That's a very good description of Modern Christianity.....
A pretentious people all living in illusions "grandeur"......
Things are not going nearly as well as what we pretend........
Let me first say I honestly feel like a fool. I don't think I've ever lived up to what God wanted for me. At every turn, I seem to always fail.... even if its in little ways.
Don't get me wrong, I believe this life was designed for the specific purpose of teaching mankind the truth of vanity. That is why I often ask the question.....
Just how "good" can something be..... if it ends????
However, things that end have a great effect on our character. The very really fact of losing something you love..... not matter what that might be.... teaches us to focus on things that are important.....
What I consider important now is far different than what I considered important when I was much younger. I'm sure if the Lord lets me live for many more years.... I'll continue to learn what's really important....
I want to say there are no "illusions" to my understanding but I'd be a fool to say such a thing. Experience has taught me that I'm continually .... so horribly inept.
I know its common to hear that going "up" with God..... means going "down". However, I think that's just the beginning. We should "get up" and start being what God wants us to be. Be.... exactly what He desires. Success has always been greater than failure.....
it might describe modern american christianity.... and the christianity of societies that follow the american example.... specifically what;s left of the modern fundamentalist movement....... but i don;t believe the term 'pretentious' can be applied to all of modern christianity everywhere.... ....there are places around the world, and probably in a few places in the u.s. as well,.. where faith is strong.... and it means something to the people who have it..... they live harder but much simpler lives than most americans do and they don;t concern themselves with the trivialities that most americans think they cannot live without.... neither to they spend time praying and asking for those things... or even waste time wishing they could have them.... ...but when they do pray they pray to a God they know... and a God they love...... and their prayers are answered......
i can;t think of anything i thought was important when i was young.... that i no longer think is important today.... ...if anything some of those things have gained in their importance and become higher priorities..... and then of course there are some things i was completely ignorant of or took for granted.... things i didn;t know were important that i have since learned the value of and now place a higher priority on...... ...but that being said i truly believe i am exactly where God wants me to be...... and i know i am doing at least some of the things He wants me to do...... the big things and the ones that have been made clear to me....... ...when i was very young i prayed for God to take me away from the very wrong place i was and to place me somewhere that was right...... to give me someone and some thing i knew i needed.... ... i didn;t specifically ask for Him to open a door or show me a path to follow..... ...i did not even think about my prayer being answered that way..... ... but God did open a door and did show me a path..... and i followed it...... inspite of what people around me thought or said.... and inspite of what they tried to tell me to do...... ... had i listend to them i would not even be alive today.......
and i think that might be where much of the problem with modern christiainty lies.... .... too many christians worry too much about others think of them.... ... and they take too much advice from other christians who may not have their best interest at heart... and who have not necessarily sought Gods counsel on the matter.... even though they might adamantly claim that they did and have..... ... and then in return they waste effort doing the same thing to others trying to advise them on how to live their own christian lives when they haven;t sought the counsel of God either....... and then act indignant toward those others as if they believe their advice came straight from God Himself.... .. ..in that way ..which really can be described as pretentious...... many modern christians have harmed others and allowed themselves to be harmed...... and though i cannot claim to know the mind of God i nontheless know that;s not what He intended.......
(09-22-2017, 09:00 AM)aleshanee Wrote: [ -> ]it might describe modern american christianity.... and the christianity of societies that follow the american example.... specifically what;s left of the modern fundamentalist movement....... but i don;t believe the term 'pretentious' can be applied to all of modern christianity everywhere.... ....there are places around the world, and probably in a few places in the u.s. as well,.. where faith is strong.... and it means something to the people who have it..... they live harder but much simpler lives than most americans do and they don;t concern themselves with the trivialities that most americans think they cannot live without.... neither to they spend time praying and asking for those things... or even waste time wishing they could have them.... ...but when they do pray they pray to a God they know... and a God they love...... and their prayers are answered......
i can;t think of anything i thought was important when i was young.... that i no longer think is important today.... ...if anything some of those things have gained in their importance and become higher priorities..... and then of course there are some things i was completely ignorant of or took for granted.... things i didn;t know were important that i have since learned the value of and now place a higher priority on...... ...but that being said i truly believe i am exactly where God wants me to be...... and i know i am doing at least some of the things He wants me to do...... the big things and the ones that have been made clear to me....... ...when i was very young i prayed for God to take me away from the very wrong place i was and to place me somewhere that was right...... to give me someone and some thing i knew i needed.... ... i didn;t specifically ask for Him to open a door or show me a path to follow..... ...i did not even think about my prayer being answered that way..... ... but God did open a door and did show me a path..... and i followed it...... inspite of what people around me thought or said.... and inspite of what they tried to tell me to do...... ... had i listend to them i would not even be alive today.......
and i think that might be where much of the problem with modern christiainty lies.... .... too many christians worry too much about others think of them.... ... and they take too much advice from other christians who may not have their best interest at heart... and who have not necessarily sought Gods counsel on the matter.... even though they might adamantly claim that they did and have..... ... and then in return they waste effort doing the same thing to others trying to advise them on how to live their own christian lives when they haven;t sought the counsel of God either....... and then act indignant toward those others as if they believe their advice came straight from God Himself.... .. ..in that way ..which really can be described as pretentious...... many modern christians have harmed others and allowed themselves to be harmed...... and though i cannot claim to know the mind of God i nontheless know that;s not what He intended.......
God always has a remnant. Those keeping faith.... are never really alone.
I completely agree with what you said about "advice". I don't try to tell someone what exactly to do in any given situation. That's not mine to know. Such things belong exclusively to the Spirit of God. I just try to help others.... slow down... be still.... and listen. What I say doesn't often matter. However, listen to every word that comes from God. He's never made a mistake....He can't lose.....
That is one of the reasons I am so against most everything that comes out of "Modern Christianity"..... It revolves around the idea that God leads people through other people.... and it doesn't work that way.
The Great Shepard leads His own. A stranger they will NOT follow.
When you've tasted the Best..... they why every settle for less....
I don't know who originally said this. I have heard variations of it from two different people, and they each said they heard it from a different source.
But the thought put forth was - "Fundamentalist Christianity has become little more than a group of religiously minded people who fervently believe in the spirituality of someone else".
And that "someone else" was implied to be the preacher or the "man-o-gawd".
I spent a little less than one year at Hyles Anderson attending FBCH in the mid 1970s, and when I first heard that quote it perfectly explained what I had witnessed and experienced there.
To a lesser degree it also explained the church I had come from before attended HAC, though in fairness people at my previous church were a lot more likely to think for themselves and act accordingly than they were at Hammond.
I'm not saying those affected did not have a real faith in Christ or a personal relationship with God, but all too often it seemed as if the preacher or pastor of the church could easily trump that and impose his own will upon a person that God might have led another way.
And so, without that personal relationship with Christ that nobody - not even a preacher or "man-o-gawd" - can interfere with, our religion really does become pretentious. We are simply following someone elses lead with no idea of our own what God would have us do.
And I agree. That is not what God intended.