CHAPTER 2 : The Truth

Sent: 3/27/2002 10:29 AM

What must be done to show the love of Christianity? How is this truth communicated in a way that is heard?

God is Love. Today, the word "love" is tossed around like a plaything. Even the words "heart" and "feelings" are becoming cliché as the years wear on. A huge heart hung in a store window with the word "Love" written on it would seem a beautiful thing, if it weren't for knowing that Valentine's day is just around the corner. Some of our most beautiful and important words are losing their value, as the world’s true intentions behind these words no longer justify them. Just the other day, I was speaking with a friend and said, "Oh, you know, my heart just feels love." Immediately, I am looked at with strange eyes, as if I'm speaking a language that no one can understand. Our vocabulary is changing. How is the truth communicated in a way that is heard?

The symbol of Peace. When we see crosses, many emotional responses occur in us. I have a beautiful crucifix hanging in my room. I found it while attending October Fest in the Catskill Mountains with a friend. It is Peruvian in a dark, rough wood, carved in a very impressionistic, and somewhat abstract, manner. Christ is shedding a huge tear over his cheek from his left eye. His eyes are closed. He seems in prayer. He is peace. Whenever I walk into my room and see it: Love! However, there are mixed responses from guests who see it. My room became the coat check for a party we were having, so as jackets were taken off or gathered, our guests had the opportunity to see the crucifix. Oh the array of emotions and thoughts that erupt when we see Jesus hung on the cross! Some feel very disheartened. Some immediately feel guilt. Some feel disgust or contempt. Some see it as an exquisite work of South American art. Some think, Chad's Catholic. Some think, Chad's crazy. Some see something they absolutely don't understand. Some see God dying for humanity and fall in love all over again. With all these different emotional reactions, how is the truth communicated in a way that is heard?

I sob for Christianity. Poor Christianity has been mutilated and twisted from the beginning, and perhaps that is a part of the plan, but nevertheless, as Christ said, He has brought division among the earth and certainly not peace. Christians, ourselves, squabble with one another over the most trivial things. I was involved in a debate over a card game when I was in college about the actual moment in which the Holy Spirit comes into your body. Were you saved at the point of baptism or when you accepted Christ as your Savior? If you accepted Christ as your Savoir but weren't going to be baptized until the next week, and on the way home, you had a wreck and died, would you go to heaven or hell? The conversation is laughable, yet that card game was a heated discussion of sincere seriousness. Did the conversation matter? Should it cause a further separation of God's people? Division, division, Division! It pains me. It exhausts me. Christ prophecy may be correct, but Christ's message IS one of peace! It is one of love. Love each other. LOVE. How is the truth communicated in a way that can be heard?