more guns and such

Steve Argue has a great article in THE JOURNAL OF STUDENT MINISTRIES about putting an end to war imagery in youth ministry. Here’s a quote:
“Some youth leaders argue that Christians are called to the public square because we’ve let “them” dominate it for far too long. But I believe it’s time to admit that the church has lost its positional status with earthly powers (i.e., governments and political parties) and confess that we’ve craved endorsements from the wrong authorities. Some seem to want to “get the power back” or “fight the power with power.” But teenagers must see—through our example—that embracing the way of Jesus comes through serving our world, living by sacrifice, and demonstrating unconditional love. The Sermon on the Mount takes priority over ideological debate. If we believe we’ll win the battle in the public square, we’ve already lost. The public square is too small and has too narrow a vision. God desires to bring healing to the whole world.”
There is a lot of fear about the onslaught of pluralism in our culture. I think many Christian families are worried that they will lose their children to the ‘anything-goes’ spiritual climate. I think their fear is real and well founded but not because our culture’s pluralistic philosophies are so powerful. No I think it is precisely because we have modeled and handed over to our children an essentially neutered religiosity. And it is only natural that in light of this it would be critical to “Draw The Battle Lines”. So often we have reduced Christianity to a set of ideological principles that need to be defended.
The more that the public square is overtaken by opposing positions from our own the more threatened we become. Retreat, retreat
Speaking of retreat – I am going on one this weekend hmmm.