Quicksilver Commentary

Bumper Sticker Wisdom

"What the..."  I thought, as I rode home from church on Sunday.  I had just read the bumper sticker on the car in front of us, and was perplexed, to say the least. The bumper sticker read something like this:

My life before Jesus -- :-( 

My life after Jesus  -- :-)

Any Questions?

Now, granted that it's rather difficult to explain the Law and the Gospel in their entirety in a space the size of a bumper sticker, I have trouble understanding the logic behind such a statement of faith.  The person driving the car is presumably a Christian, and when presented with the opportunity to share the reason for their faith in a short and memorable way (if that is even possible), they chose to imply that Jesus makes them happy. 

The problem is that doing something simply because it makes us happy is neither uncommon nor wise.  That is what the World does day in, day out!  Do you think people sin because they know it will make them miserable?  Of course not!  People sin because they believe it will bring them happiness, and as long as they believe the path they are on will lead to happiness, why on earth would we hope to convince them to convert just because we say our path will lead to happiness?

And then, what of the few who do convert because "Jesus makes us happy?"  Perhaps they do "get saved," hoping for temporal happiness rather than eternal security, but what then?  What happens when they find out that Christians go through hard times just like everyone else?  Happiness is a mere emotion, and it is dependent upon our circumstances.  Now, if temporal happiness is the basis for a person's faith, and his circumstances do not improve upon "getting saved," then that person's faith will undoubtedly disappear.  He sought salvation from unhappiness, something that Christ did not promise us, and rejected Christ after he did not receive what he wanted.

Now, I don't write this as a call to arms against the bumper sticker I mentioned earlier, or the person who bought it.  Oddly enough, I don't believe many souls will be won or lost based on stickers that people slap on the back of their cars.  However, I believe that bumper sticker is a symptom of a problem that is spreading through the American church, particularly in Evangelical and Charismatic circles.  That problem is the lack of faith in their own Gospel. 

Blame it on relevance, shallowness or just plain confusion, but the fact is that many Christians have stopped trying to reach the world with the message of salvation from sin and damnation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.   Instead of spreading the proper Gospel, we have begun trying to trick people into praying the prayer of salvation by convincing them they're getting saved from sin in the world rather than the world of sin that is inside them.  It's as though we don't trust God's method of reaching people by first revealing their own depravity through the law, and then revealing the offer of salvation through Christ; now we seem to think we must lure people into the faith by offering them something that "actually matters", and they'll surely get saved in the process.  Nevermind the fact that at best, the very foundation of their faith will be in emotions and circumstances rather than depravity and grace.

Now it's true that someone who truly places their faith in Christ and casts their cares upon the Lord will have joy and peace, and it's true that these things can sometimes resemble happiness, but it is vitally important that we don't confuse them with happiness, and that we don't cause the world to do so either.  The world already has a hard enough time understanding our faith, so it stands to reason that we must be extremely careful when trying to relate concepts like Christian peace and joy to them, as these concepts are easily confused with transient feelings by those who do not have a proper understanding of Christ's sacrifice.  Therefore, even if the "Jesus makes me happy" crowd is right, and properly understands that it is Christ's peace and joy that they feel, not happiness, they are doing the world a disservice by portraying that peace and joy in such a demeaning way.  They attempt to make these gifts into something that is familiar to the world (making them "relevant"), but in so doing, they remove the very thing that makes these gifts powerful. 

Because of the tendency of "relevance" to render God's gifts impotent, I would suggest that it is better for a non-Christian to come to Christ unaware of the coming joy and peace, than to come to Christ based on an understanding of joy and peace that is flawed (as it will always be unless it is revealed in terms of our relationship with a benevolent and merciful God).  This is because the impartation of peace and joy is not the purpose of Christ's sacrifice.  Salvation is the purpose, and to change that purpose to anything other than salvation is to cause Christ's sacrifice to lose its power.

My attempt to summarize this simply:  Joy and peace can never be properly understood by anyone other than a person who already has received his salvation.  To cause non-Christians to view salvation in terms of joy and peace (which they confuse with happiness because of a faulty understanding), then, is to hinder them from coming to Christ, not help them.  Should they decide to "get saved" based on this faulty understanding, they will be at a severe disadvantage, and will likely never understand the joy and peace that we hoped to show them in the first place. 

Joy and peace must be seen in terms of grace and salvation, not the other way around.  As long as we keep making people think we come to Christ because it makes us happy, we will continue wonder why our friends and family fall away so quickly after salvation. 

Why Quicksilver?

Hi everyone, thanks for checking out Quicksilver Commentary.  I'm Jacob Thrasher, though you might also know me as "NeoFascist?" if you happen to pay attention to small and unimportant bloggers who never post.  I used to blog about politics and culture over at Strangely Normal, but I got tired of that, hence the fact that I practically stopped posting, so now I've decided to change my focus (and blog service) and take up even more of your time by writing things that other people could most likely say more eloquently and convincingly than I. 

If you're wondering why I chose the name "Quicksilver Commentary," then assuming your question involves the "Quicksilver" part of the name rather than the "Commentary" part, I would consider offering you an explanation.  Should I deem you worthy of such an explanation, it would most likely go something like this...

Quicksilver is another name for Mercury, symbol Hg on the periodic table.  In color it resembles silver, but it is far from being the precious metal from which it takes its name; whereas silver is solid, valuable, and will only kill you if a large slab of it were to strike you in the head with great force, quicksilver is liquid at room temperature, worthless, and is can cause poisoning if inhaled, ingested, or even if it makes contact with our skin.  As you can see, the only real similarity between Quicksilver and its namesake is in its shining appearance.

Now, if I may wax metaphorical for a moment (and do so poorly), the things of this world are quicksilver, turning our attention away from that which is truly of worth, and poisoning us all the while.  We see the glittering attractions of quicksilver and we refuse to look any deeper, assuming that simply because the object of our interest reflects light like a precious metal, it must be true silver.  The truth, however, is that we are pursuing a worthless poison, a mere shadow of what can truly bring us pleasure, and rather than recognizing that we have nothing real to show for our pursuit, we choose to settle for something that is far less than what is intended for us.  We as Christians should not be so easily pleased.

That is the meaning behind the name of my blog.  I do hope the explanation is satisfactory and understandable, as the success of a blog depends on the interest and comprehension of its readers.  If there is anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, let me know.  I don't know if I'll do anything, but your complaint will have been heard. 

If you want to know where I got the inspiration (if you can call it that) to name my blog "Quicksilver Commentary," look no further than Reese Roper's band... uh, Roper.  Reese is an awesome singer and songwriter, and he wrote a song called "Quicksilver" which references the same metaphor I spoke of earlier.  And in my defense, I figured out the metaphor on my own, and had not listened to this sample until after I wrote the above paragraphs.  Seriously. 

Okay, I think that's about all I have for now... I always was good at finding a way to conclude my posts.  Hope you enjoy your stay at Quicksilver Commentary.

(Can you tell I enjoy saying "Quicksilver Commentary?")

EDIT:  As you might have noticed, I attempted to transfer the "Sidebar of Doom" concept from my old blog to this one.  However, on this new blog, the Sidebar of Doom has multiplied, and I am left with a dilemma:  What shall I call my new Sidebars of doom?  Neither one of them is greater than the other (for all sidebars are created equal), so neither can have the sole title of "Sidebar of Doom."  Nevertheless, they need names, so I ask you:  What shall I name them?  Please, I need some help, I'm running out of creativity here...