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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

What I Believe (part 15)

I believe that the lottery does what the church has not: offered hope for something better.

I could probably write a novel on this. I could probably rant all day on how we've all failed as Christians. I could probably get so depressed I'd contemplate suicide. I could probably get so angry that I'd say a lot of things I don't mean. But I won't. I'll just say that I believe the church's job is to provide people with a hope for something better and a way of getting there. So when the church fails to do that, people look other places for that hope. People (in America anyway) are finding new hope in things like consumerism, anti-depressants, fast food, and the lottery.

"Hope is subversive, for it limits the grandiose pretensions of the present by calling into existence the possibility of something better." -Walter Brueggemann, Prophetic Imagination (HT: Ben Kickert)

1 comments:

Sheffield said...

Sometimes I feel bad for "the church," carrying the burden of being the source of hope for the world is a heavy load for anything to bear. I know the whole saying that "church people are sinners too" and "that no ones perfect." I guess I also believe there are a lot of people who consider themselves part of "the church" who are trying to be that hope or help for others. I agree, it sucks when "the church" doesn't even seem to try to be what I've always thought it could or should be, but here's to not giving up hope on hope for hope's sake.

P.S.-That last line was part serious/part trying to fit in as may "hopes" as possible. And I seem to be in a "quotation marks" mood.