Bad Sermon

I'm away from home today and wanted to go to church. So I went to one I'd never been to before. Everything else was ok I guess, but the sermon was really bad. I won't name names (though I'm tempted), but I'll just say it was an evangelical church just like thousands of others across the country. In fact, one of the things that worries me most is just how common such churches and such sermons are. The whole thing was about living a debt free life. That's it. Just how it's bad to be in debt and some practical suggestions for getting out of it. Don't get me wrong, I agree debt is bad and appreciate good strategies to help people with debt problems, but is this really what is supposed to be the central proclamation in Christian worship gatherings?

I mean, Almighty God invaded our world, chose to die by torture, specifically for us, so that we could be in bliss with him forever, and when we get together to worship Him, build each other up, and proclaim to the rest of the world what we're all about, we spend 40 minutes talking about the dangers of credit cards.

Don't all non-Christians in the world have a pretty good scope on credit cards?
I thought we had something that can't be found anywhere else?

All this evoked another piece of poetry:


Suburban Eclipse

There is a great power in suburbia.
Its constellations are larger than once thought.
Who could've known the brightest star in the universe
Could be obscured by the things our Visa just bought?

God Almighty has invaded our own history,
The star Chiseler, Architect of galaxies
Breached our stratosphere
In shameless, lovesick pursuit.
And in response we give sweet sermons
About debt-free living, happy home lives,
And other sterile, trite little truths.

I don't want a transformed life,
Just a little less domestic strife.
No blood and nails and rescue from Hell,
Just to be a better citizen
And some decent morals to keep my kids from jail.

MM