Pete W has lent me 'Colossians Remixed' by Walsh and Keesmaat. intro is about postmodern world view interesting stuff. explains a lot about why people cannot get 'into' following jesus as an 'all-out' 'all-in' way. in this way of thinking everything people tell you you ought to believe is treated with suspicion, and no-one can claim to have found 'the' truth. Everyone might have a but of a truth and you can choose which bits of which truths to believe in.
to illustrate their point about suspicion of all the 'imposed ideologies' of the past they quote form 2 songs, leonard cohen ' the future' and smashing pumpkins ' bullet with butterfly wings. both worth a listen.
cohen links st. paul with 'stalin and the berlin wall' ! later he includes Hiroshima and Christ in the list. For cohen all these things are totally debunked.
the pumpkins ask 'what do I get, for my pain? answer: 'Betrayed desires, and a piece of the game' ie you cant believe in anything- it only leads to pain
interestingly both songs mention jesus - seems he is no more trustworthy than the rest of them!
so what's the implication? a) when we talk to people about the Jesus we believe in, many people will have these thoughts in their head - they are predisposed to disbelieve. b) we probably have a bit of this way of thinking ourselves!
leonard cohen - the future
YouTube - The Smashing Pumpkins - Bullet With Butterfly Wings
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