Christian Carnival CXXVIII

The latest Christian Carnival came up last night at Cadmusings. Check it out. As usual, there's stuff worth taking to heart and other stuff that will provoke thought.

Barefoot in the Wilderness has some very interesting musings on the meaning of Christ's "narrow door to salvation" teachings (e.g., Luke 13:22-30). I think I agree with him:

What particularly struck me this morning...was this idea of the narrow door. Whenever I’ve heard this talked about, it’s usually along the lines of it being difficult to find or enter through. But I think that this totally misses the mark. This house, remember, is a large house – a palace, even – for it is the Kingdom of God. Grand houses have several entrances. There’s the wide door, which is for honoured guests, friends and relatives. And there’s the narrow door, which is the servants’ entrance. And this is what I think Jesus was talking about (and what would have been the obvious interpretation for his listeners). If we are to enter the Kingdom, we must not seek to enter through the wide door of honour, but through the narrow door of servitude and dishonour.

Many will try to enter the house, Jesus says, but will not be able to. That is, I think, they will not be able to enter the wide door, for no human being is worthy to enter God’s Kingdom as of right. The fact that God came out of the house into the streets of the town, and ate and drank with us, doesn’t mean that we can enter through that wide door. No, God came and told us that the narrow door is open to all who are willing to enter through it.

Off on another tack, there's "Pope Bans Modern Music" at Nerd Family. In fact, B16 hasn't banned modern Christian music for Catholics, just said he doesn't like it and doesn't think it's appropriate for worship -- personal opinion, not an edict. Still, for me this goes to the heart of what distinguishes true worship from mere ritual. NerdMom agrees, noting a certain distrubing tendency among Catholics (which I have personally seen shared by many Protestants, too):

I have met many who believe that mass (and church) is a time to pay your dues. A kind of attitude that if you suffer through these things, God will have to let you into heaven (because that was the deal?).

In reality, what this attidtude amounts to is fear of the unfamiliar and complacency about what is familiar. This, as Yoda might say, is a path to the Dark Side. True communion with God often is uncomfortable and often drags us out of our complacent selves. Christ is always calling for us to step outside of ourselves in order to better appreciate and serve Him. Many times, we're unwilling to do so. A passionate attachment to older music is fine, but it's not fine to insist upon it merely because it's what we're used to.

Since I've been on vacation, I've missed several other Christian Carnivals. CC CXXVII is at Bible Archive and CXXVI is at NerdFamily. Check them out.

Monk