Doug Van Pelt

The Crazy Christians

I love that Isaac Air Freight skit, "The Crazy Christians." It sounds like a Giant Truck Competition radio ad or something...

Micah chapter 6 starts off with instructions to:

"'Stand up, plead your case before the mountains;
let the hills hear what you have to say..."

Now, some will say not to take it literally, and that's probably the case in this context, because the Lord is inviting Micah to bring an accusation against Himself, which is ridiculous. But, the Christian life is not one where praying outloud and/or declaring to creation something of God's truth. This could be seen as the actions of a lunatic. Have you ever been praying in your car, with your lips moving, and knowing that people in traffic can see you and you look like you're talking to yourself?

Following Christ should not necessarily be something that belittles your dignity. God is a gentleman. He will humble you, but trample on your dignity? I don't think so. It kind of depends on your definition of dignity and the degree with which you are carrying dignity. If it goes to the extreme of pride, then yeah, God's going to humiliate you. But if it's a healthy and balanced dignity, I don't think God is too interested in chipping away at your value as a person. See the difference?

Anyway, being in the media has made me aware of the public around me. I might think this way even if I wasn't in the media, but I'm often aware of how others may perceive me. This is a good thing, in that it forces me to choose my words and actions carefully. It could be a bad thing if I wrestle in my mind and succumb to the snare of "the fear of man."

A friend told me that Stephen Baldwin was crazy. He was skateboarding down Broadway in Nashville during GMA Week, listening to tunes on his headphones, oblivious to the honking cars in a line behind him. While I can relate to my friend's reaction, I also like the fact that someone famous, like actor Stevie B, would cast his cares about what the public thinks into the gutter and just enjoy himself. There is a freedom in that, and the further you go up the fleeting totem pole of celebrity-ism, the less and less of that freedom you have. To break free and not care what people think is a good and necessary thing (within context, of course).

Right now on this blog I have a resonsibility to think about what I say. If I just went hog wild with my stream of consciousness crazed imagination, I'd probably scare some people!

Bottom line, I guess is this: we should fear God. The fear of man is a snare. It's good to act wise and speak carefully and thoughtfully. And always stay sensitive to the Lord's will. He may ask you to do something wild.

Micah 6:8 is a very popular verse:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."

There you go.

Posted by Doug Van Pelt at September 9, 2005 02:21 PM