"Jesus Week"
This week at Penn is “Jesus Week.” This I honestly have no problem with. The signs are pretty hard to miss and every time I look at them I feel a mix of confusion, frustration, and more worrisome, apathy. Waiting for the elevator, I always glimpse at the cork board in the elevator lounge for any new flyers or interesting bits of information. Today, I stumbled across a flyer for “Jesus Week” and read something that gets at the source of my frustration. In the corner of the flyer, a saying from John 3.30 stood out. It read, “He must become greater and I must become less.” This really ticked me off.
As part of growing up I was always taught to be my own person and to be a confident person at that. I have carried that sentiment with me and only now do I understand why religion has always bothered me. In religion someone is always above you and someone is always in charge, whether it is God or a priest, it is everyone but you. The fact that I must become less in order to have someone else become more offends my sense of self-confidence and control. I don’t care who it is, I will not put myself below anyone. However, this does not mean that I do not realize when someone can do something better than I can. When that is the case, I do not lie down and let him or her step all over me. We all have our strengths and if we let someone, anyone, even God, become greater than we are, how are we ever supposed to have anything to work toward? That does not mean there is no place for respect. I can respect God’s power, but that does not mean that I must work toward making him better. What I can do is work toward making myself better in His image.
Thus, the message from John 3.30, I think, sends the wrong message. Whether or not God exists, we are in control of our own lives. Sometimes it just sucks and other times it is great, not because God wanted us to live that way, but because we made the choices that got us to that point. I am deeply offended by the fact that people think that they must lower themselves to make Him great. I believe that is why people act like sheep—they are always looking for someone to tell them what to do instead of taking charge of their own lives.
This week at Penn is “Jesus Week.” This I honestly have no problem with. The signs are pretty hard to miss and every time I look at them I feel a mix of confusion, frustration, and more worrisome, apathy. Waiting for the elevator, I always glimpse at the cork board in the elevator lounge for any new flyers or interesting bits of information. Today, I stumbled across a flyer for “Jesus Week” and read something that gets at the source of my frustration. In the corner of the flyer, a saying from John 3.30 stood out. It read, “He must become greater and I must become less.” This really ticked me off.
As part of growing up I was always taught to be my own person and to be a confident person at that. I have carried that sentiment with me and only now do I understand why religion has always bothered me. In religion someone is always above you and someone is always in charge, whether it is God or a priest, it is everyone but you. The fact that I must become less in order to have someone else become more offends my sense of self-confidence and control. I don’t care who it is, I will not put myself below anyone. However, this does not mean that I do not realize when someone can do something better than I can. When that is the case, I do not lie down and let him or her step all over me. We all have our strengths and if we let someone, anyone, even God, become greater than we are, how are we ever supposed to have anything to work toward? That does not mean there is no place for respect. I can respect God’s power, but that does not mean that I must work toward making him better. What I can do is work toward making myself better in His image.
Thus, the message from John 3.30, I think, sends the wrong message. Whether or not God exists, we are in control of our own lives. Sometimes it just sucks and other times it is great, not because God wanted us to live that way, but because we made the choices that got us to that point. I am deeply offended by the fact that people think that they must lower themselves to make Him great. I believe that is why people act like sheep—they are always looking for someone to tell them what to do instead of taking charge of their own lives.
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