The emperor is naked.

mike
Originally uploaded by ericblauer.

If someone were to say to me, Mike, why are you a Christian? Well, it’s not because of the Bible. I’m sorry. I mean, I like the Bible, I believe in the Bible. And what I like about the Bible is it tells the truth. You know, what happened when I went to church was they edited out all the stuff in the Bible...They didn’t mention that when Noah got off the boat he got drunk and got naked... No, they never told that. Thank God they didn’t put that on a flannelgraph, but I’m here to tell you that I never heard that story." -Mike Yaconelli

Man, I miss this guy, it was a tragic day when Mike was killed in a car accident, we lost a gifted writer, speaker and prophet. If you have not read his "messy spirituality" book, go out and get it, you wont regret it.

I agree with Mike on the bible issue. What is "so very sad" today is that most Christians would ban the bible if they really read the bible for all its worth. It is a barn burner of crazy human depravity written about in vivid R rated language and even more raw and saucy if you can read between the lines. The bible is an adult book. I get so much flac for daring to look at culture, peoples lives and flat reality, yet we hold to a book as central to our faith that is far more straightforward about our lives than any movie, article or sermon ever is. What gives?
It reminds me of this quote:

"I would rather be exposed to an a R-rated truth than a G-rated lie."
Ken Gire Reflections on the Movies: Hearing God in the Unlikeliest Places March 13th, 2007

Unfortunately many folks just dont want to live that way. I painfully understand the prophet side of truth...facing reality is brutal. We dont want to really see ourselves, our families, our culture and sometimes our churches for what they really are. We hold to fantasies about our lives, our friends and many other things. We want to be told stuff that we wont live, wont really believe and certainly dont act on but it makes us feel better to be told those things.
Truth that isn't lived.
If you cant live it, is it truth? If you cant walk it, is it true? Would God call you to a reality that He wouldn't empower you to actually live? Will he judge you for something you could not do?
Too many people are walking around the sanctuary naked and yet, we are expected to act like everyone is dressed. It's a joke.
And people get ticked off, if you point that out.
Yes...sad...so sad, indeed.