means we have been created as eternal beings. It means that by getting to know that which is eternal, we might rediscover our identity in a foundational image archetype that is all too hastily being discarded: male and female.
Even Jesus wouldn’t buy ‘the rapture’
Yet it’s amazing how scriptures get misused, and relatively new theological ideas — such as the rapture — get deeply embedded in certain circles. The rapture is really a plot device for popular entertainment and a bizarre theological teaching in fundamentalist circles, where it functions in a variety of ways. But it’s bad theology, and Jesus himself would have been astonished to learn that thousands of years after him there were such notions afloat.
Six Surprising Traits of Effective Pastors
- They are persistent
- They have a good sense of humor
- They are highly intentional about connecting with unchurched persons at least once a week
- They look in the mirror
- They are intentionally consistent learners
- Their most consistent discipline is daily Bible reading
Resting may be the most countercultural and spiritual thing we can do as people who follow God. In our modern, crazy-busy, take-it-to-the-limit society, rest is an act of trust in a sovereign God.
Potato salad Kickstarter project has already raised more than $20,000
After beginning his potato salad project with a goal of just $10, Zack Danger Brown of Columbus has already raised more than $22,000.
“Basically I’m just making potato salad,” Brown wrote on the Kickstarter page. “I haven’t decided what kind yet.”
After quickly reaching his first goal, Brown has been updating the page with stretch goals including an idea to “rent out a party hall and invite the whole Internet to the potato salad party.”