Christian Living versus Day Care
When I was very young there was a children’s tv show called “Romper Room”. It was all very calm and peaceful. The children all played nice, the teacher never raised her voice, and everyone was super-polite and dressed in their finest.
And many Churchians think this is an ideal picture of Christian living.
Blah!
It was Jesus who said, “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” (Rev. 3:15-16) Jesus doesn’t like blandness! Being sickly sweet is not a virtue. Think about it: does God ever get mad? Sad? Happy? Irritated? Yes! His emotional range is all over the Bible.
Jesus got very ticked at the Pharisees... you know, those legalistic, hair-splitting religionists. They wanted control of the smallest details of everyone’s daily living. Paul spent a large portion of his letters battling these same legalists and control freaks, frequently using great sarcasm and even crudity. But there are many in Churchianity today who think we must all be little Romper Room children. I’ve written before about such “vegan Christianity” but mainly from the angle of doctrine. What’s going on with Romper Room is the over-emphasis of verses speaking about peace and self-control along with the suppression of verses speaking about contending, defending, and refuting. While it’s true that we must not be hot-headed and looking to smash other believers, it’s also true that we must strongly oppose anyone who would infect the group with either false teachings or bad behavior.
My pre-teen children know better than to mouth off to adults or push the limits of parental tolerance, but many newbie Christians think nothing of being very rude and abusive to more experienced believers. Young punks insult seasoned disciples with impunity, but if the seasoned ones defend themselves they get reprimanded by the “behavior police”. Where are these “police” when the kids start their rants? Why is discipline only dished out against the victims and not the attackers? Why are they so nice to the wolves and so repressive to the sheep?
This is not Romper Room! It’s family, and you don’t let spoiled brats tell the parents what to do. Please, Behavior Police, learn the difference!