A Twisted Crown of Thorns ®

Christian fads and trends come in different shades. Some times as a “new perspective” and other times a bleary eyed parishioner will jump up with the all convincing pass phrase that no one ever challenges-“God told me!”. The church today is a long foregone shadow of what the good old Bereans were in the book of Acts –a noble group that searched every thing and compared even Paul’s teachings with scripture to determine its validity. A couple of years ago there was a story about Edmison:

 

Getting Romans 8:5 inked on the Torso

For 15 years, Edmison, 34, worked to establish a parlor where his talent and religious message could be on display, he said. The drive to be a servant of the Lord, Edmison said, consumed him.

“I always wanted to be the burning bush. I wanted God to talk to me like I was Moses,” Edmison said. “I kept my dog chained up so he wouldn’t be crushed by the tablets when they fell in my yard.”

But, it wasn’t until the iron-fisted grandfather he despised was dying in the basement of a hospital that Edmison said he recognized his own selfishness.

He believes God finally spoke to him.

One thing I must say is I am not against people being a witness for God. No. I am just saying that the one sure way you can let God speak to you is by picking up your Bible and reading. When we begin to seek aesthetic or esoteric experiences or extra terrestrial encounters so as to authenticate our Christian walk, then we sure will have opened the floods gates for chaos. It’s probably not surprising what passes for evangelical Christianity these days we seem to have manufactured a market savvy “alternative Christianity”. The story continues…

Edmison and the tattoos on his body are signs of an alternative Christian movement, especially among youth, embracing ink and reanalyzing their faith. Many younger Christians, whose attendance at traditional churches is waning, are now turning inward and toward churches willing to stray from old-fashioned creeds and inch more towards a contemporary interpretation of the Bible.

I don’t think reading the Word of God will ever become a fad. Desire to read the Word of God is something that is birthed by the Holy Spirit. The discipline of Bible study has never appealed to the quick mushroom converts of the day. Its more exciting to drill a hole in ones fore head or burn ink into ones back than sit at the feet of Christ and be discipled. How easily we get drawn away by fads that at the end of the day wont weigh more than thirty pieces of silver.

How do I know? Huh, well God spoke to me too.