Response to a strange sermon I heard this morning, comments?

Question

At my church service this morning, there were a few things I found strange in the sermon, and I wanted to see what others thought:

1 - the phrase "god-stalkers". Its something about being more than a seeker or follower. Isnt that a little disturbing, especially in todays society. "Stalk" refers to following someone with ill intent towards them. What, do we want to rape god?

2 - Some youth group that went to some mall. They sent thier members in one by one to a Victorias Secret, complaining about the posters in the windows of the store. Apparently, these kids were being "corrupted" by these "dirty posters" and that thier view of woman was being destroyed. These posters were in the windows of a private store, why did these kids think they could tell the manager what to do with HIS store? Couldnt they just look the other way?

I'm looking for both agreeing and disagreeing opinions. Please explain your view on both of these things as best you can. No flamers, please.

Answer 1

Hi, I'm a Christian.
I'm alittle confused with your part about the "god stalkers". What does that mean, and who is doing the stalking? I'm lost with regard to that part of your post.

As far as Victoria's Secret goes, this church should not be going to peoples places of business and starting something.
I am a married woman with children, and if I want to go to a special store and buy something attractive to wear for my husband in the privacy of our bedroom, then I would like to be able to do that.
When i go to that store, i would also appreciate there NOT being kids there making a scene.
I am an adult, and that store is for adult married people to buy items not meant for children. This is really bothering me alot.
Its asking for trouble, and more importantly, its giving the name "Christian" a real black mark - its renaming us "troublemakers".
We don't need that nonsense; there are some very important issues facing Christians in this generation, and we cannot afford to have our credibility ruined by an over-zealous church staff. I am really getting annoyed the more I think about it.

You can give your church leaders a message from a Bible teacher; I teach the manuscripts verse by verse; there is no shame and no sin in a married, adult woman dressing for her husband. Abraham insisted his wife wear jewelry because it turned him on. Its her husband, she's his wife. There is no problem with that.
TELL THEM THEY ARE TROUBLEMAKERS. PERIOD.
The problem here is that the church leaders are sending these kids in, and NOW THEY ARE LOOKING AT THE POSTERS.
If those posters are so bad, then keep the damn kids away from the store. Its not their place to be there, anyway. In addition, its teaching young people that there is a dirtyness about sex and looking nice for your husband, and thats just not true.

I am getting so angry i will just ramble on, so i will end now.

PUT ME DOWN IN THE DISAGREE
COLUMN.

Answer 2

Well, I would think it would be safe to say that the church probably didn't mean to stalk God with ill intent. It most likely meant we should seek him like a stalker. Stalkers think of nothing else, they are totally into whomever they are stalking, they spend much of their time trying to find or follow the person they are stalking. So it makes sense to me that your sermon was encouraging the church to be more Into their relationships with God, to search for and follow him continually. I like it. Especially since I don't think they would encourage anything with ill intent.

The victoria's secret thing...I can see their point. They do have some pretty provocative posters and clothing. I do feel uncomfortable when passing the store with my kids(all girls) because it is the wrong way to view a woman. I don't like to explain what all of it is for to them at such a young age and I don't even want them questioning it yet or looking at it and saying I want to look like that when I grow up. Even if I go on the other side of the mall they notice sometimes because the posters are so big. Couldn't they just keep the posters inside ? I mean everyone knows already what's inside the store. So why do they need the advertisement outside? I think they are trying to make a point that Christians should more actively stand up for what they believe in and stand against what they don't believe in! I like it too!! It's cool because I'm sick today and can't go to church but I just got a little sermon to enlighten me from you!! Thanks

Answer 3

I agree the word stalker is a strong word.

Remember, some words have several definitions, and one definition is used more commonly, and this definition may be very visual, but the speaker may not be using the word in this way.

However, the speaker may benefit from choosing better words.

Regarding the youth group at the mall, I think the speaker was making the point that society should not objectify women, and bedroom subject matter should not be publicized.

This may be the cause for the increase in violent crimes against women, and a lack of respect for women due to decreased morality.

My question is, why did the church youth group go to the mall. There are far more interesting, educational, and culturally sophisticated places they could have gone, such as an art gallery, a park, a classical music concert, a zoo, a theme park, or a college library.

The people who took the youth group to the mall should have known what they would be exposing the children to.

Answer 4

The poster might of been in a private store window, but they were facing the street for the public to view. They had a perfect right to complain to the store manager if it offended them - especially if it downgrades women.

Answer 5

I was only talking about this today actually with my a-mum. If for some reason genetics gets into a conversation I will say "I'm adopted...blablabla" and people will go "oh...wow...that's amazing" i dont know how other people see an adopted person. Am I that amazing? It's like they treat me like some kind of genius or magician or something and are in awe. Maybe they just don't know how to react. But it makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. Like suddenly if I hadnt been adopted I wouldnt have been so amazing. It's an odd feeling I also hate the "chose you" phrase. It's mostly ignorance but I usually get "So when did your parents choose you?" or "so do you like your adoptive parents?" lol as if I had apart in chosing them too. Oh OH I do have one specific to me. I have a memory of when I was 5 months old and being taken from the foster carer by my future adoptive parents. I remember reaching out my arms and crying and thinking "I'm crying what else can I do to tell them i dont want to go" and I even remember the dark greeny grey, floral wallpaper behind her. Every time I tell someone this they say "Babies can't remember things that's nonsense". My adoptive parents didnt even tell me I was in foster care, they never told me a THING about my adoption yet I remember and I knew I was fostered because I have this vivid memory. I asked my adoptive mum about it and whether this actually happened and she said yes it did, It is as vivid as daylight and I swear to god it is true and I live by this memory every day. It brings up all the pain that I went through. No one can say to me babies don;t remember because I know first hand that YES THEY CAN!! My adoptive parents are caring and do what they believe is best for me however they have said some very difficult things to me without thinking. I would sometimes go to them crying and upset and I would go on about how I wish I hadn't been adopted and I wish I knew who my parents were and bla bla bla" and my parents would keep saying "but we love you" or "we do EVERYTHING for you" or "we have spent so much money on you to go to school, these are opportunities you may never have had". They never just acknowledged that I might even be remotely sad and miss my parents. I've had argument and argument about it, I try to explain to them what it's like but they still don't understand. I said it's like if one of your children dies in a car crash you don't say "oh but your other child loves you so don't cry" or "be grateful you still have another child" when you are right there sobbing because you miss the child you lost. Not because you are somehow not grateful for the other one. This is what it's like. People assume that instead of adoptees greiving for their losses and healing their wounds they should be grateful for what they have got. This is not logical. If a child lost their parents in a car accident people wouldn't expect the same thing. They would expect the child to grieve and have future questions and issues. People's attitudes towards you completely changes when you say you are adopted. I'm not sure what they are thinking really. And I'm not even totally sure HOW it changes but it does. Most people have covered the typical questions ive been asked here though so I won't list any more.

Answer 6

God-stalkers: use of this phrase, whether appropriate or not, depends on the context. However, I agree it is a negative word, so was possibly ill-chosen by the preacher.

Private store: it may be owned privately, but it fronts onto a public space. What is in the public space should be considerate of potential offence or damage to others.

Answer 7

I can understand your problem with the 2nd part, but it is still their right to free speech. As for the 1st part "stalk" is a word that in this time brings up so many negative connotations however, they basically just mean to find God's true message. They could have used much more neutral words, however, they probably have their reasons.

Answer 8

More religious silliness.

The kids in the mall were corrupted by their religion when it taught them such nonsense. Their reaction to the Victorias Secret display was just a fear response earlier programmed into them by their religious leaders. It's quite sad when a kid can be made to fear a bra.

Answer 9

They need to find a better way to spend their time. There are much bigger problems in the world.

Answer 10

youre right that posters are not allowed without permission
I dont agree with that door to door stuff....it is against the Bible..