February 03, 2009
Smiley Face
It always lifts my spirit when Jesus is proclaimed outside of the church. Whether it’s a football player pointing heavenward after he’s made a touchdown or a news commentator interjecting a New Testament teaching, it brings an amen to my mind and a smile on lips when Jesus is mentioned. Come to think of it, I suppose Jesus is smiling too every time He has an opportunity to get out of the church building.
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Gail;
-----There are eight dimensions of social groups: 1) membership criteria, 2) awareness of the group, 3) awareness of the group’s boundaries, 4) a clear social structure, 5) cohesion between the members of the group, 6) group norms, 7) specific goals, 8) the possibility of internal conflict. The group can be your Wednesday evening bowling team, the neighborhood on your block, or the broader community in which you live. It is a bit more difficult to recognize the group dimensions of everyone who lives in Colorado, and of everyone who lives in the USA. But they have membership criteria (residency or citizenship), awareness, a clear social structure and norms (laws and customs, specific goals, cohesion (patriotism), and conflict (politics.)
-----The main factor that keeps a group together is communication. It strengthens every dimension of the group, especially cohesion. For if you think carefully about each group dimension, you will notice that in every aspect a group is built upon the commonality of ideas and values. Communication increases this commonality. And people have a need to be in common with those around them. It is just part of our human nature as formed by God.
-----But a person belongs to many different groups all at once. We belong to the Colorado group, yet you belong to the City Hall group, while I belong to the Sharing Ministries group. We both belong to the Jesus’ body group, and neither of us belong to the Humanist group. Some in the Humanist group may belong to the City Hall group, while a few in the Sharing Ministry group might share in at least some Humanist ideology.
-----The silencing of Christianity is one of the goals of the Humanist group. These people understand that the dimensions of a group are weakened when its communication is truncated. That is why the first amendment has been perverted into the separation of church and state to foster in the minds of people a sense for a freedom from religion. By the distortion of a good law, even government is enlisted in the Humanist fight to silence the thoughts of God from passing amongst the common people. As the silence blankets more avenues, people are supposed to feel less attached to the norms and boundaries of Christianity.
-----Although Humanism has some effect by its devious strategy, Christianity is a group like no other. It has a member that no other group has: God by His Spirit through His Son. Each member has communication with that unique Member, being a temple for Him. The same effort to quash some other group may very well lead to thoughts of passé in people’s minds when they see one of its cultural expressions. And eventually all but the few most narrow minded will drop from the group as its expressions to the general populace become more and more obscure. Nobody wants to be obscure. Except the Christian. Obscurity is the street corner where its principle member was born. And that member was born naturally vocal and compelling. Therefore, the more obscure the Christian is made to feel, the more is her drive to vocalize. And those other Christians who hear feel that special Member within them rejoice.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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