Steam Punk Christianity

We were working on our giant steam punk duck yesterday afternoon and one of our neighbors stopped by.  Now, he did not stop by because he was our neighbor, we had no clue he lived around the corner.  No, he stopped by because he saw the art car that we were working on and could tell by our actions that we were "Burners".  He introduced himself, got a big hug and asked for help loading some sofas that were on the side of the road further up for $40.00.  The people giving them away were not home, so we helped him, he gave us the money to pass on and promised to come by and say hi again.  We invited him to come by our camp at Burning Man to catch a movie or have a drink on our deck and I have no doubt that we will see him again.

This started me thinking..........

If he had seen a fish on the back of our car, or perhaps some religious bumper sticker, would he have asked for help?  Would be have gotten a hug or been trusting enough to give us the cash for the furniture?

How is it that being in the Burning Man community looks more like the church than the actual church?  Why can't the world identify us by our actions and expect Christian love from us?  I mean real, love your neighbor, help them move couches, Christian love.

The world sees the word Christian and their first reactions is to back away, hide their true self in fear of judgement.  I really don't think that this was God's goal.

Maybe the church could take a lesson from the arts community...........

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 3, 2015 at 11:34 AM

    I know a few people at work who identify as Christians who would be very uncomfortable if a stranger stopped by like that. One, especially, is choosing to only attend social functions that are labeled as Christian and is more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of going to a Burner social (because we're artistic hippie-types).

    I know another guy who tells me that when he meets people when traveling and invites them to visit and stay in his home if they are in the area, he doesn't really expect anyone to take him literally. He is just being "polite" and would not know how to react if someone actually took him up on his ofer.

    There's a habit of society to have stylized "politeness" (insincerity) that counts on others also being insincere. I really don't know how they can function like this without eventually disbelieving in anything being freely given or accepted.


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  2. Universal Flow ArtAugust 3, 2015 at 1:17 PM

    OMG....I agree! I love my community. Once upon a time I was part of the Christian community...I never felt so much judgement and lack of support in my entire life. A complete opposite as what I feel in the burner community. This is the first time in my life that I have a complete sense of belonging and feel so much love. I am so grateful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Laurie J.August 4, 2015 at 6:18 PM

    The church needs less religion, more Jesus, and these type of problems would be solved.
    We're working on it. ;)

    ReplyDelete

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