Can you be a Christian and still be human?

I struggle with this one. The Christian message continues to burrough deeper into my soul. When balanced but not overridden by the intellect this is a healthy way to live.

What I struggle with is finding a way to live it out. Yet in every church I attend, no matter how much I sense God's presence there, I am still aware of how weird some of this is. Of course to define it as "weird" is to compare it to something so to what am I comparing it?

Probably my desire to still do what I want. Over the years what I want has changed so hopefully this "want" is more aligned to a life where I can live out the Spirit in and through me.

Slasher flicks are of no interest nor are films meant to shock us out of our numbness. Heavy metal music is of no interest anymore and while
classic rock takes me back in time, it has no present reality for me.

This isn't a judgment, I'm simply not there anymore. So my "want" (at least in terms of music and movies) has changed as I've continued the spiritual pursuit. Perhaps it's maturity, perhaps it's just a natural process.

But I am not compelled to like Christian music or Christian movies just because they are tagged Christian. I just don't like a lot of these things. Don't get me wrong, there are many I do. They hit me in a way other forms of entertainment do not.

"Secular" music (personally, music is music, all of it forms of expression of the human experience, corporate drivel notwithstanding) and movies still speak to me about the human experience, even if much of it is propaganda trying to sell me a point of view, though I do realize religion tends to do the same thing. Everything is propaganda, really, all trying to "sell" you something.

So at work I am content to do my work and talk to people about things that in the end don't really matter but to that person may mean a lot. I have many things that mean something to me even if they don't mean a lot in the long run. But it can be a place where I channel my passion and gifts, even if it isn't in some churchified way.

So to be human, to talk to people about things with no intention or judgment other than just trying to love and understand the human experience. Doesn't that make us, and others, more receptive to the move of the Spirit in between us, even if there are no labels that indicate we hold the same beliefs?

God loves us where we are, Christian or not. He doesn't love us any more because we are "Christian" or "born again" or whatever tag we use. No, God loves us just the same. The difference is our perception. These things don't make us any better than anyone else. They simply provide a different worldview.

To put a spin on the traditional saying of Paul, "new is creation." We see the world anew. The old man may be passing away but the old man is still the same old flesh we've always had. This is not what is new; what is new is our perception.

So we remain human with all our quirks and flaws. And we should accept this; after all, isn't this how we were made? Just be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit and be open to changing over time.

If you're a Christian and you still like rock and roll than do so. Like movies? Smoke? Drink liquor? Eat too much? Drink too much coffee? I think it comes down to awareness and discernment and realizing that we are influenced by what we feed our minds with and if we keep feeding our minds with non-beneficial things our 'self' will follow.

I bring this up only because I am listening to dub techno like crazy lately and really enjoy it. Can't say I get any "spiritual" meaning from it but it does provide a level of peace that is quite soothing.

And I am enjoying my work in a factory. I value the labor and the working with the hands. There is no saving grace in making parts that end up on Harley Davidson motorcycles but it is a fascinating process to watch a piece of metal become a chrome fender.

But there is nothing revelatory in all of this. There isn't much excitement at all, no buzz, no excitement, no awe inspiring sense of wonder. And I think it is in this day-to-day stuff, "life" as we think of it, that real meaning is found. It is the consistency, the routine, the "desert" on the way to those highs we all seek that the real spiritual walk is found.

It kind of reflects the way in which we are able to re-create in our own lives. I won't go there but as life goes on, more and more it seems that everything is symbol. At what point does this lead to loss of a grip on reality? I know it's a possibility and it's always right there. At what point have we gone over the edge and how do we really know?