The Good Christian Girl: A Fable.

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AnandaHya

Guest
#2
#2
wow if I wasn't married I'd find that article depressing and discouraging....

my advice: be your self and stop listening to the advice of others and trying to be who the world says you should be and instead through prayer and love and guidance of the Holy Spirit show the world God's love and walk in His ways.

I have found God has surrounded my life with people who are loving and kind and reflects the light of God into my life and thank God for each and every friend.
 
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niceguyJ

Senior Member
#3
Feb 5, 2011
520
25
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#3
AnandaHya said:
my advice: be your self and stop listening to the advice of others and trying to be who the world says you should be and instead through prayer and love and guidance of the Holy Spirit show the world God's love and walk in His ways.
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I thought that's what the author was getting at.
I guess different people will get different things out of it though.

Just in case someone reads it and misses it, there is a 2nd page to the article.
 
A

AnandaHya

Guest
#4
#4
ummm the story's ending is kind of strange....

"So she ran off with the first non-Christian man who showed some interest, asked her out, and treated her with respect. And the knowing ones shook their heads and said, "What happened to her? She used to be a good Christian girl.""

kind of implies that living a morally sound life will have people running off with non Christians, etc. I don't really like the article it is not real to my thoughts and convictions and seems more of a parody with the ending implying licentiousness is acceptable.

reading it would induce some teenagers to go and have sex and start their own families early because being a princess and watching for the one God intended isn't going to happen which I will say I think is a lie, so I don't like the article.

I could be reading it differently then the author's intentions but that is what I got out of it.

it kind of ridicules the elders in the church by calling them "the knowing ones" when in truth they sound like gossips and endowed with wisdom of the world and not wisdom from God. it does not portray what it truly means to be lead by the Holy Spirit and keep oneself pure. the heroine was lead by the world in the fake dress of peity.
 
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Liamson

Liamson

Senior Member
#5
Feb 3, 2010
3,078
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#5
Liamson

Liamson

Senior Member
#6
Feb 3, 2010
3,078
69
48
#6
I like how it portrays the tangled mess of Christian expectations and condescending Christianese, as it actually is.

Even as a guy there is this dark cloud of expectation that looms overhead. It says that we need to Pray all the time about everything and then by some sign and wonder, like Jesus birth was to the shepherds, She will be revealed to us. (See: Joseph Smith and the Golden Tablets :p)

Its a wonder any of us are ever wed, under the conditions that our churches would suggest are socially acceptable.

If everyone plays by the rules, there is a very very narrow opportunity for a relationship to develop. It would be a strained and deliberately mechanical one at that. Both parties would be living almost exclusively through Sunday School answers slathered in Christianese. There would not be a personal relationship between two people, just an objectively right, externally verifiable marriage that is in accordance with Contemporary Christianity. Sad. Depressing. Repressive. Constrictive. Suffocating.... yet in accordance with "The Spirit"
 
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Dave7

Guest
#7
#7
I didn't like it at all. I felt it was horribly cynical. The distastefully facetious references to the 'wise ones' weren't particularly helpful either. We should respect Christians who have experience and wisdom beyond our own, and not denigrate the role they play by caricaturing them in such an unkind and potentially dangerous manner. Scorn for grey hairs is sufficiently rife in the world. Why actively promote it within the Church?

Perhaps the author wasn’t quite condoning the choices of the main character. However, she was undeniably sympathetic, and that approach can only have regrettable consequences for any impressionable Christian women (or men) who stumble across her scribblings.

But, the author does make one useful point, in that practical assistance in these matters is infinitely preferable to mean-spirited criticism and sniping comments. However, it’s deeply ironic that this vindictive spirit is so manifestly prevalent in the writings of the author herself. I think that her unfortunate choice of content says far more about 'Christianity Today' than it does about Christianity today.


Sorry about the dreadful pun... :)


A thought-provoking article then... if for all the wrong reasons!

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I

IQ

Guest
#8
#8
niceguyJ said:
Something someone said in another thread about "good Christian girls" made me think of an article I stumbled across recently. Maybe some of you have seen it.

The Good Christian Girl: A Fable | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

I thought it was an interesting read and something to think about at least.
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I agree that this articles will speak to different people differently.
I also believe that too many Christians - male and female - confuse faithful patience with simple cowardice, indecisiveness, and failure to accept the responsibilities of marriage.
I know I personally am sick of the light way the gift of singleness is attributed to those who are unmarried - if it feels like a curse it is NOT of God.
The responsibility of the church to address the challenges of finding a suitable partner for the single is evident. The older the single, the tougher the challenges. I have attended "over 50" Christian singles groups that were ENTIRELY women.
What the HECK is up with the men?
 
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Dave7

Guest
#9
#9
Can you invite me to one please?:D
 
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IQ

Guest
#10
#10
Dave7 said:
Can you invite me to one please?:D
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LOL Dave- I did specify it was an over 50 singles group. Your young enough to be a son of one of the younger members.
 
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Dave7

Guest
#11
#11
Oh... I didn't read it properly! I thought you said you attended over 50 singles groups with only women... I was about to pack my bags and board a plane!

Hahaha!
 
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Liz01

Guest
#12
#12
This is a very depressing article so i will need a lot of chocolates after read it hahaha

Despite that, it is a very interesting article because it shows how many christians think and act nowdays.
And there are some things about that story that call my attention:

1.the girl decided to follow what others told her when in bible say that we should be fully convinced in our own minds and not of what other say or do
2.the girl was tired at the end when in bible say that when we hope in the Lord dont get tired but renew our strenght as eagles
3.she gave up and was discouraged when in bible say that we should not be discourgaed
4.she decided to take the control of all without asking God and not letting Him to have the control of the situation
5.she focused on be married after school when in bible say that we should put our eyes on Jesus
6.she finally married a non-christian guy when in bible say that we should not be yoked with non believers
7.she searched a husband everywhere, dating sites but she never search on God first as bible say, there is no one place in that story in which we can read that the girl start praying.

Besides that, the story didnt put in a level of respect the christian men and the"knowing ones" as AnandaHya said.
and make the idea that waiting in the Lord doesnt worth it and that singleness is a bad thing.

I think it would be very interesting too to read a part 2 of the story, when the girl see herself living everyday with a man that have
different beliefs than she has, and with a man that doesnt have the fruits of spirit (love, joy, peace, kidness, etc)

But, in my opinion, this article is not good as a christian literature except you use it to show what as christians should not do.
 
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Liz01

Guest
#13
#13
So, in my opinion, this fable is not a good literature to a christian person except if you use it only to teach what, as christians, should not do.
 
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kayem77

Guest
#14
#14
What I get form the article is that overthinking and let everybody control your life....NOT GOOD. God's advice and still being yourself = GOOD.
 
Liamson

Liamson

Senior Member
#15
Feb 3, 2010
3,078
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#15
kayem77 said:
What I get form the article is that overthinking and let everybody control your life....NOT GOOD. God's advice and still being yourself = GOOD.
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Yes definitely :)
 
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Bridget_in_China

Guest
#16
#16
I found it to be a good read. As a writer I liked the author's sarcastic/cynical writing style, personally. I can relate to a lot of what was stated in the story... the 'knowing ones' sound a lot like some of the married women who have tried to give me dating advice over the years. Sad!

It may have been a cynical piece, but there's a lot to glean from the article if you can see through the sarcasm, which many people find hard to do apparently! Stop listening to people and start listening to what the Holy Spirit is teaching you! What works for one person is not necessarily going to be the magic, super-secret recipe for finding your mate as well! Be open/receptive to where God is leading you! And so forth :)
 
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thimsrebma

Guest
#17
#17
I actually liked the article. I think It made a comment on how the church (pastors, deacons, elders) are neglecting the issue of marriage, as well as a question about where are all the Christian men?

I think churches need to do a better job of providing a place for all people to feel as though they belong. This "good girl" was in church, following the advice of the elders, getting an education, waiting on God to move the man to court her and it never happened. So she went for a non christian. Thats so true of many women. YOu wait and wiat and wait like everyone telse you to do and then it doesnt happen for you. What do you do now. You want to have a family you've been following the rules but still nothing.

I think these issues need to be addressed in the church. You have all these women out here waiting for someone to court them and its not happening. What I have noticed is that young men leave the church and many of the ones who remain are so socially ackward there is no way they could even talk to a woman. This drives the women out to seek family for themselves.
 
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Jullianna

Guest
#18
#18
Great read. I was surprised that she didn't just go around the neighborhood and pick up 20 stray cats in the end though.
 
M

Muskokaman

Banned
#19
Aug 18, 2011
971
7
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#19
Well who knows for sure? Perhaps the non christian man became a convert to Christianity and they lived happily ever after just as she had hoped and prayed for we didn't really see nor hear of what had happened to her after now did we? Prejudices are just that prejudices. As some one else here stated there is a lot that can be gleaned out of this article. To say something is this or that based on half a story is not very "christian like" now is it!
 
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kayem77

Guest
#20
#20
Im kind of worried about the girl now. When's the sequel coming out ?
 
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