My response to this experience is still in process. Here's a photo of the place right before I was accosted by a security guard for standing on a wall to take the photo.
My first critique is a financial one. I feel pretty guilty, actually, about dropping over $100 for a few hours of conservative christian entertainment.
My second critique is in regard to the obvious mission of the museum to move people towards belief and decision based on information rather than on relationship. As you walk in, the slogan "Prepare to Believe" jumps out from strategically placed banners. I just think it perpetuates an attituden about Christianity that getting people to a place and to believe the right things are more important than connecting with people relationally and providing a sense of belonging.
I do have to say there were some things I was impressed with and hope that God does indeed use the facility to cultivate a greater hunger for the Word of God. That's probably the 'take-away' which was most positive for me.
But back to the financial issue, a few people are getting EXTREMELY wealthy from this vendor of christian entertainment through toys of biblical proportions and the plethora of resources which the doctrinally coached consumer can take home with them.
It wasn't a total waste or an outright adventure in heresy...but we certainly didn't buy a membership or leave with any plans to return. For any of our friends in the area who walked away with a totally different experience, I'd love to dialogue over our differences but certainly do not condemn or disapprove of anyone else's choice to visit the museum or sing its praises.
3 comments:
Being a business owner, I'm always amazed at people who look at income as being clear and free of debt. In other words, people don't see my bills and understand what kind of overhead I deal with. They just focus on the income. Also, income is reinvested in the business to keep it healthy, growing, and to maintain a certain level of quality, which generates more bills. No, I doubt that someone is getting extremely rich off of this venture. Since the Creation Museum is overseen by a Board, incomes are already fixed for individuals. Individuals, I might add, who work enormous amounts of hours weekly because of their belief that truth is under assault today and the Word of God has been banished or dumbed down in society, or more tragically, redefined.
Business owners, like myself, are seen as greedy, and rich. I work hard, and try to do quality work. But in today's liberal political and liberal religious climate, I'm looked down upon with envy. One wants to tax me out of existence to provide social programs for people who can't (or won't) provide for themselves, and the other (liberal christians) wants me to give to their social gospel programs that do not include a true saving gospel message that will truly change, convict, and redeem their lives for the better. Both liberal politicians and liberal christians, refuse to see that sin is at the core of most of man's tragic circumstances (I said most, not all.).
I am glad that the Creation Museum's focus is to get people to come to a point of decision regarding the outcome of sin and teach the tragic results of man's rebellion.
I do not agree that the we are called to bring people into a feeling, warm-fuzzy, Care Bear relationship with Jesus and each other.
Jesus is love, but the Word does state that His wrath rests on sin and sinners. He frequently offered grace to sinner's, but always instructed them to repent. That's why people need to understand what sin is and
understand that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
I'm well aware of overhead. Having managed a Starbucks I was very tuned in to the monthly P&L. And after 15 years of pastoral staff positions at churches who spent the majority of monies raised on 'overhead' (staff and facilities) I've seen how it works in ministry settings as well.
I'm just not sure these kinds of economic responses justify the ways in which we spend our resources.
As for the tax issue, I have heard many business owners along with just above-average income earners bemoan the rates at which they are taxed. I believe that complaint is valid to a point...but I don't have any solutions there. My only thought is that many in ancient Israel must have felt the same way, yet it seemed to be God's plan to take care of the economic and social down & outs by way of a similar system...tithes and offerings. I've heard a scholar who said if you add up all the offerings and tithes which were required from God's people in the Old Testament, it amounted to 30% or 40% of their income. At least we don't practice Jubilee. Once or twice in our lifetimes we'd have to surrender quite a bit to provide relief for the other 70% of the nation.
Regarding the sin and decision issues, I agree that there's nothing warm and fuzzy about the way of Jesus. In fact, it leads to a cross. I'm just not sure I see Jesus spending $27million to create a place where someone has to pay to get the message of salvation.
I do believe there were many positive and worthwhile exhibits and sources of information at the museum and as a whole, my family enjoyed it thoroughly.
But to maximize impact for the Gospel (if that is the greater mission over profit), it could've been a free museum like the one Ken Ham operated in California.
I thought I knew who "BK" was...but apparently I don't. Anonymous comments like this affirm why many of my blogging peers don't allow comments on their blogs.
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