Growing, waving and torture

There are three things on my mind today..they are completely unrelated, which is kind of how my mind words, thanks for your understanding:

1. I am beginning to think that being a pastor is actually going to be good for my relationship with Christ. The last couple of days as I have been studying about judgement or more accurately the Christ command not to judge (examining Matthew 7:1-6 this weekend) I realized that all of this reflection on God's Word is really sinking into me...deep. I've begun to think before I speak..."is this statement going to bring value and communicate the love of Christ to this person or is what I'm going to say designed more to make me look good or build me up at this person's expense."

So I thank God that I have the privilege to spend "work time" studying the Scriptures. I know it's something many others would benefit from and the only thing I can say is this...based on my experience right here, right now....time spent studying God's Word will bring benefit to you and show you the fullest life possible.

2. I hate it when people cut me off when driving and then wave like I let them in. It happened earlier today and what I most want to do is just give them a little bump and say "take back that wave because I don't want it." I'm sure that some people are just so clueless on the road that they actually think that 3.5 inches of space was the other person's attempt to let them in, but more often than not, "the wave" just seems like salt on the wound...them saying "not only am I going to almost make you wreck but I'm gonna' acknowledge what I did with this wave right here."

3. I can't think of any way to spin this headline that would result in making Christianity and the church look good. I read this headline earlier this week from a story that recounted the results of a survey on torture..."Christians more likely to support torture than non-Christians." Read the story and survey for yourself here. Now I know all the right answers, and all of the talking points but anyway you slice it these are the two major findings of the survey.

A. The more white and evangelical these respondants were, the more likely they were to say that torture is "sometimes" acceptable. (44% for white-evangelicals to 25% for those who are religiously unaffiliated.)

B. The more these survey respondants attended church, the more likely they were to say that torture is "sometimes" acceptable. (38% for those who attend at least weekly to 30% for those who attend seldom or never.)

My point here is not to debate whether or not torture is "sometimes" acceptable or to make any ethical or moral stance..it is merely to wonder at these results and to not be surprised that many non-Christians have a bad taste in their mouths when it comes to this faith that I hold so dear.