Recently Dr. Wayne Dyer passed away. While not a professed Christian, he preferred to advise people to be Christ-like rather than Christian, he had quite an impact on me. Dyer sprang up during an era of late 90's self-help, pseudo-mysticism gurus.
My first memory of him was watching PBS really late at night during one of my seasons of insomnia. It was during Telethon time, a most distressing week to watch public broadcasting, and they were showing highlights of the show to come. Here was this guy talking about Lao Tzu, the Tao, Zen, quantum physics, eastern mysticism, returning to Source, and I thought, "Oh great. Here we go. Another one hopping on the Deepak Chopra bandwagon." I have a great distaste for Chopra. While he raises some interesting notions I never got the feeling that he actually lived what he believed. Dyer, on the other hand, radiated authenticity. You could tell that despite any fame he had achieved he was constantly working on an understanding of humanity and spirituality. Like some mad self-help scientist he was experimenting on himself first.
So, why do I bring this up on a blog that is, ostensibly, one on Christian Spirituality? Well, if I haven't mentioned it before, I claim truth wherever I find it. Bits of Zen, scraps of Kabbalah, and even the odd snippet of Carl Jung all contain little bits of truth. When I find something that works in a way that doesn't directly contradict scripture, I tend to consider it.
In "celebration" of Dr. Dyer's passing his company is giving away for free his movie called "The Shift". I watched it and...predictably it altered my perception and was of great benefit. Sometimes it takes hearing the same thing from a different perspective. He began with talking about the Ego.
If you've followed my spiritual journey as of late, you know that I think of the Ego as the enemy within. I'm constantly of the opinion that, yes, Satan is an entity but the greatest threat to my spiritual life and godliness is my Ego. The Lord and I have done some good work in surgically removing slivers of the shrapnel scattered throughout my soul as a result of the Ego grenade having gone off. I'd never been deluded enough to think I've managed to eliminate it from my spirit. I was always hoping and praying for more renewing of my mind in this regard. And then the Lord sent "The Shift".
Chief among the many lessons gleaned from the movie was in regards to Dyer's example of a baby. For nine months we are in the womb, perfectly helpless but perfectly taken care of. All our needs are met. What if once we leave the womb our needs continue being met?
Now, of course, at this point he gets all self-help and he talks about the universe giving us whatever we need, that we should return to "Source" and a ton of other things that would set a Fundamentalist Evangelical Christian's teeth on edge...HOWEVER...Is he on to something here?
In Philippians Paul says "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus". We sing choruses (well...we used to back in the day) about Jehovah Jirah, God the Provider, and we pay lip service to the verses such as "Be Anxious for Nothing" and "Consider the lilies of the field" and what does our mind say? Logic kicks in and we mutter, "Yeah right, Lord. That's fine for lilies and sparrows, but I've got a mortgage and student loans. You don't know what it's like." But what is it like? What REALLY?
We Christians have pretty much no right to complain. We chuckle at the people of Israel in the Old Testament as God is throwing Manna and quail at them, creating streams in the desert and still they doubt, still they worry, still they complain. "God's not taking care of us. Oh, if only we were in bondage like the old days. Sure, our masters were cruel but our bellies were full." Are we much different? We don't take Him at his word. All of our anxiety and cares He tells us to cast on HIM. Why? Because He loves us, because we are His children. What father does not care for his children? What father says, "Listen, don't worry about it. I've got this. Cattle on a thousand hills, ya know? I'll take care of you son/daughter."
Where does sin spring from? Sure, our very nature as fleshy creatures, but the motivation of sin from the garden, to Cain, to Abraham lying about Sarai let alone that business with Hagar, to Simon Peter, to Judas, to you and me sinning a few hours ago is one thought, "God doesn't know what he's talking about and I have to take care of myself and make sure I get what I deserve." That thinking has a name, and it is Ego...the Flesh.
I just spent my first whole day believing that all of my needs were met and/or going to be met as I needed them to be and it was amazing. Every need from physical, mental, spiritual, sexual, psychological...I believed it and received because 1) He is a big enough God and 2) If He was going to lie about it then what kind of God is He? I released any "What about me?" thought and let the Lord pick up the slack. And He showed up. Some of the stories are too personal for such a public forum, but suffice to say He did as He promised.
He loves us so much and He is just waiting for us to get over ourselves; to let go of the constant need to program, analyze, control, to make sure we get our portion, and take care of it all in our own power.
For some reason it reminds me of a few things I've heard about the foundations of spiritual walks. It was once asked of a Zen Buddhist what one must do to attain Enlightenment and he said,, "Chop wood, carry water." Another Zen master said, "wash your bowl after eating." While the Gospel of Thomas may not be canon, one saying that strikes me as true is when Jesus supposedly says, "Lift a stone and you will find me. Split a piece of wood and I am there."
So, why bring up Zen and a rogue "Gospel"? Because spirituality even among the non-believers is in the quiet simple moments and day to day routine. In our modern day we are constantly making lists, focusing on the "doing", keeping to schedules, being distracted by Candy Crush, worrying about what we are going to eat, what we are going to drink, what we are going to wear...and we are not so different from the people whom Jesus told to stop running after those things. The pagans do that. Stop it. Be different. When we stop He shows up. When we rest in Him we find rest. It is our Ego that drives us to busy and crazy because it whispers in our ear how important we are, how critical we must be, how this relationship or that would fail if it wasn't for us, if it wasn't for our SELF doing it.
And it's a lie.
W
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Friday, August 21, 2015
Hebrews 12:2
I was listening to a sermon on the radio the other day and a pastor was going through Hebrews. He breezed through verse 2 of Chapter 12 on his way to making a point. For some reason a bit of the later half of the verse stuck out to me.
"For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
It's one of those verses we speak with the solemnity and quasi-ignorance of hymn. It rattles off the tongue and sounds all full of fundamentalist meter and rhyme, but I've never actually thought about it until the other day.
"For the joy set before Him he endured the cross..." What joy?
It would be easy to think that his joy would be sitting down at the right hand of the Father. That would make me joyful, but he was already there before he came to earth. The cross, its shame, that's a lot to take on for something He already had. Naturally that doesn't follow logically.
So what is the joy? Us. Being with us and in us all; God connected to man once again.
We tend not to think of it like that. Left to our own devices we could think that the Lord Jesus did it begrudgingly. "Yeah, Father, there's a lot of people suffering because of sin. *sigh* Ok...I guess I'll go, die, bear their sins because the number is so high. It's a moral imperative. Something that's gotta be done. Ok...see you guys in 33 years, I guess."
Deconstructing the sentence it could read, with less fundamentalist poetry, "He endured the cross because of the joy set before him..." He chose to die because the very thought of what lay on the other side filled him with joy. He is overjoyed that he endured torture and death because of you.
Too often I see the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as figures looking down from heaven wondering just when the heck am I going to get it right and be perfect, DANGIT! I've almost given up the notion that when I sin it's like crucifying the Lord over and over again. It is more like He has loosed the chains, opened the doors and I am finding my way out of the prison I've spent a lifetime in. Even while I'm finding my way out of that institution I am his joy...the joy for which he endured the cross.
"For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
It's one of those verses we speak with the solemnity and quasi-ignorance of hymn. It rattles off the tongue and sounds all full of fundamentalist meter and rhyme, but I've never actually thought about it until the other day.
"For the joy set before Him he endured the cross..." What joy?
It would be easy to think that his joy would be sitting down at the right hand of the Father. That would make me joyful, but he was already there before he came to earth. The cross, its shame, that's a lot to take on for something He already had. Naturally that doesn't follow logically.
So what is the joy? Us. Being with us and in us all; God connected to man once again.
We tend not to think of it like that. Left to our own devices we could think that the Lord Jesus did it begrudgingly. "Yeah, Father, there's a lot of people suffering because of sin. *sigh* Ok...I guess I'll go, die, bear their sins because the number is so high. It's a moral imperative. Something that's gotta be done. Ok...see you guys in 33 years, I guess."
Deconstructing the sentence it could read, with less fundamentalist poetry, "He endured the cross because of the joy set before him..." He chose to die because the very thought of what lay on the other side filled him with joy. He is overjoyed that he endured torture and death because of you.
Too often I see the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as figures looking down from heaven wondering just when the heck am I going to get it right and be perfect, DANGIT! I've almost given up the notion that when I sin it's like crucifying the Lord over and over again. It is more like He has loosed the chains, opened the doors and I am finding my way out of the prison I've spent a lifetime in. Even while I'm finding my way out of that institution I am his joy...the joy for which he endured the cross.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
40 Days: Day 2
Romans 15:1,5
Matthew 5:41,42
"We must put others before ourselves - putting their needs before our own."
It's kind of funny. I've been in GJ for the weekend and I met my sister for coffee over which we talked about the very thing that Romans 15:1,5 talks about; that we must "bear with the failings of the weak" or "carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong" and "not to please ourselves". This covers a lot of ground in the Christian life. It can easily, and rightly, be applied to family, friends, neighbors and those beyond our daily context. It is also very integral to the Christian life in so many ways and in an equal number of ways it is so very hard to grok.
The very nature of the self wants to serve...itself. We want our needs met before we ever budge to try an meet someone else's needs. Once we make an effort to meet someone else's needs then we want recognition, appreciation, even glory, deference and reverence if we can get it. This of course is self serving and not as altruistic as we'd deceive ourselves into believing.
God wants us to have a pure, selfless, serving heart before him. That is the ideal, but he is more than ready to meet us right where we are. (Un?)Fortunately, He is a good Father who will not let his children miss out on a valuable lesson. When we work in our own strength, with our own motivations, under our own delusions, for purposes not His then we will fail. We will burn out. We will be desiccated husks of potential. We will find ourselves empty with nothing left to give and then we will blame anyone but ourselves. We will accuse our fellow believers of asking too much and giving nothing to us in return. We will blame God for the perceived failure. We will lash out at anyone else rather than see the truth that we didn't do it in His timing, under His power, or for His reasons.
Often we begin to identify ourselves with a particular ministry or set of behaviors and say, "This is just what I do". The danger there is that the perceived success or failure of a ministry becomes intensely personal, and it is never meant to be. When we draw from our personal well of water there is an end to the supply. When drawing from Jesus there is no end. We get so caught up in what "has to be done" that we rarely pause and say, "What would You say I need to do". When our alignment is off then of course we will come up empty. He is the Living Water of which there is no end to the supply.
My sister and I discussed if it was possible to be "Good without God". Definition of terms can be a tricky thing so I kind of skirted that by saying "Oh yeah, absolutely a Atheist can feed a hungry person, give water to a sick person, or bind up the wounds of an injured person." So what is the difference between an Atheist or a Christian doing it? I think the answer is two-fold and fully debatable by the Atheist.
Firstly, it is a question of motivation. I don't believe and Atheist is capable of altruism. Certainly there are Christians who struggle with altruism. I have my own personal doubts about those who live in mansions and preach in crystal cathedrals, but there are those whose lives have been truly transformed, those who are even in process of being changed by Jesus, that can give without thought of self. Could an Atheist truly sell all of his possessions, give them to the poor, expect nothing in return at all, and walk away actually happy? I truly doubt that. And why is that? Because what they have is a deep part of who they are. A rich Jewish man in the New Testament wasn't capable of even giving it to the poor and the Bible says he wanted to "justify himself". How can we sacrifice our time, effort, money, possessions, and our very lives to help others? Because we have a God that we know in our bones will supply all our need and so there never is a bottom to the well. The Atheist only has their own self to draw upon and that is finite.
The second difference is purely metaphysical. When an Atheist hands a hungry person a piece of bread and Christian hands a hungry person a piece of bread there is something completely different going on there. Is it a coincidence that the entire civil rights movement of the 60's found its success not in the mocking fist of the Black Panther movement nor in the Nation of Islam, but in the non-violent, respectful but still resistant work of a Reverend? Certainly MLK was not a saint, but he was a believer. When an Atheist hands a hungry person a piece of bread the man's hunger is satisfied for but a moment. I believe that when a Christian hands a hungry man a piece of bread something, a power, is released in the spiritual realm that alters both of them forever even if they never meet again. Neither goes away unchanged and they both draw closer to Jesus even if they never speak again. The Spirit does something there in a believer's act whereas the Atheist's rings hollow only satisfying the surface need.
We are called to put others before ourselves. In the U.S.A. that message can easily get lost in the mass of messages calling for us to consume, to make it all about ourselves, and "have it your way". Those outside of the Way look and scoff at it as an invitation to be a doormat or abused by leadership. The truth, however, is far grander than anything they can imagine or conceive of.
I must decrease so that He may increase...both within me and without me.
Pax,
W
Matthew 5:41,42
"We must put others before ourselves - putting their needs before our own."
It's kind of funny. I've been in GJ for the weekend and I met my sister for coffee over which we talked about the very thing that Romans 15:1,5 talks about; that we must "bear with the failings of the weak" or "carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong" and "not to please ourselves". This covers a lot of ground in the Christian life. It can easily, and rightly, be applied to family, friends, neighbors and those beyond our daily context. It is also very integral to the Christian life in so many ways and in an equal number of ways it is so very hard to grok.
The very nature of the self wants to serve...itself. We want our needs met before we ever budge to try an meet someone else's needs. Once we make an effort to meet someone else's needs then we want recognition, appreciation, even glory, deference and reverence if we can get it. This of course is self serving and not as altruistic as we'd deceive ourselves into believing.
God wants us to have a pure, selfless, serving heart before him. That is the ideal, but he is more than ready to meet us right where we are. (Un?)Fortunately, He is a good Father who will not let his children miss out on a valuable lesson. When we work in our own strength, with our own motivations, under our own delusions, for purposes not His then we will fail. We will burn out. We will be desiccated husks of potential. We will find ourselves empty with nothing left to give and then we will blame anyone but ourselves. We will accuse our fellow believers of asking too much and giving nothing to us in return. We will blame God for the perceived failure. We will lash out at anyone else rather than see the truth that we didn't do it in His timing, under His power, or for His reasons.
Often we begin to identify ourselves with a particular ministry or set of behaviors and say, "This is just what I do". The danger there is that the perceived success or failure of a ministry becomes intensely personal, and it is never meant to be. When we draw from our personal well of water there is an end to the supply. When drawing from Jesus there is no end. We get so caught up in what "has to be done" that we rarely pause and say, "What would You say I need to do". When our alignment is off then of course we will come up empty. He is the Living Water of which there is no end to the supply.
My sister and I discussed if it was possible to be "Good without God". Definition of terms can be a tricky thing so I kind of skirted that by saying "Oh yeah, absolutely a Atheist can feed a hungry person, give water to a sick person, or bind up the wounds of an injured person." So what is the difference between an Atheist or a Christian doing it? I think the answer is two-fold and fully debatable by the Atheist.
Firstly, it is a question of motivation. I don't believe and Atheist is capable of altruism. Certainly there are Christians who struggle with altruism. I have my own personal doubts about those who live in mansions and preach in crystal cathedrals, but there are those whose lives have been truly transformed, those who are even in process of being changed by Jesus, that can give without thought of self. Could an Atheist truly sell all of his possessions, give them to the poor, expect nothing in return at all, and walk away actually happy? I truly doubt that. And why is that? Because what they have is a deep part of who they are. A rich Jewish man in the New Testament wasn't capable of even giving it to the poor and the Bible says he wanted to "justify himself". How can we sacrifice our time, effort, money, possessions, and our very lives to help others? Because we have a God that we know in our bones will supply all our need and so there never is a bottom to the well. The Atheist only has their own self to draw upon and that is finite.
The second difference is purely metaphysical. When an Atheist hands a hungry person a piece of bread and Christian hands a hungry person a piece of bread there is something completely different going on there. Is it a coincidence that the entire civil rights movement of the 60's found its success not in the mocking fist of the Black Panther movement nor in the Nation of Islam, but in the non-violent, respectful but still resistant work of a Reverend? Certainly MLK was not a saint, but he was a believer. When an Atheist hands a hungry person a piece of bread the man's hunger is satisfied for but a moment. I believe that when a Christian hands a hungry man a piece of bread something, a power, is released in the spiritual realm that alters both of them forever even if they never meet again. Neither goes away unchanged and they both draw closer to Jesus even if they never speak again. The Spirit does something there in a believer's act whereas the Atheist's rings hollow only satisfying the surface need.
We are called to put others before ourselves. In the U.S.A. that message can easily get lost in the mass of messages calling for us to consume, to make it all about ourselves, and "have it your way". Those outside of the Way look and scoff at it as an invitation to be a doormat or abused by leadership. The truth, however, is far grander than anything they can imagine or conceive of.
I must decrease so that He may increase...both within me and without me.
Pax,
W
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
40 Days and 40 nights: Day 1
My opinion of Glenn Beck has been all over the map. I started, like many people remain currently, to think of him as your average, all-purpose right wing crazy...which being of a rather conservative mindset I didn't mind as much as the left-wing crazies on the radio. Over time you could hear that he began to evolve from a divisive political pundit who just seemed (seemed is an important word here) into something more peace and unity loving. Many have come before and had similar evolutions. The thing that has made Glenn unique, in my eyes at least, is that he hasn't lost his Christian edge.
I'm not going to get into theological discussions about whether or not being a Mormon makes him a Christian or not here, so please save it. In his comments and actions it has been apparent that he hasn't traveled far at all from the feet of Jesus. He has been changed at some point. Perhaps it was recently or perhaps we are only seeing the effects of that change, but lately the things he has been pushing, the things he has been saying, the things he has been doing and planning to do have all had the ring of the Shepard. As with any nationally known figure I apply the words of Lincoln, (and I'm not getting it exactly word for word) "When a man walks right, walk with him. When he walks wrong, depart from him."
A month or so ago Glenn Beck began his #NeverAgainIsNow campaign to highlight the genocidal slaughter of Christians by ISIS in the Middle East, something very few are talking about in the media. (ISIS is not connected to a religion, but they are targeting members of another religion in the name of a religion...but let's not dwell.) The #AllLivesMatter campaign quickly followed. There is nothing I can disagree with in either of these campaigns and they both sound like the call of the Shepherd to me.
Most recently Mr. Beck has been gearing up for an event on 8/28. He was told by doctors that he had to rest his voice for 4 weeks or so and has been unable to do his radio show. As such he started a 40 Day challenge for #NeverAgainIsNow and I plan on taking part using this blog for my own personal reflection. I'm three days behind already, but I figure I'll catch up pretty quickly (Lord willing, the creek don't rise, and the children grant me peace and quiet)
Day One: Roman's 12: 1-21
Question: What does Romans 12: 1-21 tell us about who we should be?
The first thing that Romans 12 tells us from right out of the gate is that we are to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. What does this mean? Whole groups of Christians have divided on this point (and many others), but to me it means that we present ourselves to God as available workers. In my own life I've said to the Lord on multiple occasions "Use me as you will". I'm fully willing to lay down my writing career (such as it is) and never write another word of fiction if he called me to something else.
Paul follows this command up with an "AND" that says in verse 2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Another version states that we should not be conformed to the "pattern" of this world. We should not expect to do things for the Lord, to whom we sacrifice our days and efforts, in a way that the world things it should be done; by their pattern. The Bible is a book all about how God does nothing the way anyone expects Him to. His Son is born to a carpenter and a woman whose virtue is called into question and is born in a dung filled stable. His Son calls not the religious elite but fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots who are at odds with each other.
I was watching "What Happened, Miss Simone" which is a documentary about the legendary singer and musician Nina Simone. I was very interested in her life and music as that before I only had the vaguest sense of name recognition but was never sure I'd heard her music. There was a moment in the film that really caught me off guard. During the Civil Rights movement Miss Simone did not stand by MLK in the non-violent camp. She was all for violence if it achieved their goals. The documentary showed some video from a concert where Miss Simone asks the audience if they are ready to get dirty for the cause, to break some things, white things, set fire to things, white things, and she ends with "are you ready to kill white babies?" The crowd is right there with her. Vandalism, arson, and killing children for civil rights: that's what the world says should work, right? Violence, muscle, the stick, the sword, the power of a man's arm gets him what he wants. That is the pattern of the world.
Paul goes on to say that we serve God with the spiritual gifts that he has given us. Again, against the pattern of the world. The final section of Romans 12 is labeled "Behave Like a Christian". How do we do that? Primarily, "Let love be without hypocrisy", without pretense...never falsely. This hypocritical love has always been something that makes me skittish in Christian circles. Being "nice" and "polite" is considered a virtue within the hearts of many Christians. If you love me then love me. Nice and polite always comes off as fake. We are called to a deep genuine brotherly love.
Romans 12, by the end, comes to the conclusion that we should not fight fire with fire. It is easy in this life to claim justice by way of vengeance. It is even encouraged to repay evil with evil. Once upon a time it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Lately in our culture we have taken it to a far greater extent. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth I don't care if you are guilty or not I'm going to take it from you so that I can feel better and like justice has been served even if it hasn't actually."
As with many of the letters of Paul the jist here when double distilled is "Be holy as He is holy, Love, and your enemy is not your enemy."
Pax,
W
I'm not going to get into theological discussions about whether or not being a Mormon makes him a Christian or not here, so please save it. In his comments and actions it has been apparent that he hasn't traveled far at all from the feet of Jesus. He has been changed at some point. Perhaps it was recently or perhaps we are only seeing the effects of that change, but lately the things he has been pushing, the things he has been saying, the things he has been doing and planning to do have all had the ring of the Shepard. As with any nationally known figure I apply the words of Lincoln, (and I'm not getting it exactly word for word) "When a man walks right, walk with him. When he walks wrong, depart from him."
A month or so ago Glenn Beck began his #NeverAgainIsNow campaign to highlight the genocidal slaughter of Christians by ISIS in the Middle East, something very few are talking about in the media. (ISIS is not connected to a religion, but they are targeting members of another religion in the name of a religion...but let's not dwell.) The #AllLivesMatter campaign quickly followed. There is nothing I can disagree with in either of these campaigns and they both sound like the call of the Shepherd to me.
Most recently Mr. Beck has been gearing up for an event on 8/28. He was told by doctors that he had to rest his voice for 4 weeks or so and has been unable to do his radio show. As such he started a 40 Day challenge for #NeverAgainIsNow and I plan on taking part using this blog for my own personal reflection. I'm three days behind already, but I figure I'll catch up pretty quickly (Lord willing, the creek don't rise, and the children grant me peace and quiet)
Day One: Roman's 12: 1-21
Question: What does Romans 12: 1-21 tell us about who we should be?
The first thing that Romans 12 tells us from right out of the gate is that we are to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. What does this mean? Whole groups of Christians have divided on this point (and many others), but to me it means that we present ourselves to God as available workers. In my own life I've said to the Lord on multiple occasions "Use me as you will". I'm fully willing to lay down my writing career (such as it is) and never write another word of fiction if he called me to something else.
Paul follows this command up with an "AND" that says in verse 2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Another version states that we should not be conformed to the "pattern" of this world. We should not expect to do things for the Lord, to whom we sacrifice our days and efforts, in a way that the world things it should be done; by their pattern. The Bible is a book all about how God does nothing the way anyone expects Him to. His Son is born to a carpenter and a woman whose virtue is called into question and is born in a dung filled stable. His Son calls not the religious elite but fishermen, tax collectors, and zealots who are at odds with each other.
I was watching "What Happened, Miss Simone" which is a documentary about the legendary singer and musician Nina Simone. I was very interested in her life and music as that before I only had the vaguest sense of name recognition but was never sure I'd heard her music. There was a moment in the film that really caught me off guard. During the Civil Rights movement Miss Simone did not stand by MLK in the non-violent camp. She was all for violence if it achieved their goals. The documentary showed some video from a concert where Miss Simone asks the audience if they are ready to get dirty for the cause, to break some things, white things, set fire to things, white things, and she ends with "are you ready to kill white babies?" The crowd is right there with her. Vandalism, arson, and killing children for civil rights: that's what the world says should work, right? Violence, muscle, the stick, the sword, the power of a man's arm gets him what he wants. That is the pattern of the world.
Paul goes on to say that we serve God with the spiritual gifts that he has given us. Again, against the pattern of the world. The final section of Romans 12 is labeled "Behave Like a Christian". How do we do that? Primarily, "Let love be without hypocrisy", without pretense...never falsely. This hypocritical love has always been something that makes me skittish in Christian circles. Being "nice" and "polite" is considered a virtue within the hearts of many Christians. If you love me then love me. Nice and polite always comes off as fake. We are called to a deep genuine brotherly love.
Romans 12, by the end, comes to the conclusion that we should not fight fire with fire. It is easy in this life to claim justice by way of vengeance. It is even encouraged to repay evil with evil. Once upon a time it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Lately in our culture we have taken it to a far greater extent. "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth I don't care if you are guilty or not I'm going to take it from you so that I can feel better and like justice has been served even if it hasn't actually."
As with many of the letters of Paul the jist here when double distilled is "Be holy as He is holy, Love, and your enemy is not your enemy."
Pax,
W
Sunday, May 24, 2015
First Principles: The Sanctity of Life
This principle is often where I find myself clashing with my brothers and sisters. Taken at face value, the sanctity of life seems like something all Christians should be completely on board with. As with many things, it is in degrees of application. As a bit of a disclaimer before I start, this is not in anyway meant to be a criticism of those who believe differently. I mean no ill will to anyone who approaches any of these First Principles in a different way, in fact perhaps I could stand to learn from them. This is, however, a place where I agree to disagree. As is often the case, there are those for whom this is a logical argument and those for whom it is an emotional argument. I tend towards the logical side.
What is life?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (my favorite of all dictionaries) it is: "The condition or attribute of being alive; animate existence. Opposed to death or inanimate existence."
Given this definition the major requirement is to be animate. I would extend that to saying self animate. To me, the moment of conception qualifies. After that moment the cells begin to divide on their own. From that very moment that life, self animation, begins life is precious. To me, all human life is sacred. Where I differ with many is that life in the womb isn't the only human life that is sacred or needs to be protected. It is all life that is sacred. The reason we fixate on life in the womb is because that is the life that is under attack at the moment, and it is life that cannot defend itself in any way.
How far do we take the sanctity of life then?
Because of my belief in the sanctity of life I am against the death penalty and most, if not all, war.
The death penalty is a much easier thing for me to explain than war, however they both share the same basic principal in my head; the moment you kill a man you've eliminated God's ability to deal with that man.
When a crime is egregious enough in this country we apply the death penalty as a means of deterrence. It's a very Old Testament ideal. If you murder then we kill you to serve as an example to others and satisfy the desire for vengeance/justice in the hearts of those left behind. It is very integral to our system of justice. If you commit the crime you must pay, and generally if you take a life you pay with your life.
I've never been able to square this with anything I find in the teachings of the New Testament. We are called to be merciful, loving, forgiving, to cast all our cares and anxiety on the LORD and, above all, be concerned with eternal matters specifically bringing everyone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So...at what point does capital punishment satisfy any of these things?
In my perception the only thing capital punishment does is satisfy the desires of our flesh. If someone, God forbid, was to murder one of my children or my spouse the emotions that would spring up within me would not be remotely holy. My response, my desires, would be of a purely animal nature. My desire would be to crush the life out of the perpetrator. Would those desires be wrong? If I believe that all human life is sacred, yes, it would be wrong. When Jesus calls us to forgive, or indeed when he calls us to anything higher in the scriptures, he is calling us to defy our animal and/or sin nature programming.
What Jesus calls us to is exactly what happened when a gunman shot up a school full of Amish children years ago. The Amish community took the time to make sure who was dead or alive, and then immediately went to the family of the gunman. They mourned together with that family, told them they forgave their son, insisted on taking care of them, and begged them not to move away because of that event. Had the gunman not taken his own life, with that heart on display, I'm not sure that the Amish community would have even pressed charges. They likely may have forgiven him and let the state do what it will and, again, taken care of the man's family. THAT preaches volumes to my heart on many levels.
This isn't as simple as those who hold up signs that say, "Why do we kill people in order to show people that killing people is wrong?". In the words of King's X, "I have trouble with the persons with the signs/ But sometimes I feel the need to make my own". If all human life is sacred then is a convict's life sacred? Or are we going to pick and choose whose lives are more or less sacred? A fellow Christian was discussing this issue with me and he remarked, "Yeah, Will, but how much do we spend each year to keep them alive? It's cheaper to give them a lethal injection than to give them Life without the possibility of parole." I was too stunned to even respond to that line of thinking. Once that heart stops beating we have removed any shot at someone influencing their life for Christ. There's no chance for God to work in them once we do that. To that I've heard responses such as, "Well, if God really wants to save them He'll get it done before the execution." How cheaply we regard life and capriciously we treat God's work.
If all human life is sacred then why do we support war?
This is where I'm the most shaky on this First Principle. By our mere existence we reap the benefits of those who have died in wars since the dawn of time. When I question how a Christian should feel about war the Revolutionary war gets thrown in my face about as much as the wars in the Old Testament. I wouldn't have the freedoms guaranteed (although lately I feel like I should put quotation marks around that word) in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights if we had not gone to war. Sadly, those arguments place the benefits we have as more important over what the words of Jesus actually are. How do we wage war when we are to love our enemies? Where do we find the justification to take another man's life when He specifically tells us not to stand in the way of a wicked man, but rather we are to turn the other cheek when beaten on one?
I do not look down on those who have served or think that military service is a sin or anything. I would never want a military person or someone in the police force to think for a second that I am not grateful for what they do. If the United States of America didn't get involved in World War II the slaughter would have continued. I am merely saying that if all human life is sacred then what do we do with that? I can't look at the scriptures and honestly say that it permits me to take a life...even in defense of my own person.
Now, in both of these concepts, capital punishment and war, I recognize their justifiable validity. The world would not work "properly" without them. The world outside the Church needs them. God calls His people to crazy things. As I've mentioned above he calls us to love our enemies. This isn't someone you have a disagreement with. He literally calls us to love those who despise us, ridicule us, and cause us physical harm (See St. Stephen and other disciples). He doesn't call us to be polite. He calls us to radical upside-down thinking on every level. Jesus in our lives calls us to defy every programming that the world has done to us.
My brethren have asked, "Well, what are you going to do if ISIS storms our shores threatens your country and family? Embrace them? Feed them? Forgive them when they take your daughter as spoils of war?" It's a hard question. One I can't actually answer as well as I'd like. I hope that I would find peace and a heart of forgiveness in the midst of persecution. There are Christians encountering just this in Iraq every day. There are more persecuted the world over. We have a comfy faith, comparatively. I don't know the answer to that question. Did Peter or Paul try to take out as many Romans as they could before they were taken to jail or killed? Did Peter try to get in one last punch before being hung upside down on a cross? What shows the work of the LORD in our lives better? Feeding our enemies or letting them starve?
It's a hard road to take seriously the inconvenient words of Christ when all of those around us would understand a moment of vengeance or justice, as the world would see it. I'm not sure the man that I would be in that moment, which is all the more frightening. Jesus...reduce me to love.
I'm reminded of the movie Kingdom of Heaven. As historically inaccurate as it may be, there was one moment that spoke to me. The King of Jerusalem tells Balian the following:
"A king may move a man, a father may claim a son, but that man can also move himself, and only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone, even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus," or that virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that."
What is life?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (my favorite of all dictionaries) it is: "The condition or attribute of being alive; animate existence. Opposed to death or inanimate existence."
Given this definition the major requirement is to be animate. I would extend that to saying self animate. To me, the moment of conception qualifies. After that moment the cells begin to divide on their own. From that very moment that life, self animation, begins life is precious. To me, all human life is sacred. Where I differ with many is that life in the womb isn't the only human life that is sacred or needs to be protected. It is all life that is sacred. The reason we fixate on life in the womb is because that is the life that is under attack at the moment, and it is life that cannot defend itself in any way.
How far do we take the sanctity of life then?
Because of my belief in the sanctity of life I am against the death penalty and most, if not all, war.
The death penalty is a much easier thing for me to explain than war, however they both share the same basic principal in my head; the moment you kill a man you've eliminated God's ability to deal with that man.
When a crime is egregious enough in this country we apply the death penalty as a means of deterrence. It's a very Old Testament ideal. If you murder then we kill you to serve as an example to others and satisfy the desire for vengeance/justice in the hearts of those left behind. It is very integral to our system of justice. If you commit the crime you must pay, and generally if you take a life you pay with your life.
I've never been able to square this with anything I find in the teachings of the New Testament. We are called to be merciful, loving, forgiving, to cast all our cares and anxiety on the LORD and, above all, be concerned with eternal matters specifically bringing everyone to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. So...at what point does capital punishment satisfy any of these things?
In my perception the only thing capital punishment does is satisfy the desires of our flesh. If someone, God forbid, was to murder one of my children or my spouse the emotions that would spring up within me would not be remotely holy. My response, my desires, would be of a purely animal nature. My desire would be to crush the life out of the perpetrator. Would those desires be wrong? If I believe that all human life is sacred, yes, it would be wrong. When Jesus calls us to forgive, or indeed when he calls us to anything higher in the scriptures, he is calling us to defy our animal and/or sin nature programming.
What Jesus calls us to is exactly what happened when a gunman shot up a school full of Amish children years ago. The Amish community took the time to make sure who was dead or alive, and then immediately went to the family of the gunman. They mourned together with that family, told them they forgave their son, insisted on taking care of them, and begged them not to move away because of that event. Had the gunman not taken his own life, with that heart on display, I'm not sure that the Amish community would have even pressed charges. They likely may have forgiven him and let the state do what it will and, again, taken care of the man's family. THAT preaches volumes to my heart on many levels.
This isn't as simple as those who hold up signs that say, "Why do we kill people in order to show people that killing people is wrong?". In the words of King's X, "I have trouble with the persons with the signs/ But sometimes I feel the need to make my own". If all human life is sacred then is a convict's life sacred? Or are we going to pick and choose whose lives are more or less sacred? A fellow Christian was discussing this issue with me and he remarked, "Yeah, Will, but how much do we spend each year to keep them alive? It's cheaper to give them a lethal injection than to give them Life without the possibility of parole." I was too stunned to even respond to that line of thinking. Once that heart stops beating we have removed any shot at someone influencing their life for Christ. There's no chance for God to work in them once we do that. To that I've heard responses such as, "Well, if God really wants to save them He'll get it done before the execution." How cheaply we regard life and capriciously we treat God's work.
If all human life is sacred then why do we support war?
This is where I'm the most shaky on this First Principle. By our mere existence we reap the benefits of those who have died in wars since the dawn of time. When I question how a Christian should feel about war the Revolutionary war gets thrown in my face about as much as the wars in the Old Testament. I wouldn't have the freedoms guaranteed (although lately I feel like I should put quotation marks around that word) in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights if we had not gone to war. Sadly, those arguments place the benefits we have as more important over what the words of Jesus actually are. How do we wage war when we are to love our enemies? Where do we find the justification to take another man's life when He specifically tells us not to stand in the way of a wicked man, but rather we are to turn the other cheek when beaten on one?
I do not look down on those who have served or think that military service is a sin or anything. I would never want a military person or someone in the police force to think for a second that I am not grateful for what they do. If the United States of America didn't get involved in World War II the slaughter would have continued. I am merely saying that if all human life is sacred then what do we do with that? I can't look at the scriptures and honestly say that it permits me to take a life...even in defense of my own person.
Now, in both of these concepts, capital punishment and war, I recognize their justifiable validity. The world would not work "properly" without them. The world outside the Church needs them. God calls His people to crazy things. As I've mentioned above he calls us to love our enemies. This isn't someone you have a disagreement with. He literally calls us to love those who despise us, ridicule us, and cause us physical harm (See St. Stephen and other disciples). He doesn't call us to be polite. He calls us to radical upside-down thinking on every level. Jesus in our lives calls us to defy every programming that the world has done to us.
My brethren have asked, "Well, what are you going to do if ISIS storms our shores threatens your country and family? Embrace them? Feed them? Forgive them when they take your daughter as spoils of war?" It's a hard question. One I can't actually answer as well as I'd like. I hope that I would find peace and a heart of forgiveness in the midst of persecution. There are Christians encountering just this in Iraq every day. There are more persecuted the world over. We have a comfy faith, comparatively. I don't know the answer to that question. Did Peter or Paul try to take out as many Romans as they could before they were taken to jail or killed? Did Peter try to get in one last punch before being hung upside down on a cross? What shows the work of the LORD in our lives better? Feeding our enemies or letting them starve?
It's a hard road to take seriously the inconvenient words of Christ when all of those around us would understand a moment of vengeance or justice, as the world would see it. I'm not sure the man that I would be in that moment, which is all the more frightening. Jesus...reduce me to love.
I'm reminded of the movie Kingdom of Heaven. As historically inaccurate as it may be, there was one moment that spoke to me. The King of Jerusalem tells Balian the following:
"A king may move a man, a father may claim a son, but that man can also move himself, and only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone, even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus," or that virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice. Remember that."
Friday, May 22, 2015
First Principles: There is No Enemy
I've decided that among other things I should enumerate my core beliefs or "first principles" for anyone who cares to read this blog.
Now, I have to explain a few things first. These first principles are beyond the basic tenets of my faith. My first principles are not completely unchangeable. They are just very unlikely to be changed. My unchangeable principles cannot be violated.
Those Immutable Principles are the following: 1) There is a God. 2) He is the God of the Bible 3) the Bible is His holy and infallible word and 4) He sent his son Jesus who died as payment for the sins of those who believe, rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father 5) God is triune, three in one.
Now, beyond those things we can argue. Arguing first principles won't get you very far but it is a possibility...though extremely remote. These First Principles are not in any particular order of importance.
There is no enemy.
Notice that I do not use a capital "e" for enemy. Non-Christians will be confused as to why this might be important, whereas fellow Christians will mark it quickly. I'll get into that in a bit because I think the Enemy is not at as important as some do.
There is no enemy.
This First Principle came into my awareness through a Guy Ritchie movie called Revolver which I can't whole heartedly recommend to anyone. There's sex, violence, drug use, and the like that comes along with the gangster subject matter.
I did find it to be quite interesting on a spiritual and philosophical level. It comes from the period in Guy Ritchie's life where he had begun to be interested in Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. The story follows a newly released gangster named Jake who wants revenge on the man who put him in jail for so many years. He falls into debt with an unconventional pair of loan sharks who seem less interested in getting Jake back on his feet and more interested in rehabilitating his very soul. They tell him that if he wants the money he has to preform some strange acts, each of which is designed to be a blow to his ego even going so far as to ask forgiveness from the man who put him in jail. The final scenes where Jake does this are amazing to watch as just the simple act of submission, asking forgiveness almost makes the mob boss go insane because the concept is so foreign.
Central to the movie is something the loan sharks tell Jake. "There is no enemy". They leave it at that and give Jake time to chew on it. More specifically, there is no enemy...outside of ourselves.
As we make our way through life we can't help but notice that there are people who like us and people who don't. There are people who work for or with us and we think there are those who are actively working against us. Somehow we find ourselves so arrogant as to believe this or that person is our nemesis, our roadblock to success or peace and self-harmony. The truth is, barring the occasional psychotic individual who would fixate like that, they aren't our enemy. Our own ego manifests and interprets what that person does as being adversarial. We have this innate desire to be the hero of our own story and every hero requires a villain. There is a voice in our head that is all to happy to provide one. An individual's ego is a potent force that warps the perception of the world. Once we see that the enemy we perceive is actually a mirror we hold up to ourselves, the world changes. That voice, that ego, is the greatest con artist in the world. It could lead a man to destroy everything that is good in his life. It spends so much of our lives, this other voice, trying to convince you that it IS you. But it's not.
As Jake says at his moment of realization:
"There is something about yourself that you don't know. Something that you will deny even exists until it's too late to do anything about it. It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the (crappy) boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. "Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special." We share an addiction. We're approval junkies. We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The "hip, hip, hoo-rah." Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we're just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others"
Once we can let go of that addiction, that approval of others, then we can begin the hard work of figuring out our faith. Pride and ego are the twin forces that will kill you spiritually every time. And where do they live? Inside every one of us. I was asked a couple times by the pastor at my last church to give a sermon. The first time it was OK. Afterwards people shook my hand, slapped my back, and told me I did a good job. I was fairly uncomfortable but chalked it up to my typical low level social anxiety. It wasn't until my pastor critiqued it honestly and fairly that I started to feel better. The second time I think maybe two people told me I did a great job and I felt pride and ego ganging up on me in my head. You know what I did? Dishes. I found something dirty, inconvenient, and away from the praise of others...and I was better for it.
Now, back to the Enemy with a capital "e".
Do I believe in Satan/Lucifer and all his demons as literal beings with literal powers and sway on this planet? Yes. I absolutely do. Do I believe there's a demon in every corner or whispering in an alcoholic's ear? That part I'm not entirely sure on, and I lean more towards "no" the older I get. This may frustrate my hardcore Christian brothers and sisters, but I'll say this; Given the natural state of humanity since the fall, I'm not sure that they need to do much at all. Satan was right there in the Garden of Eden to push Eve and Adam to eat of the fruit, but he's nowhere to be seen, scripturally, when Cain kills Able. Yes, God warns Cain that "sin is crouching at you door" but not Lucifer. He says "you must master it". It's something within him that Cain can control. When Lucifer and/or his demons shows up I fully believe things would feel different. What's the first thing that angels say when they show up? "Don't be afraid". I can only assume that is because people have an innate fear of something larger than themselves. In my thinking the situation has to have a quantifiable difference beyond my everyday struggles.
The Hebrew word for Satan literally translates to "adversary". Pharaoh of was Moses' "satan". Goliath was David's "satan".
For me, I don't need a Satan outside of myself in order to get into a lot of trouble. The enemy, the ego, the adversary, the "satan" within is quite a handful on its own. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about Lucifer and his demon buddies because I figure God has that one to sort out. Besides, how effective would I be against the one without until I let Jesus deal thoroughly with the one within?
Pax,
W
Now, I have to explain a few things first. These first principles are beyond the basic tenets of my faith. My first principles are not completely unchangeable. They are just very unlikely to be changed. My unchangeable principles cannot be violated.
Those Immutable Principles are the following: 1) There is a God. 2) He is the God of the Bible 3) the Bible is His holy and infallible word and 4) He sent his son Jesus who died as payment for the sins of those who believe, rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father 5) God is triune, three in one.
Now, beyond those things we can argue. Arguing first principles won't get you very far but it is a possibility...though extremely remote. These First Principles are not in any particular order of importance.
There is no enemy.
Notice that I do not use a capital "e" for enemy. Non-Christians will be confused as to why this might be important, whereas fellow Christians will mark it quickly. I'll get into that in a bit because I think the Enemy is not at as important as some do.
There is no enemy.
This First Principle came into my awareness through a Guy Ritchie movie called Revolver which I can't whole heartedly recommend to anyone. There's sex, violence, drug use, and the like that comes along with the gangster subject matter.
I did find it to be quite interesting on a spiritual and philosophical level. It comes from the period in Guy Ritchie's life where he had begun to be interested in Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. The story follows a newly released gangster named Jake who wants revenge on the man who put him in jail for so many years. He falls into debt with an unconventional pair of loan sharks who seem less interested in getting Jake back on his feet and more interested in rehabilitating his very soul. They tell him that if he wants the money he has to preform some strange acts, each of which is designed to be a blow to his ego even going so far as to ask forgiveness from the man who put him in jail. The final scenes where Jake does this are amazing to watch as just the simple act of submission, asking forgiveness almost makes the mob boss go insane because the concept is so foreign.
Central to the movie is something the loan sharks tell Jake. "There is no enemy". They leave it at that and give Jake time to chew on it. More specifically, there is no enemy...outside of ourselves.
As we make our way through life we can't help but notice that there are people who like us and people who don't. There are people who work for or with us and we think there are those who are actively working against us. Somehow we find ourselves so arrogant as to believe this or that person is our nemesis, our roadblock to success or peace and self-harmony. The truth is, barring the occasional psychotic individual who would fixate like that, they aren't our enemy. Our own ego manifests and interprets what that person does as being adversarial. We have this innate desire to be the hero of our own story and every hero requires a villain. There is a voice in our head that is all to happy to provide one. An individual's ego is a potent force that warps the perception of the world. Once we see that the enemy we perceive is actually a mirror we hold up to ourselves, the world changes. That voice, that ego, is the greatest con artist in the world. It could lead a man to destroy everything that is good in his life. It spends so much of our lives, this other voice, trying to convince you that it IS you. But it's not.
As Jake says at his moment of realization:
"There is something about yourself that you don't know. Something that you will deny even exists until it's too late to do anything about it. It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the (crappy) boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. "Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special." We share an addiction. We're approval junkies. We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The "hip, hip, hoo-rah." Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we're just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others"
Once we can let go of that addiction, that approval of others, then we can begin the hard work of figuring out our faith. Pride and ego are the twin forces that will kill you spiritually every time. And where do they live? Inside every one of us. I was asked a couple times by the pastor at my last church to give a sermon. The first time it was OK. Afterwards people shook my hand, slapped my back, and told me I did a good job. I was fairly uncomfortable but chalked it up to my typical low level social anxiety. It wasn't until my pastor critiqued it honestly and fairly that I started to feel better. The second time I think maybe two people told me I did a great job and I felt pride and ego ganging up on me in my head. You know what I did? Dishes. I found something dirty, inconvenient, and away from the praise of others...and I was better for it.
Now, back to the Enemy with a capital "e".
Do I believe in Satan/Lucifer and all his demons as literal beings with literal powers and sway on this planet? Yes. I absolutely do. Do I believe there's a demon in every corner or whispering in an alcoholic's ear? That part I'm not entirely sure on, and I lean more towards "no" the older I get. This may frustrate my hardcore Christian brothers and sisters, but I'll say this; Given the natural state of humanity since the fall, I'm not sure that they need to do much at all. Satan was right there in the Garden of Eden to push Eve and Adam to eat of the fruit, but he's nowhere to be seen, scripturally, when Cain kills Able. Yes, God warns Cain that "sin is crouching at you door" but not Lucifer. He says "you must master it". It's something within him that Cain can control. When Lucifer and/or his demons shows up I fully believe things would feel different. What's the first thing that angels say when they show up? "Don't be afraid". I can only assume that is because people have an innate fear of something larger than themselves. In my thinking the situation has to have a quantifiable difference beyond my everyday struggles.
The Hebrew word for Satan literally translates to "adversary". Pharaoh of was Moses' "satan". Goliath was David's "satan".
For me, I don't need a Satan outside of myself in order to get into a lot of trouble. The enemy, the ego, the adversary, the "satan" within is quite a handful on its own. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about Lucifer and his demon buddies because I figure God has that one to sort out. Besides, how effective would I be against the one without until I let Jesus deal thoroughly with the one within?
Pax,
W
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
A Bit of a Tid (On a Jealous God)
"A Bit of a Tid" = Just a tidbit on a given topic that I don't have too much to say on...yet.
This past Sunday our worship leader took a bit of time to talk about, of all things, Oprah. I am not a huge fan of Oprah for many reasons, none of which I'll get into here. Our worship leader brought up her remembrance of an episode of the show where Oprah revealed the moment she stopped believing in the Judeo-Christian God. Apparently it happened when her pastor read the scripture to the congregation regarding God as a jealous God. Right then and there Oprah stopped believing. Why? Because jealousy is such a petty human emotion and any god worth their salt can't have a petty human emotion.
First of all, I'm always bothered by this sort of behavior. The Bible shows that God or his people don't meet the individuals expectations and they shut down...without ANY further inquiry. I've seen it at least a hundred times. "I like Jesus, but his fan club keep me away"...declares someone who self identifies as an atheist (In my personal dictionary Atheist is described as an agnostic with a grudge...but that's another topic for another day) or "Jesus didn't keep the sabbath so he can't be God let alone holy", or "How can a loving God allow..." These "road blocks" are fairly foreign to me. If something doesn't meet my expectations my first impulse is a minor "revulsion" followed by further inquiry to try and fully understand. So when something minor causes someone to immediately eject the idea...it significantly perplexes me.
Secondly, as our worship leader went on to say, the kind of jealousy the Bible refers to is NOT a petty human emotion. It's not the jealousy that I get when someone gets published before me, or when someone gets a PS4 that I've wanted forever. That kind of jealousy is not warranted and meets no criteria for truly logical behavior. I have no claim on that publishing agent. I have no claim on that PS4, etc. It is a purely emotional response. Let's say that my wife who swore before both God and Men to be mine, to cling only to me through sickness, health, for richer or poorer, suddenly cheated on me and decided to leave me for another man. Would anyone EVER say that my jealousy in that situation was petty or unwarranted? Would anyone ever fault me for burning with jealousy? No. Everyone would say that it was completely understandable and expected.
This jealousy is the closest definition we can come to for Divine Jealousy. If we have pledged our troth, our faith and loyalty, to Him then of course he would be jealous of that. The relationship he calls us into is even deeper than a mortal marriage which only lasts until one partner dies. If my wife flirts with another man I am within my right and compelled to jealousy. How much more when we flirt with other far lesser idols that are daily in our lives.
This dovetailed quite nicely with our pastor's sermon on the supremacy of Jesus that tends to be missing in our lives...which pummeled me into the ground and I'm much the better for it. That may be my next post soon.
Pax,
W
This past Sunday our worship leader took a bit of time to talk about, of all things, Oprah. I am not a huge fan of Oprah for many reasons, none of which I'll get into here. Our worship leader brought up her remembrance of an episode of the show where Oprah revealed the moment she stopped believing in the Judeo-Christian God. Apparently it happened when her pastor read the scripture to the congregation regarding God as a jealous God. Right then and there Oprah stopped believing. Why? Because jealousy is such a petty human emotion and any god worth their salt can't have a petty human emotion.
First of all, I'm always bothered by this sort of behavior. The Bible shows that God or his people don't meet the individuals expectations and they shut down...without ANY further inquiry. I've seen it at least a hundred times. "I like Jesus, but his fan club keep me away"...declares someone who self identifies as an atheist (In my personal dictionary Atheist is described as an agnostic with a grudge...but that's another topic for another day) or "Jesus didn't keep the sabbath so he can't be God let alone holy", or "How can a loving God allow..." These "road blocks" are fairly foreign to me. If something doesn't meet my expectations my first impulse is a minor "revulsion" followed by further inquiry to try and fully understand. So when something minor causes someone to immediately eject the idea...it significantly perplexes me.
Secondly, as our worship leader went on to say, the kind of jealousy the Bible refers to is NOT a petty human emotion. It's not the jealousy that I get when someone gets published before me, or when someone gets a PS4 that I've wanted forever. That kind of jealousy is not warranted and meets no criteria for truly logical behavior. I have no claim on that publishing agent. I have no claim on that PS4, etc. It is a purely emotional response. Let's say that my wife who swore before both God and Men to be mine, to cling only to me through sickness, health, for richer or poorer, suddenly cheated on me and decided to leave me for another man. Would anyone EVER say that my jealousy in that situation was petty or unwarranted? Would anyone ever fault me for burning with jealousy? No. Everyone would say that it was completely understandable and expected.
This jealousy is the closest definition we can come to for Divine Jealousy. If we have pledged our troth, our faith and loyalty, to Him then of course he would be jealous of that. The relationship he calls us into is even deeper than a mortal marriage which only lasts until one partner dies. If my wife flirts with another man I am within my right and compelled to jealousy. How much more when we flirt with other far lesser idols that are daily in our lives.
This dovetailed quite nicely with our pastor's sermon on the supremacy of Jesus that tends to be missing in our lives...which pummeled me into the ground and I'm much the better for it. That may be my next post soon.
Pax,
W
Sunday, May 17, 2015
On Children
I'm up late tonight. Normally I sleep well enough, but my wife offered to make chai and...well, if you've never had my wife's chai let's just say that you are missing out on one of the finer pleasures in life. I forgot, however, that since turning 37 last year my body is processing things like caffeine differently. Once upon a time I was capable of drinking a whole pot of coffee in one sitting and then stretch, yawn, and fall immediately to sleep. Nowadays even a cup of innocent seeming green tea will keep me wired.
I've been reflecting a lot lately on children. Specifically why God gives us children at all. I believe that God's purposes for things in our life are multifaceted and the trick is to catch the flash of divine light off each facet. As such, perpetuation of the species isn't the only reason we have children.
Most obviously, children round our sharp edges. Grandparents are clear evidence of this. Grandparents don't smile only because they get to give the kids back at the end of the visit. They've got the priorities straight. They know, through trial and error...but mostly error, what is and isn't important. Where in their youth they may have freaked out at a furniture scratch, or upholstery stain they realize none of this stuff stays around anyway. Face time, smiles, giggles, cookies, ice cream, loving, and being loved are the things that eternity is made of. When a grandparent raises their voice it's usually for a perfectly good reason. When they stand firm on something they know it's a hill worth fighting on. The younger the parent, generally, the more abundant the "fighting hills" there are.
When we parent we get a much clearer understanding of our own heavenly Father. I can't count the number of times I've said things to my kids and have practically felt the Father nudge me when it applies to my own relationship with him. "Listen, if you could only see what I see then you wouldn't worry about it." "I'm you're Papa. I only want the best for you, and that's why I insist you obey me on these things. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm actually trying to keep you from harm." "You're a part of me, child. How could you imagine that I don't love you?" "I delight in you even when you can't see me watching." "Nothing makes me happier than watching you be exactly who you are."
One of the surprising things has been in the area of relationships. The LORD is pretty sneaky with this one. When I married my wife it would have been very easy for the two of us to just become hermits. We got scolded for being too focused on each other at a few social gatherings. Now, when you marry your best friend and you married her for the right reasons I'm not sure what people expect. She's the most interesting person I know and I love her enough to pledge my life to her so...yeah...surprise! We used to leave Church as soon as the Pastor dismissed. We were quite content with our little "Nation of Two". Kids don't let you do that. Children force you into social situations, force you to stay in them longer, force you to at least try to engage in social interaction and forge relationships. When the Kingdom is made of the very stuff of relationships it shouldn't be too surprising that the LORD finds ways to gradually, lovingly, force us into making them.
Finally, because I've finally burned off the energy from the chai, the perpetual "why?" of a child is more than just information gathering. I can't count the number of times my eldest has questioned me on things and it's made me analyze and then re-analyze just why I believe something. I'm a big proponent of self analysis and consider myself an avid questioner of my beliefs, but it would be a lot more lax of a personal philosophy if it wasn't for my children. The other day my daughter asked me why Christians were being killed over in the middle east. My daughter is so very precious to me beyond just the "cute sweetie" thing. My mother's own way of thinking was "If they're old enough to ask the question they're old enough for the answer" and I've followed that ever since. I explained that because they believe in Jesus and the Bible another group who believes something different thinks it's a crime worthy killing. My daughter's done AWANA and Sunday school, etc. By all accounts she's a "good Christian kid". In that moment, because of her questioning, I realized that maybe she doesn't understand the big "why". Why do we believe what we believe? I already know that my own whys are constantly evolving but her's have barely just begun. She's been given a constant barrage of stories and information, but she'd never actually sad down and read a book of the Bible chapter by chapter. Why do people die for our faith on a daily basis? Why not, as she asked a little later, just lie and say you don't believe and stay alive?
As a result we started in John and have been going through a bit at a time. This is where we get to the truly amazing part of raising children. More than anything we get to go over it all again ourselves. Kids keep us mentally young. They exhaust us mentally and physically, don't get me wrong. But when they see something for the first time we get the chance to fling back to when we were that age seeing it for the first time ourselves. We get the opportunity to remember and get in touch with our most pure self. For me at least the adult stuff, the psych damage from whatever toxic source I allowed unwittingly to damage me, starts to slough off and I remember who I really am at my core. I get to remember what it's like to trust completely and love fiercely, because in the end that's what the Father's called us to and it would be so easy to forget.
Pax,
W
I've been reflecting a lot lately on children. Specifically why God gives us children at all. I believe that God's purposes for things in our life are multifaceted and the trick is to catch the flash of divine light off each facet. As such, perpetuation of the species isn't the only reason we have children.
Most obviously, children round our sharp edges. Grandparents are clear evidence of this. Grandparents don't smile only because they get to give the kids back at the end of the visit. They've got the priorities straight. They know, through trial and error...but mostly error, what is and isn't important. Where in their youth they may have freaked out at a furniture scratch, or upholstery stain they realize none of this stuff stays around anyway. Face time, smiles, giggles, cookies, ice cream, loving, and being loved are the things that eternity is made of. When a grandparent raises their voice it's usually for a perfectly good reason. When they stand firm on something they know it's a hill worth fighting on. The younger the parent, generally, the more abundant the "fighting hills" there are.
When we parent we get a much clearer understanding of our own heavenly Father. I can't count the number of times I've said things to my kids and have practically felt the Father nudge me when it applies to my own relationship with him. "Listen, if you could only see what I see then you wouldn't worry about it." "I'm you're Papa. I only want the best for you, and that's why I insist you obey me on these things. I'm not trying to be mean. I'm actually trying to keep you from harm." "You're a part of me, child. How could you imagine that I don't love you?" "I delight in you even when you can't see me watching." "Nothing makes me happier than watching you be exactly who you are."
One of the surprising things has been in the area of relationships. The LORD is pretty sneaky with this one. When I married my wife it would have been very easy for the two of us to just become hermits. We got scolded for being too focused on each other at a few social gatherings. Now, when you marry your best friend and you married her for the right reasons I'm not sure what people expect. She's the most interesting person I know and I love her enough to pledge my life to her so...yeah...surprise! We used to leave Church as soon as the Pastor dismissed. We were quite content with our little "Nation of Two". Kids don't let you do that. Children force you into social situations, force you to stay in them longer, force you to at least try to engage in social interaction and forge relationships. When the Kingdom is made of the very stuff of relationships it shouldn't be too surprising that the LORD finds ways to gradually, lovingly, force us into making them.
Finally, because I've finally burned off the energy from the chai, the perpetual "why?" of a child is more than just information gathering. I can't count the number of times my eldest has questioned me on things and it's made me analyze and then re-analyze just why I believe something. I'm a big proponent of self analysis and consider myself an avid questioner of my beliefs, but it would be a lot more lax of a personal philosophy if it wasn't for my children. The other day my daughter asked me why Christians were being killed over in the middle east. My daughter is so very precious to me beyond just the "cute sweetie" thing. My mother's own way of thinking was "If they're old enough to ask the question they're old enough for the answer" and I've followed that ever since. I explained that because they believe in Jesus and the Bible another group who believes something different thinks it's a crime worthy killing. My daughter's done AWANA and Sunday school, etc. By all accounts she's a "good Christian kid". In that moment, because of her questioning, I realized that maybe she doesn't understand the big "why". Why do we believe what we believe? I already know that my own whys are constantly evolving but her's have barely just begun. She's been given a constant barrage of stories and information, but she'd never actually sad down and read a book of the Bible chapter by chapter. Why do people die for our faith on a daily basis? Why not, as she asked a little later, just lie and say you don't believe and stay alive?
As a result we started in John and have been going through a bit at a time. This is where we get to the truly amazing part of raising children. More than anything we get to go over it all again ourselves. Kids keep us mentally young. They exhaust us mentally and physically, don't get me wrong. But when they see something for the first time we get the chance to fling back to when we were that age seeing it for the first time ourselves. We get the opportunity to remember and get in touch with our most pure self. For me at least the adult stuff, the psych damage from whatever toxic source I allowed unwittingly to damage me, starts to slough off and I remember who I really am at my core. I get to remember what it's like to trust completely and love fiercely, because in the end that's what the Father's called us to and it would be so easy to forget.
Pax,
W
Monday, April 6, 2015
The General Disclaimer
Hello, my name is Will, often known in my blogs by the single letter W...why? Because names and language are flexible that way.
If this is your first time here, congratulations! I'm an acquired taste and you are one step on the path to acquiring me. Wait. That didn't come out like I hoped. Oh well. I have to prepare you for the journey we're about to go on. Why? Because it's dangerous to go alone. (video game reference necessary to prove that I have geek cred. Achievement unlocked!) Really, it's because I'm often misunderstood or people force their own version of a demon, pariah, heretic, or generally available right wing talk radio host on to me. Language is a sketchy, duplicitous wee beasty on the internet even in the best of times, but doubly so when talking about sensitive topics such as (dun dun DUN!) spiritual matters. If there are any shenanigans, generalizations, or displays of wholesale style ignorant rhetoric I will point the offending parties to this post and the following statement.
I, W, am an evolving being. I question everything because I'm on an honest pursuit of truth. This does mean that I believe that there is absolute truth. It also means, because I am pursuing it, I have not quite gained all the pieces. My opinions and views are, in many ways, changeable. I may make a hugely declarative statement one day and then contradict myself the following day. I question even my most foundational beliefs regularly. I'm willing to entertain views completely counter to my own and may even adopt them if they bear up under scrutiny. The later part is where most fail. My one belief that is non-negotiable is in the Bible's inerrant, divinely inspired nature. I'm a fallible being and I admit my faults regularly. Some of them are pretty huge. They are admitted to help others and myself, not to be used against me.
And finally, there is a difference between judging people and making a judgement call about a person. Explaining the difference is another class altogether.
So, I'll update this as needed, but it's pretty much all you need to know.
Oh...I guess I should explain the name. An oubliette is a secret dungeon with access only through a trap door in the ceiling. It's kind of descriptive of our life on earth. It's pretty opulent and we could stay imprisoned forever if we chose. For those who recognize it for what it is, the only way out is up.
Pax,
W
If this is your first time here, congratulations! I'm an acquired taste and you are one step on the path to acquiring me. Wait. That didn't come out like I hoped. Oh well. I have to prepare you for the journey we're about to go on. Why? Because it's dangerous to go alone. (video game reference necessary to prove that I have geek cred. Achievement unlocked!) Really, it's because I'm often misunderstood or people force their own version of a demon, pariah, heretic, or generally available right wing talk radio host on to me. Language is a sketchy, duplicitous wee beasty on the internet even in the best of times, but doubly so when talking about sensitive topics such as (dun dun DUN!) spiritual matters. If there are any shenanigans, generalizations, or displays of wholesale style ignorant rhetoric I will point the offending parties to this post and the following statement.
I, W, am an evolving being. I question everything because I'm on an honest pursuit of truth. This does mean that I believe that there is absolute truth. It also means, because I am pursuing it, I have not quite gained all the pieces. My opinions and views are, in many ways, changeable. I may make a hugely declarative statement one day and then contradict myself the following day. I question even my most foundational beliefs regularly. I'm willing to entertain views completely counter to my own and may even adopt them if they bear up under scrutiny. The later part is where most fail. My one belief that is non-negotiable is in the Bible's inerrant, divinely inspired nature. I'm a fallible being and I admit my faults regularly. Some of them are pretty huge. They are admitted to help others and myself, not to be used against me.
And finally, there is a difference between judging people and making a judgement call about a person. Explaining the difference is another class altogether.
So, I'll update this as needed, but it's pretty much all you need to know.
Oh...I guess I should explain the name. An oubliette is a secret dungeon with access only through a trap door in the ceiling. It's kind of descriptive of our life on earth. It's pretty opulent and we could stay imprisoned forever if we chose. For those who recognize it for what it is, the only way out is up.
Pax,
W
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