Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Intimacy
The Anchoress analyzes the recent study released trying to contend that young children should not have "best" friends.
And then a really scary thought entered my mind - no wonder Christians are viewed as "hypocrites" - as one thing on Sunday morning and another the rest of the week. I'm not talking about morality here, that's wrong - I'm just talking about our personality, modes of expression, etc. Church wants us to be nice little cookie cutter people, and those of us that believe we should be in church go along to get along.
And folks, this is where the Roman Catholic Church has it over all of us - God's church is meant to be a cacophony of disparate personalities and expressions. All that stuff about one body, many parts, vine and branches - God is composing something of many voices, not merely a melody.
And it all stems from intimacy, in learning to be intimate with each other we learn to be intimate with God. Churches that are not built to build intimacy miss a vital component of what it means to be God's people.
This isn’t about what’s good for the children; it is about being better able to control adults by stripping from them any training in intimacy and interpersonal trust. Don’t let two people get together and separate themselves from the pack, or they might do something subversive, like…think differently.As I read her analysis, my mind flitted to so many churches I have visited and how they are not intimate and how they work to squelch individuality.
This move against “best friends” is ultimately about preventing individuals from nurturing and expanding their individuality. It is about training our future adults to be unable to exist outside of the pack, the collective.
And then a really scary thought entered my mind - no wonder Christians are viewed as "hypocrites" - as one thing on Sunday morning and another the rest of the week. I'm not talking about morality here, that's wrong - I'm just talking about our personality, modes of expression, etc. Church wants us to be nice little cookie cutter people, and those of us that believe we should be in church go along to get along.
And folks, this is where the Roman Catholic Church has it over all of us - God's church is meant to be a cacophony of disparate personalities and expressions. All that stuff about one body, many parts, vine and branches - God is composing something of many voices, not merely a melody.
And it all stems from intimacy, in learning to be intimate with each other we learn to be intimate with God. Churches that are not built to build intimacy miss a vital component of what it means to be God's people.
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