I've really enjoyed reading all the posts on here, and enjoyed your comments AndrewC on the church article written by Matt Gonzales. I attend one of the churches written up in the article, and I think you'll definitely find Christians looking to do something about the injustices in the world in this community. You can find hundreds of non-profits in the Indy area helping out the lives of others in the community, some doing it in the name of God, some not. So maybe you haven't come across a "church" group you want to invest yourself fully in, but you'll be hard pressed not to find a non-profit, school, etc where you can invest your interests.

It's easy for me to get frustrated by other Christians and the way I think we should or should not be living out Jesus to others around us, but when you just get busy doing stuff for others, you really don't care too much about how other "christians" are trying to live it out. You start caring more about the people you're serving than the little and big things that annoy you about Christianity. In my view, the response of the church to the dilemma is to just get busy doing instead of disagreeing. (And i'm mostly saying this to myself!) Go volunteer somewhere on Saturday, get involved in a group that shares your passions. For me, I love art, reading, empowering young girls from low-income families, and diving into discussions on race. I've spent many hours discussing and disagreeing on these topics, but lately I've found some organizations that use these things I'm passionate about to serve other people. It's not just words any more, it's acting out the love of Jesus.

You can do this as an individual, because you are the church, and hopefully others will follow your example and realize it's coming from the love of Christ.

Marley, Thanks. I hope it works out. I'm looking for a place to rent for worship services at the moment actually.

That's a very good point about community and worship still being very crucial. Wasn't trying to diminish that. Good luck in starting something here in Indy. I'll make sure to check in to your Myspace page to see how the progress is coming. Thanks for opening us this discussion.

heh. Personally, I rarely drink caffeine, but I too think we can manage to be more civil toward one another here. You only reinforce someone's defenses when you insult them, though I will argue a particular proposition is invalid if it is found lacking. The key is sharing the reasons why you have come to a position rather than simply stating your view and saying everyone who disagrees is stupid.

As for this thread, while the comments about government, minimum wage, and education are interesting, I am primarily concerned with how Christians are to live together-- how they are to embody the kingdom of God. I don't expect the greater culture to be just and to love in Christ-like ways. The whole point of Christianity is that it is supposed to look different. The book of Acts demonstrates this well (check it out if you have never read it-- it's after the gospels in the New Testament). Call those early Christ-followers socialists if you like. The fact is they tried to put the teachings of Jesus into practice and didn't get sidetracked by the politics of their day. In fact, they were killed and persecuted for their newfound beliefs and way of life.

The reason I'm looking for progressive Christians, or Christians interested in critical thinking, textual criticism, etc., is that I believe community and worship, as aforementioned, are extremely important and I'd like to find/create that in Indianapolis. This thread has giving me hope there are some people in Indy who might want to be a part of something different. So, I'm moving forward and will continue to seek God's guidance. If I'm anything, it is a follower of Jesus, not a hippie toting "free love". I am faithful to my wife, thank you very much. :)

WOW! I smell the stench of big-time intolerance here. I don't know why I'm so surprised though. Indy.com is definitely not the "I'm ok, you're ok" place (it was my impression) it once was. For some reason I thought this forum could be a place where individuals could exchange ideas in a respectful and civil manner. Seeing the posts on this thread, it appears one should put a mouth-piece in and helmet on before sharing a thought! It might help too if many of the above people switched to decaf.

I was actually going to say I'm surprised at how civil everything has been considering a discussion about religion usually sets people's hair on fire.

If you want to see intolerance, let's hop over to the Star's talkbacks about religion. Those guys are NUTS over there.

I was thinking the same thing... I can't read those talkbacks anymore actually, they get me too fired up.

I do also want to appologize for going off on Randy Daytona. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinions... and while I can disagree I should have been more civil about it (I have a very quick temper, esp when it comes to that).

What sets me on fire is the fact that so few want to do anything about so many social problems we have (or really want to take action about anything that doesn't affect them personally). I feel like so many are stuck in a horrible cycle and instead of being able to push themselves out, get sucked further and further down. I also believe that education is the key, we need so much more funding and time devoted to it than there is. And no child left behind is not the answer...

Anywho, my take on religion is much like Marley's... I believe in service work, taking responisibilty to help others, and responsibility towards the environment. I would call myself faithful but not religious. I have yet to find an organized religion that I completely agree with and I don't want to go halvsies when it comes to that. So I just do my thing, and do as much as I can.