A college aged friend of ours, Jordan Burk, sent this to my son and then to me. It’s from a “Poetry Slam” in Vancouver, BC, in December 2009. The young man’s name is Chris Tse and his poem is entitled, “I’m Sorry I’m A Christian.” It’s worth your four minutes whether you are a believer or not.
The primary reason I’m posting this is because a good many older believers are having an hard time understanding what makes younger believers tick. They don’t really understand why young believers are not into door-to-door visitation or “revival meetings.” Chris Tse’s poem reveals what is beating at the heart of many high school and college aged believers. They look at history, including their own context, and just see far too much done in the name of Jesus that seems devoid of His fingerprints. Too much of the movement that Jesus started with His own death and resurrection has been, over time, hijacked by professionalism, modernism, nationalism, fundamentalist certainty and liberal ambiguity. Even when they cannot put words to it they know something is amiss. It’s like they have an intuition that the “weightier matters of the law,” to use Jesus’ words, have been jettisoned for fried chicken, new buildings, culture wars and, take your pick, slick or lousy programming.
Language warning: Tse drops the f-bomb two times during his talk. Do not listen if this offends you.
UPDATE: A follow up to an interview has now been posted here.
