One major pet peeve of mine is:
When churches refuse to use and teach words like "absolution" and "ascension."
The final episode of ABC's/Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is entitled, "Absolution; Ascension."
(Wow. Nice kick May.)
It's sad to see that the world pays attention to historic, Christian terms and follows the church calendar when the church does not! 😪 If we don't use them, others will.
Even in a secular age, it's still okay to use the old stuff. Hozier's "Take Me to Church" is full of sacreligious language:
My lover's got humour
She's the giggle at a funeral
Knows everybody's disapproval
I should've worshipped her sooner
If the Heavens ever did speak
She is the last true mouthpiece
Every Sunday's getting more bleak
A fresh poison each week
'We were born sick, ' you heard them say it
My church offers no absolutes
She tells me 'worship in the bedroom'
The only heaven I'll be sent to
Is when I'm alone with you
I was born sick, but I love it
Command me to be well
Amen. Amen. Amen
Take me to church
I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies
I'll tell you my sins and you can sharpen your knife
Offer me that deathless death
Good God, let me give you my life
My goodness, I am more likely to hear an absolution from Taylor Swift than I am to be absolved in the name of Christ by another Christian who gets in a social media tiff with me or after walking through the doors of any given church nearby. Might as well stop trying to be so relevant that we're irrelevant because we're so bad and cheesy at it this stuff anyways. Come on. Be the church already.
Okay, high church rant over.
Forgive me, a sinner. And please, do!
“Any believer can act as a priest in pronouncing Christ’s forgiveness to us. This is not because of ordination; this is because of our baptism.”
