"Christianity 101 - bless your enemies. Love, fast, give, pray - bless your enemies...I was thinking about people like Martin Luther King and Mohatma Ghandi...and just by the overwhelming power of civil disobedience and standing when they're being mistreated and not responding back and retaliating - there's power in that because that's Jesus for real. There's an element of the love of God that comes out in those situations, so when you're wronged and you don't fight back, God begins to work on your behalf and...I want people to come into repentance, I want them to change their thoughts about who He is, I want them to see Him and I want them to rise up."
On commercial success:
"There's a whole culture machine behind bands and it's garbage man. There's a part where at the end of the day, if you're not closer to Jesus because of the ministry you do, can it. Just get out of there. The minute we (Sleeping Giant) start substituting money for substance and for being sincere I'm out. We're out. We're done. Cause it's a joke...We're not gonna be concerned with trying to do it like everybody else. It's not gonna happen. Not on my watch. My life is too important to me. And I've already traded some of it to corporate America and I'm not going to trade it to the culture machine."
People like Thom Green really inspire me and point me back to the substance of my faith. The line between being a 'modern' Christian and a 'worldy' Christian is so thin to me. There is this mentality amoung our generation that says it is okay to be a Christian and still get caught up in consumerism, partying, rude humour, degrading music and so forth, ONLY if on Sundays you act holier than thou and go to church. Is that okay? Have we lost what it means to be a Christian in the world today?
For me, the definition of being a Christian has been flipped upside down and shaken. The term 'Christian' isn't a label you put on yourself just because you attend church and sing in the worship band. It's not a term to be used and abused to a make you feel superior to everyone else. It's not a term gleaming with promise but when inspected is rotton inside. Christianity is a lifestyle, the way you live every moment, in every decision you make. It's in the way you think, what you do and what you say. It's gaurding your one heart from the evils of this world, even if it's denying yourself from listening to an artist that promotes sexual immorality, or choosing a skirt that's below the knee and not above the knee. It's a relationship with God which breathes love - more specifically, the love for His heart and His values.
Maybe our generation has taken grace as a ticket to sin. I think the majority of us have thought 'God will forgive me anyway' at some point in our lives before we did what we knew was wrong. But there's power in the choices you make everyday. There's power in your decision that it's okay not to drink. There's power in turning off a sex-crazed radio station. There's power in saying no to drugs. There's power in blocking porn sites on your computer. There's POWER when you choose to do what is right. When that happens, like Green says, that's Jesus for real. And when we take that stand, God moves. Not only in our lives, but in our generations. I am dreaming and hoping and praying that we can be part of a Holy Spirit empowered movement where people do not give themselves to such demonic enforced industries such porn, drugs and alcohol but to LOVE.
I am hoping that we havn't done it all wrong. I am hoping that the values that Jesus held in his heart and evidently in the way he lived would align with ours. Cause man, I am far from being a real Christian. I am far from taking my identity away from the world's hands. It's time to pray. It's time to fight.
Listen to: Sleeping Giant - The Army of the Chosen One
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