"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
This is the 3rd blog on putting God in a box. The first one condemned the use of techniques to replace God, the second on using God to get what we think we need or want, and this one will focus on the detestableness of trusting technology over God.
Does God need our technology to win the world for His glory? Does He? Now this topic is a fine line, but if our dependence is on things, instead of God and His Holy Spirit, then we have made an idol of the technology and it is detestable. This is important in our day when there is so much technology available that seems to be full of promise and power to accomplish God's will. But are they full of power? NO. The power we are promised in Acts 1:8 NIV is this: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Notice the connection word, and, that connects our reception of the Spirit on us to being Christ's witnesses to the ends of the earth. He is our power. So what I am wanting to do here is call us from TRUSTING technology for anything, to trusting God's Spirit. And then we can properly use technology for God's glory. And if it breaks down, who cares? God's Spirit is NOT LIMITED BY OUR TECHNOLOGY. If you think He is then you are an idolater and need to repent.
I think there is little doubt that often we trust technology of various kinds to solve our problems and accomplish God's purposes. We trust the technology of instruments without which we will have less of a heart to worship God - I know I need my IPod, or "outloud" music to help me find a closeness to God I don't generally find otherwise- but should I? We depend on Powerpoint and microphones to preach our messages (do we spend as much time seeking God in prayer as we do preparing the powerpoint?). We depend on the Jesus film. We depend on email and I-phones to communicate. And all of these can be useful tools. But if you read the list of the armor of God in Ephesians 6, there isn't any technology listed other than God's word. Truth, gospel of peace, righteousness, faith, salvation, sword of the Spirit which is the world of God, prayer. No technology is listed and no technology will defeat the devil for you.
Just as God is not against medicine, I don't think he is against technology per se. But if either become what we trust in, and many trust in both, then they are detestable and idols.
"We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death." 2 Corinthians 1:8-9a NIV So what did Paul do? Did he turn to a consulate? Or the emperor? Did he get soldiers with swords, or build a fortress to protect himself? "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us." 2 Corinthians 1:9b-10a NIV There is no technology to raise the dead. There is God, and Him alone: both the physical dead and the spiritual dead can only be raised by God. "On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." 2 Corinthians 1:10b-11 NIV Our prayers have power ONLY because we pray to the living God who is able to hear and answer us. May we trust in this God who loves us and hears us and answers us for His own glory.
a blog of thoughts on life and faith by K T Mat
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
detestable - day 6 - using God
"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
The issue today deals with viewing God as the vending machine or the one who leads us to greater things than Himself. The reality is that THERE IS NOTHING GREATER THAN GOD HIMSELF.
On detestable -day 4 - I said that, "God is in control and we CANNOT put him in a box. We need Him, and He didn't come here to lead us to someone greater or some more fantastic idea."
John Piper has said that, "God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in Him." God will be glorified, and we can most seek His glory by finding him the most satisfying "thing" we strive for and long for. We do not seek Him to get something else, unless that something else is in him. He is our joy, as David Crowder has sung, and so we seek Him to find joy, but in him. To seek God to get a better job, or more money, or healing, while it may be a place we start with God, he will lead us beyond that. If we stay there, we are functioning as an animist. Animists sometimes seek to appease the spirit world to deal with what plagues them. They may do so by wearing an amulet to ward off an evil spirit. If we seek God just to ward off evil spirits, then in some way he has become a type of amulet for us. We cannot stay there. Obviously there will be times we need him to send away and defeat evil spirits in our lives, and he is the only one who can (our status as his children give us authority that comes from him that we exert when we command evil spirits "in the name of Jesus"). But if we constantly only turn to him as the solver of our problems, if we just use him to "get" peace and etc, how are we treating him differently than an animist? But to find joy itself in God himself is a different thing. Then we are exalting that which is worthy, God himself, and not using him, but finding completion in him. He is the end. Francis Schaeffer has said, "It is not that there is a moral absolute behind God that binds man and God, because that which is farthest back is always finally God. Rather, it is God Himself and His character who is the moral absolute of the universe." from He is There and He is not Silent. As we search for one thing that leads to a better thing, etc, or for a truth that leads to deeper truth, we end at God himself. He is not the way to a higher thing or greater this or that, he is the end of our search. So if we are searching for joy, ultimately it is God himself. He is life, hope, joy, freedom, etc, all ideas that find there fulfillment and reality in God. And so it is for Him we search.
Sometimes in our philosophical posturing or in trying to construe an idea from scripture that is sort of says, we venture into this form of using God. We value to ideas or systematic theology or philosophy we created more than we value God himself. We feel content because we think we can fit ideas of God or his word into some understandable form.
I think it will be difficult for some of you to see that you do this, that you use God. So let me ask some questions that might ferret this out.
What do you think more about, a) statements men have made about God, or b) what he says in his word?
What makes you more glad, a) communing with God or b) a hearty philosophical discussion?
Do you worry more that a) you might lack some agreement with a confession or summary of theology, or b) that you don't make disciples or seek the face of God enough?
Do you pray about a) all kinds of things at many times, or do you mainly pray b) when things are bad?
Do you a) balance your prayer life with praise and worship and thanks, or b) do you mainly pray to get things from God?
If your answers were clearly a, b, a, b, b- you are more at a place of using God. Be honest, there is no point in justifying yourself. Jesus knows who we are. He wants to change us. The key to me is asking God to make Himself the focus of our thoughts and desires. Colossians 3:1-4 NIV "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things, for you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." Our hearts and minds are set above (not a on a generic heaven, but "where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." It is where Christ is. Earlier in Colossians a wonderful passage says the following: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Colossians 2:6-10 NIV So what fills our waking thoughts and heart, our desires and longings? Ideas about God, ideas from mankind? Politics? Or God himself? The glory of God and his greatness? The mercy and grace of God?
Oh, God, cause your people to worship you and find in you their longing and fulfilment, their glory and wonder, the end of all their seeking and searching.
The issue today deals with viewing God as the vending machine or the one who leads us to greater things than Himself. The reality is that THERE IS NOTHING GREATER THAN GOD HIMSELF.
On detestable -day 4 - I said that, "God is in control and we CANNOT put him in a box. We need Him, and He didn't come here to lead us to someone greater or some more fantastic idea."
John Piper has said that, "God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in Him." God will be glorified, and we can most seek His glory by finding him the most satisfying "thing" we strive for and long for. We do not seek Him to get something else, unless that something else is in him. He is our joy, as David Crowder has sung, and so we seek Him to find joy, but in him. To seek God to get a better job, or more money, or healing, while it may be a place we start with God, he will lead us beyond that. If we stay there, we are functioning as an animist. Animists sometimes seek to appease the spirit world to deal with what plagues them. They may do so by wearing an amulet to ward off an evil spirit. If we seek God just to ward off evil spirits, then in some way he has become a type of amulet for us. We cannot stay there. Obviously there will be times we need him to send away and defeat evil spirits in our lives, and he is the only one who can (our status as his children give us authority that comes from him that we exert when we command evil spirits "in the name of Jesus"). But if we constantly only turn to him as the solver of our problems, if we just use him to "get" peace and etc, how are we treating him differently than an animist? But to find joy itself in God himself is a different thing. Then we are exalting that which is worthy, God himself, and not using him, but finding completion in him. He is the end. Francis Schaeffer has said, "It is not that there is a moral absolute behind God that binds man and God, because that which is farthest back is always finally God. Rather, it is God Himself and His character who is the moral absolute of the universe." from He is There and He is not Silent. As we search for one thing that leads to a better thing, etc, or for a truth that leads to deeper truth, we end at God himself. He is not the way to a higher thing or greater this or that, he is the end of our search. So if we are searching for joy, ultimately it is God himself. He is life, hope, joy, freedom, etc, all ideas that find there fulfillment and reality in God. And so it is for Him we search.
Sometimes in our philosophical posturing or in trying to construe an idea from scripture that is sort of says, we venture into this form of using God. We value to ideas or systematic theology or philosophy we created more than we value God himself. We feel content because we think we can fit ideas of God or his word into some understandable form.
I think it will be difficult for some of you to see that you do this, that you use God. So let me ask some questions that might ferret this out.
What do you think more about, a) statements men have made about God, or b) what he says in his word?
What makes you more glad, a) communing with God or b) a hearty philosophical discussion?
Do you worry more that a) you might lack some agreement with a confession or summary of theology, or b) that you don't make disciples or seek the face of God enough?
Do you pray about a) all kinds of things at many times, or do you mainly pray b) when things are bad?
Do you a) balance your prayer life with praise and worship and thanks, or b) do you mainly pray to get things from God?
If your answers were clearly a, b, a, b, b- you are more at a place of using God. Be honest, there is no point in justifying yourself. Jesus knows who we are. He wants to change us. The key to me is asking God to make Himself the focus of our thoughts and desires. Colossians 3:1-4 NIV "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things, for you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." Our hearts and minds are set above (not a on a generic heaven, but "where Christ is seated at the right hand of God." It is where Christ is. Earlier in Colossians a wonderful passage says the following: "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority." Colossians 2:6-10 NIV So what fills our waking thoughts and heart, our desires and longings? Ideas about God, ideas from mankind? Politics? Or God himself? The glory of God and his greatness? The mercy and grace of God?
Oh, God, cause your people to worship you and find in you their longing and fulfilment, their glory and wonder, the end of all their seeking and searching.
Friday, July 13, 2012
detestable - day 5 - while we were sinners He loves us
May we always be reminded that however detestable our thoughts or actions or worldview may have become, or whatever is in our hearts, or if we are the worst of sinners and rebels against God our creator, Jesus wants to save us, and has paid the highest cost to do so. He loves us. Let him embrace you in his love. "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 NIV
How He Loves - by David Crowder
Most of All - by Glenn Kaiser
Thursday, July 12, 2012
detestable - day 4 - putting God in a box
"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
Controlling God - manipulating God - overdefining God - God as the vending machine
There are many sides to this issue, and so I will talk about it in 2 or 3 posts here. It is one of the most despicable and detestable ways we demean and dishonor our creator.
One of the particular ways I have seen this expressed is the way in which we try to make God into the one who honors our techniques. "If we just say the prayer this way, God will be pleased and will answer." "If you just start with this question and then go on to that verse then you won't have fear in evangelism." "If you just have a quiet time every day, things will be better for you." "If you just replace that bad thought with these good ones you won't have issues." "If you just say a positive word, God will honor that and agree to it." It is a way of saying to God that we don't really need him eminently present, but we can manipulate him or the situation or the spiritual world by a technique, and all will be well. I realized at one point in the recent past that I had never really been told clearly to rely on the Holy Spirit in evangelism, but I had always looked for this or that or the other technique on how to share my faith. But Acts 1 makes it very clear that we need the Holy Spirit for the power to be God's witnesses. NOT a technique, not a Bible verse, but God's Spirit. Now relying on a technique is different from relying on a promise of God. Or should be. Promises are words God has spoken that He plans to back up, not clever ideas we have come up with that we try to hold God to. There can be a fine line, and it is one of the reasons we must be very careful when interpreting God's word.
The evangelical world is OBSESSED with writing clever ideas, with finding principles to live by, with finding the next great A, B, C program that will solve all our problems. Well, I have news for us: we are not going to find anything in this search other than dust. What we need is God Himself to invade our lives and thoughts and lead us to Himself, and to enable us to overcome in the struggles we have. This obsession is UNGODLY and wrong; it is believing in the ability of man to overcome. Basically, it is humanism. I am not saying that God's word provides no principles, but fundamentally that is NOT what scripture is- it is God's story of redeeming humanity to bring Himself glory and to bring blessing to all peoples and to Himself. Scripture is truth, but we get on shaky ground pretty quickly when we think we can easily identify IDEAS based on scriptural truth that will guide us; we need God's Spirit to guide us. We are told HE will guide us into all truth in John 16. In John 14 and 16 we see Jesus pointing to the comforter as the one who would guide us, not ideas, or techniques, but the living 3rd person of the trinity. CS Lewis said through his Chronicles of Narnia, and I agree, that God doesn't do things the same way twice. Reading the scriptures much, this seems pretty clear. Did I just derive an idea? Yes, I suppose, but it is the anti-control idea: God is in control and we CANNOT put him in a box. We need Him, and He didn't come here to lead us to someone greater or some more fantastic idea, but more on that next time.
Again, let me say, that God did give us His word, and he does say that it is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Tim 3:16b-17 But this is GOD'S WORD ITSELF. God's Spirit uses God's word to correct us, to rebuke us, to train us, to teach us. God's word doesn't lead to something else that is better- some technique or idea, some philosophy. God's word leads us to Jesus. In John 5:39 NIV Jesus said: "You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about be, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." When we think that scripture is given for some reason other than leading us to God, to Jesus, to know and fellowship and walk with HIM, we are confused about what it is for.
And when we try to control God with these things or manipulate him or the spirit world by them, it is detestable. It is a form of idolotry, to make God into some manageable idea or technique we can control.
I'll end with a poem:
Controlling God - manipulating God - overdefining God - God as the vending machine
There are many sides to this issue, and so I will talk about it in 2 or 3 posts here. It is one of the most despicable and detestable ways we demean and dishonor our creator.
One of the particular ways I have seen this expressed is the way in which we try to make God into the one who honors our techniques. "If we just say the prayer this way, God will be pleased and will answer." "If you just start with this question and then go on to that verse then you won't have fear in evangelism." "If you just have a quiet time every day, things will be better for you." "If you just replace that bad thought with these good ones you won't have issues." "If you just say a positive word, God will honor that and agree to it." It is a way of saying to God that we don't really need him eminently present, but we can manipulate him or the situation or the spiritual world by a technique, and all will be well. I realized at one point in the recent past that I had never really been told clearly to rely on the Holy Spirit in evangelism, but I had always looked for this or that or the other technique on how to share my faith. But Acts 1 makes it very clear that we need the Holy Spirit for the power to be God's witnesses. NOT a technique, not a Bible verse, but God's Spirit. Now relying on a technique is different from relying on a promise of God. Or should be. Promises are words God has spoken that He plans to back up, not clever ideas we have come up with that we try to hold God to. There can be a fine line, and it is one of the reasons we must be very careful when interpreting God's word.
The evangelical world is OBSESSED with writing clever ideas, with finding principles to live by, with finding the next great A, B, C program that will solve all our problems. Well, I have news for us: we are not going to find anything in this search other than dust. What we need is God Himself to invade our lives and thoughts and lead us to Himself, and to enable us to overcome in the struggles we have. This obsession is UNGODLY and wrong; it is believing in the ability of man to overcome. Basically, it is humanism. I am not saying that God's word provides no principles, but fundamentally that is NOT what scripture is- it is God's story of redeeming humanity to bring Himself glory and to bring blessing to all peoples and to Himself. Scripture is truth, but we get on shaky ground pretty quickly when we think we can easily identify IDEAS based on scriptural truth that will guide us; we need God's Spirit to guide us. We are told HE will guide us into all truth in John 16. In John 14 and 16 we see Jesus pointing to the comforter as the one who would guide us, not ideas, or techniques, but the living 3rd person of the trinity. CS Lewis said through his Chronicles of Narnia, and I agree, that God doesn't do things the same way twice. Reading the scriptures much, this seems pretty clear. Did I just derive an idea? Yes, I suppose, but it is the anti-control idea: God is in control and we CANNOT put him in a box. We need Him, and He didn't come here to lead us to someone greater or some more fantastic idea, but more on that next time.
Again, let me say, that God did give us His word, and he does say that it is "useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Tim 3:16b-17 But this is GOD'S WORD ITSELF. God's Spirit uses God's word to correct us, to rebuke us, to train us, to teach us. God's word doesn't lead to something else that is better- some technique or idea, some philosophy. God's word leads us to Jesus. In John 5:39 NIV Jesus said: "You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about be, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." When we think that scripture is given for some reason other than leading us to God, to Jesus, to know and fellowship and walk with HIM, we are confused about what it is for.
And when we try to control God with these things or manipulate him or the spirit world by them, it is detestable. It is a form of idolotry, to make God into some manageable idea or technique we can control.
I'll end with a poem:
"I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.
Not enough or explode my soul or disturb my sleep,
But just enough to equal a cup of warm milk, or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man, or pick beets with a migrant worker.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy three pounds of God, please."–Wilbur Reese
Yes, God finds this detestable.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
detestable - day 3 - time time time
"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
This is somewhat of a difficult topic, and because the scriptures don't deal a lot with this issue directly, it can be harder to see the evil in our approach to time. But I do think at least some of how we approach time is something God finds detestable. Perhaps you are sneering at me right now, just as the Pharisees were at Jesus when he said you could not serve God and money. Well, you cannot serve God and time, either. God will have no rivals; NONE. He alone is worthy of glory and honor and praise, and what he deems as good is good. People, for one, are more important than time. The first two commandments upon which all the law and the prophets hang is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Ummm, time is not mentioned there. We are not to love God and our neighbor when it is convenient. But in America, that is largely what we do. I think perhaps the primary way in which we idolize time here is by seeking first the career we most prefer in the time fashion we deem best, rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Why are our worship services so tied to time here? Because the worship of time we have in other areas has clearly determined what we do in our worship of God. Do we never see the transcendent greatness of God to the extent we cannot leave our time of worship? Are we never in awe such that we forget time and are drawn into closeness with God? Having travelled a little bit, and from what I hear from at least some other places in the world, it is good to know not the whole world has these issues. But Americans do, and it is time we repent.
In American culture, time is worshipped. Being on time is goodness, and being late is badness. It can get you fired from work, it is seen as impolite, and you can be sure you will miss something because no one is really waited on (very often) when they are late. This is something HIGHLY valued among mankind, at least in America, and probably a few other western nations, and when it comes at odds with what God values, our service of time becomes detestable. Certainly things beyond ones control are accepted as excuses, but nothing as "lame" (to an American) as the need to spend time with someone who happened to show up. Americans are OBSESSED with time, to the point of lunacy. This is THE lesson ALL American school students are taught EVERY day- be on time to class and if you are not, and are tardy, you are in trouble. Students might be kept after school for being late in what is called detention; or perhaps this will occur at lunch. With enough tardies a student might be given a suspension where they are not allowed to come to school. So, the school sees that it is correct to make the student miss something after school for being late to enough classes, or the student to miss school itself for enough lateness to classes. Yes, we really do believe in punishment in American schools for tardiness. I'm talking 5 seconds late to class. I enforced this as a teacher. My question is why? Why are we SO obsessed with time in this way? It ties to our views of work, and orderliness, and our "get it done" attitude. It ties to the value of making money, and a saying like "time is money." We have watches on our hands and clocks in practically every room of the house. We wake up to alarms (unnatural ones, not the chickens for most of us), and go to bed as scheduled (most of the time for working people, anyway).
There is a good side to time, such as being aware of how long an anaesthetic will keep a person asleep, or knowing how long it takes for the body to break down a drug, and hence the time before you can take another dose. When time serves us or is used in the service of people, it is a good thing. That is when we are loving God with our minds, by thinking clearly about what will help people and serve them, and not put them in chains or harm them.
Jesus said, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 A similar passage that speaks to our over desire to plan is found in James 4:13-17 NIV "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." What God condemns here is not planning, but not submitting those plans really and truly to the will of God. This is probably the main American abuse of time, and where God finds our view and use of time detestable. There are just some realities that are more important than time, such as loving God enough to put His will above our plans and to trust Him enough that if our plans don't work out in our time, it is okay.
Remember when Jesus said that if you were presenting your gift at the altar and remembered your brother had something against you that you should leave the gift and fix your relationship with your brother? How many of us would do that because of concerns over time issues?
Time should just not dictate all that it does. Where it is a useful tool, by all means we should use it for good ends. But where we end up serving it, or putting our relationships, particularly with God, into the servitude of time, that is detestable.
This will take courage and a willingness to change a lot about American society if we truly do repent of our worship of time, but it will be worth it, and we will have a richer society and culture for the change.
This is somewhat of a difficult topic, and because the scriptures don't deal a lot with this issue directly, it can be harder to see the evil in our approach to time. But I do think at least some of how we approach time is something God finds detestable. Perhaps you are sneering at me right now, just as the Pharisees were at Jesus when he said you could not serve God and money. Well, you cannot serve God and time, either. God will have no rivals; NONE. He alone is worthy of glory and honor and praise, and what he deems as good is good. People, for one, are more important than time. The first two commandments upon which all the law and the prophets hang is to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Ummm, time is not mentioned there. We are not to love God and our neighbor when it is convenient. But in America, that is largely what we do. I think perhaps the primary way in which we idolize time here is by seeking first the career we most prefer in the time fashion we deem best, rather than seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Why are our worship services so tied to time here? Because the worship of time we have in other areas has clearly determined what we do in our worship of God. Do we never see the transcendent greatness of God to the extent we cannot leave our time of worship? Are we never in awe such that we forget time and are drawn into closeness with God? Having travelled a little bit, and from what I hear from at least some other places in the world, it is good to know not the whole world has these issues. But Americans do, and it is time we repent.
In American culture, time is worshipped. Being on time is goodness, and being late is badness. It can get you fired from work, it is seen as impolite, and you can be sure you will miss something because no one is really waited on (very often) when they are late. This is something HIGHLY valued among mankind, at least in America, and probably a few other western nations, and when it comes at odds with what God values, our service of time becomes detestable. Certainly things beyond ones control are accepted as excuses, but nothing as "lame" (to an American) as the need to spend time with someone who happened to show up. Americans are OBSESSED with time, to the point of lunacy. This is THE lesson ALL American school students are taught EVERY day- be on time to class and if you are not, and are tardy, you are in trouble. Students might be kept after school for being late in what is called detention; or perhaps this will occur at lunch. With enough tardies a student might be given a suspension where they are not allowed to come to school. So, the school sees that it is correct to make the student miss something after school for being late to enough classes, or the student to miss school itself for enough lateness to classes. Yes, we really do believe in punishment in American schools for tardiness. I'm talking 5 seconds late to class. I enforced this as a teacher. My question is why? Why are we SO obsessed with time in this way? It ties to our views of work, and orderliness, and our "get it done" attitude. It ties to the value of making money, and a saying like "time is money." We have watches on our hands and clocks in practically every room of the house. We wake up to alarms (unnatural ones, not the chickens for most of us), and go to bed as scheduled (most of the time for working people, anyway).
There is a good side to time, such as being aware of how long an anaesthetic will keep a person asleep, or knowing how long it takes for the body to break down a drug, and hence the time before you can take another dose. When time serves us or is used in the service of people, it is a good thing. That is when we are loving God with our minds, by thinking clearly about what will help people and serve them, and not put them in chains or harm them.
Jesus said, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34 A similar passage that speaks to our over desire to plan is found in James 4:13-17 NIV "Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." What God condemns here is not planning, but not submitting those plans really and truly to the will of God. This is probably the main American abuse of time, and where God finds our view and use of time detestable. There are just some realities that are more important than time, such as loving God enough to put His will above our plans and to trust Him enough that if our plans don't work out in our time, it is okay.
Remember when Jesus said that if you were presenting your gift at the altar and remembered your brother had something against you that you should leave the gift and fix your relationship with your brother? How many of us would do that because of concerns over time issues?
Time should just not dictate all that it does. Where it is a useful tool, by all means we should use it for good ends. But where we end up serving it, or putting our relationships, particularly with God, into the servitude of time, that is detestable.
This will take courage and a willingness to change a lot about American society if we truly do repent of our worship of time, but it will be worth it, and we will have a richer society and culture for the change.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
detestable - day 2 - the praise of people
"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15 NIV
Listen to Jesus' exchange with some Pharisees: "I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have God's love in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" John 5:41-44 NIV
This sums up much of our self worship and adulation and seeking of praise from others. People come in their own quirkiness and accomplishments and we readily praise and love them. Jesus saves the world and so many give him no second thought. I didn't, until he revealed himself to me, including in a dream at age 18. I thought he was a crutch for people. I found out he is so much more. We accept and look for praise from one another; it is HIGHLY valued among people. This is what the whole stardom thing is about. I would argue to some degree it is what posting for many people on Facebook is about. We want to be viewed as clever, or cute, or ironic, or outrageous; basically we want to be noticed. Now obviously I use Facebook, and I want people to read my posts or go on to read my blogs, etc. But God willing, I have not made myself an idol I worship and hope you notice. We want to see how many hits on Youtube we can get. We want viral videos. We want to be rock stars, so we invent TV shows looking for the next one. We have magazines that follow the lives of the "stars" so we can vicariously partake of their life; if only we had their praise. We want to touch stars so we can say we have been with greatness; to somehow get near someone who has received the praise of men, to be near an idol. We want their autograph. Then, we ourselves, want Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame. And in doing so, we make ourselves into idols looking for the praise of our fellow human beings.
The problem isn't wanting exposure, it's in wanting the praise of others. To the detriment of God's praise of us. That's why Jesus would not accept the praise of men. He did, at times, receive the praise of men, but not to the detriment of His Father's praise. He was willing to have people "hosanna" him into Jerusalem, but he was also willing to have them yell, "Crucify, crucify" soon thereafter, at the bidding of his Father. That's where we hedge. Because this praise has to do with making ourselves into idols.
Jesus taught his disciples to go into a room by themselves when they pray, and not to pray for others to notice. If they did the latter, the only answer they or we will get is that the others noticed. Maybe we impressed them; we got the praise of people. No, we should go into a room by ourselves and seek God's pleasure of us, and then God will reward us. Maybe this puts this all in the right frame: don't live your existence here for others to notice you, or praise you, but live your time here for God to take pleasure in you, live before Him alone. Then He will reward you.
Listen to this story about a man who couldn't refuse his dinner guests: "Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife, for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her." Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet. On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said: "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison." Matthew 14:3-10 NIV In Mark we read this that gives more light on the situation: "For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him." Mark 6:17-20 NIV
So really it was Herodias that wanted John dead, and Herod was probably some hurt by his preaching, too, but we see that he had actually been protecting John. He probably knew he was right; why else consider him righteous? Herod was drawn to John. But in the situation, he said something he was unwilling to take back in front of his dinner guests, even at the cost of a man's life. That is the worship of the praise of men. We see in the first passage how he was also afraid of the people, and that he did want to kill John, but wouldn't due to the people. Herod lives his time here in complete obedience to the praise and whims of those around him.
This is something God detests: looking for the praise of people, to the exclusion of God's voice. His voice should be paramount to us, and if we happen to receive praise, then we do. But if people say "Crucify", we bear that, too, for the glory of the only praise that matters: God's praise. "Well done, you good and faithful servant."
"We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience." 2 Corinthians 5: 7-11 NIV
Listen to Jesus' exchange with some Pharisees: "I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have God's love in your hearts. I have come in my Father's name and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" John 5:41-44 NIV
This sums up much of our self worship and adulation and seeking of praise from others. People come in their own quirkiness and accomplishments and we readily praise and love them. Jesus saves the world and so many give him no second thought. I didn't, until he revealed himself to me, including in a dream at age 18. I thought he was a crutch for people. I found out he is so much more. We accept and look for praise from one another; it is HIGHLY valued among people. This is what the whole stardom thing is about. I would argue to some degree it is what posting for many people on Facebook is about. We want to be viewed as clever, or cute, or ironic, or outrageous; basically we want to be noticed. Now obviously I use Facebook, and I want people to read my posts or go on to read my blogs, etc. But God willing, I have not made myself an idol I worship and hope you notice. We want to see how many hits on Youtube we can get. We want viral videos. We want to be rock stars, so we invent TV shows looking for the next one. We have magazines that follow the lives of the "stars" so we can vicariously partake of their life; if only we had their praise. We want to touch stars so we can say we have been with greatness; to somehow get near someone who has received the praise of men, to be near an idol. We want their autograph. Then, we ourselves, want Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame. And in doing so, we make ourselves into idols looking for the praise of our fellow human beings.
The problem isn't wanting exposure, it's in wanting the praise of others. To the detriment of God's praise of us. That's why Jesus would not accept the praise of men. He did, at times, receive the praise of men, but not to the detriment of His Father's praise. He was willing to have people "hosanna" him into Jerusalem, but he was also willing to have them yell, "Crucify, crucify" soon thereafter, at the bidding of his Father. That's where we hedge. Because this praise has to do with making ourselves into idols.
Jesus taught his disciples to go into a room by themselves when they pray, and not to pray for others to notice. If they did the latter, the only answer they or we will get is that the others noticed. Maybe we impressed them; we got the praise of people. No, we should go into a room by ourselves and seek God's pleasure of us, and then God will reward us. Maybe this puts this all in the right frame: don't live your existence here for others to notice you, or praise you, but live your time here for God to take pleasure in you, live before Him alone. Then He will reward you.
Listen to this story about a man who couldn't refuse his dinner guests: "Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife, for John had been saying to him: "It is not lawful for you to have her." Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet. On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said: "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist." The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in prison." Matthew 14:3-10 NIV In Mark we read this that gives more light on the situation: "For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Phillip's wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him." Mark 6:17-20 NIV
So really it was Herodias that wanted John dead, and Herod was probably some hurt by his preaching, too, but we see that he had actually been protecting John. He probably knew he was right; why else consider him righteous? Herod was drawn to John. But in the situation, he said something he was unwilling to take back in front of his dinner guests, even at the cost of a man's life. That is the worship of the praise of men. We see in the first passage how he was also afraid of the people, and that he did want to kill John, but wouldn't due to the people. Herod lives his time here in complete obedience to the praise and whims of those around him.
This is something God detests: looking for the praise of people, to the exclusion of God's voice. His voice should be paramount to us, and if we happen to receive praise, then we do. But if people say "Crucify", we bear that, too, for the glory of the only praise that matters: God's praise. "Well done, you good and faithful servant."
"We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience." 2 Corinthians 5: 7-11 NIV
Monday, July 9, 2012
detestable day 1
"He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke: 16:15
I don't know about you, but this is a highly frightening, or powerful verse. There are so many things we highly value, and take for granted, and don't think much about that we put high value on, and God detests them. WOE. Woe is us. And we will certainly try to justify the goodness of whatever we are onto or into, but God knows the truth. He sees past our justifications.
I don't think Jesus is saying that anything we find value in is wrong, but what men in general together find of high value, without their creator, God detests.
So I think we will start looking at some of these 1 day at a time. What is something highly valued among men, that they value apart from their creator?
We will start with something obvious. Greed and the love of money. Oh yes, mankind values this above almost all things. We believe in America we should have as much of this as possible, in the form of cars, and extravagant houses, and bigger, and more, to no end. We generally believe what Gordon Gecko said in the movie Wall Street, that "Greed is good." We view the rich as blessed, and the poor as cursed. We believe that to solve problems you must have money. And the more money you have, your problems are solved.
Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, " and "What does it profit a man to gain the world and forfeit his soul?"
The particular context for the passage we started with is Jesus telling a parable related to earthly wealth and then ending with, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the one who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly values among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke 16:13-15
I think it will be particularly hard for American Christians reading this to be honest about our love of money.
Do we think we CAN serve God and money? Not in theory perhaps, or we wouldn't say that, but in practice we try to. Our lives are generally oriented around money and what it buys and does for us. We do not view money as simply a tool that serves the way of living we choose for the Kingdom of God. We let money dictate the way of living we choose, and then try to throw God's kingdom on top of that. This passage from 1 Timothy 6:9-10 NIV is us: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." THAT is God's perspective on the love of money and what it does to people. Remember Jesus parable of the soils in Mark 4? Mark 4:18-19 NIV: "Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." The deceitfulness of wealth. It deceives us.
The love of money has become for many the guiding factor in their lives. It tells them what to want and desire. It guides them. Wealth deceives them. Hmmmm. Sounds like a god to me. And that is what Colossians says about greed: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5 NIV So this whole thing has to do with idols and serving a false god, which is probably what Jesus was getting at. God will have NO rivals, including money. Because it seems clear from scripture that God does NOT condemn money itself, or even riches. "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." 1 Timothy 6:17-18 NIV
So if our stance is we love wealth, we long for wealth and riches, we want to get rich, and we hope in wealth to solve our problems, we are the one with the problem. It is called idolatry, and the living God is against us and will bring judgement upon us.
But if we trust in God, and put our hope in God to solve our problems, and see God who provides for us (and not money), then we are in a good place. 1 Timothy 6:19 goes on to say: "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Just as Jesus said: "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
So this is something God detests: the love of money, and greed.
Are we seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and allowing money to fall out where God provides along with all these things we need? Or are we seeking all these things we need and hoping it happens that somehow we can seek God's kingdom along the way, too? Or perhaps you are in a place where you don't even care about God's kingdom. What will it profit you if you lose your soul while seeking riches?
I don't know about you, but this is a highly frightening, or powerful verse. There are so many things we highly value, and take for granted, and don't think much about that we put high value on, and God detests them. WOE. Woe is us. And we will certainly try to justify the goodness of whatever we are onto or into, but God knows the truth. He sees past our justifications.
I don't think Jesus is saying that anything we find value in is wrong, but what men in general together find of high value, without their creator, God detests.
So I think we will start looking at some of these 1 day at a time. What is something highly valued among men, that they value apart from their creator?
We will start with something obvious. Greed and the love of money. Oh yes, mankind values this above almost all things. We believe in America we should have as much of this as possible, in the form of cars, and extravagant houses, and bigger, and more, to no end. We generally believe what Gordon Gecko said in the movie Wall Street, that "Greed is good." We view the rich as blessed, and the poor as cursed. We believe that to solve problems you must have money. And the more money you have, your problems are solved.
Jesus said, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions, " and "What does it profit a man to gain the world and forfeit his soul?"
The particular context for the passage we started with is Jesus telling a parable related to earthly wealth and then ending with, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the one who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly values among men is detestable in God's sight."" Luke 16:13-15
I think it will be particularly hard for American Christians reading this to be honest about our love of money.
Do we think we CAN serve God and money? Not in theory perhaps, or we wouldn't say that, but in practice we try to. Our lives are generally oriented around money and what it buys and does for us. We do not view money as simply a tool that serves the way of living we choose for the Kingdom of God. We let money dictate the way of living we choose, and then try to throw God's kingdom on top of that. This passage from 1 Timothy 6:9-10 NIV is us: "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." THAT is God's perspective on the love of money and what it does to people. Remember Jesus parable of the soils in Mark 4? Mark 4:18-19 NIV: "Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." The deceitfulness of wealth. It deceives us.
The love of money has become for many the guiding factor in their lives. It tells them what to want and desire. It guides them. Wealth deceives them. Hmmmm. Sounds like a god to me. And that is what Colossians says about greed: "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry." Col. 3:5 NIV So this whole thing has to do with idols and serving a false god, which is probably what Jesus was getting at. God will have NO rivals, including money. Because it seems clear from scripture that God does NOT condemn money itself, or even riches. "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share." 1 Timothy 6:17-18 NIV
So if our stance is we love wealth, we long for wealth and riches, we want to get rich, and we hope in wealth to solve our problems, we are the one with the problem. It is called idolatry, and the living God is against us and will bring judgement upon us.
But if we trust in God, and put our hope in God to solve our problems, and see God who provides for us (and not money), then we are in a good place. 1 Timothy 6:19 goes on to say: "In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Just as Jesus said: "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
So this is something God detests: the love of money, and greed.
Are we seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and allowing money to fall out where God provides along with all these things we need? Or are we seeking all these things we need and hoping it happens that somehow we can seek God's kingdom along the way, too? Or perhaps you are in a place where you don't even care about God's kingdom. What will it profit you if you lose your soul while seeking riches?
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Can life be found in the red rubber ball?
Where is life found?
In America, important topics like life and death and meaning and purpose are hard to talk about. Everyone has his or her own viewpoint and we try to respect that. But sometimes we differ and we don’t like to offend our friends. So I offer this little essay to my friends to hear a bit of my personal journey of discovery where it can be read in quietness and thought. I hope you will simply hear it as the discovery of a friend and consider what I say. Some things are too important to keep to ourselves.
A few years ago I heard a man talk about his “little red rubber ball.” He was creating a metaphor for searching and finding meaning in the little red ball he had chased as a boy on a playground. That ball had pointed to his athletic ability, and to what was most important to him. The metaphor is powerful because it says we should follow our dreams, the things that really make us come alive, wherever they take us. In his words, “Once you find it, you must follow it, and that takes courage, strength, and imagination”
Much of my life I have tried to pursue life by how well I got through a day or how much I enjoyed what I was doing in my life, by the use of my wits and my ability to explain hard things in a simple way. But I have come to the place where I know this is fruitless and has not satisfied who I find myself to be in a deep way. I have come to see that things or vocation or time or even pleasures cannot be my little red rubber ball, nor anything that is only of temporary existence. I know I am made for more than that. These things just do not fulfill. What if maybe all this is looking for and at “life” in a fundamentally wrong way? What if life cannot be found in day to day existence, and really isn’t about making it through another day, or having our heart beat for another year, or even in finding out what we do best or are really skilled at? Maybe life really isn’t just our biological existence, and the ways we make that tolerable or interesting. So where then do we find a life that is actually life?
If the universe is fundamentally impersonal, then why should we expect life to be found anywhere at all? I don’t think, in the case of a cold and empty universe where all there is is physical matter, that life can be found. How could it be? My “life” would just be existence for a mere 70 to 80 years and then back to dust. No matter how interesting or eventful my existence was, that would be the fundamental thing. Life would be simply prolonged death, and there is no meaning. But what if? What if the universe is fundamentally personal? What if a personal but infinitely powerful being made this universe and calls us into personal fellowship or friendship with himself as the fundamental thing life is? Then that would mean that all the searching for purpose and meaning and “life” in the impersonal, in things or existence or physical pleasure, whatever I can do and muster up, was searching in all the wrong places. These things I have known, and I have believed that knowing my creator was very important. But the new idea, is that He Himself is life.
The right to place to search would be in the realm of the personal, the realm of the creator who is personal. This is what I now believe life is. It is not existence biologically, no matter how interesting or extravagant that existence is. It is friendship with the one who is the personal core or center of this universe: its creator. Many years ago I was approached by this creator to start a friendship, but it has taken many years for me to realize that He did not want to make my “life” better or easier or more satisfying. He wanted to become my life itself.
Now for some of you, you may not agree with me when I say that Jesus is the answer to this question (and I am going to talk about him some more in this). But I have found that He is. I didn’t believe that growing up, and even for many years as his follower, I didn’t get that he himself is life. So if that is where you are at, I would encourage you to read the New testament for starters (start with the book of John) to check out who Jesus is and what he has said and done.
Jesus Christ said that eternal life is to know this one true God, and himself, who had been sent by God. Life is found in the personal creator God. Jesus also said that if we heard his words and believed the one who had sent Him, we had crossed over from death to life. Fundamentally we are dead apart from knowing Him. But we are also alive when we hear him and begin to believe him and to have a friendship with him.
I am not saying that life is anything about becoming religious, joining a church or synagogue, giving money to poor people, or becoming a good person. Those won’t make dead people come alive. But the person who holds the power of life and death can. And He wants to. And he says that life is in knowing him. Jesus said He had come to give us life, and to the full. And he gives it through Himself.
Jesus gave himself for us in this world and he took away the cause of our alienation from his Father, the guilt of our evil that is a very part of our natural selves. Not guilt feelings, but actual guilt because of wrong choices and actions and motives. We see this spring up often, in the lies we tell to protect ourselves and in the desires we have to advance at others’ expense. We see it in the self centered nature of our existence where we primarily protect our own existence and in the lack of concern we have over our creator’s desire to be loved by us. It permeates us. So does a specialness, no doubt. We have a sense that we are special and valuable and worthy. But that does not negate the fact that we have fallen short in many ways of what we know we should be. We can pretend we are fundamentally good, but we know better when we are alone and realize we don’t have friendship with our creator just because we might wish to. And so, as the basic biblical message says that we come to God on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus in history, it is because his sacrifice of His life is the real sacrifice that makes us friends with God in light of the wrong we have done. This sacrifice took away our guilt. Again, this is our true guilt because of evil, not just guilt feelings. Jesus did this so we could know Him and find life in Him. “He died for us, so that…we might live together with him.” He also was raised from the dead, and therefore we can know him now.
Again, I am not saying that being someone who knows Jesus is about being a good person or a church person or someone who helps the poor, although at least some of Jesus’ followers these days do things like that. Someone who knows Jesus is to be someone who is finding life in him. We start by stopping our effort at giving ourselves life, and instead let Him give us life by what he did for us in His death and resurrection from the dead. And then we can begin to know and love him, to become his friend. And life is forever found in knowing him more and more.
Back to the metaphor of the red rubber ball. Someone put that red rubber ball on the playground for that little boy to find. So, I don’t need a red rubber ball, what I need is the one who put the red rubber ball on the playground. I need the person, not the impersonal thing or passion or vocation or work he has given me that seems to satisfy for a while. And once I begin to know him, I can be content. And then he may just give me a rubber ball to express much of my love and friendship for him in a way that suits me best. But that keeps the red rubber ball (or is it golden, or another color?) in the right place.
Thoughts from your friend,
Kevin.
In America, important topics like life and death and meaning and purpose are hard to talk about. Everyone has his or her own viewpoint and we try to respect that. But sometimes we differ and we don’t like to offend our friends. So I offer this little essay to my friends to hear a bit of my personal journey of discovery where it can be read in quietness and thought. I hope you will simply hear it as the discovery of a friend and consider what I say. Some things are too important to keep to ourselves.
A few years ago I heard a man talk about his “little red rubber ball.” He was creating a metaphor for searching and finding meaning in the little red ball he had chased as a boy on a playground. That ball had pointed to his athletic ability, and to what was most important to him. The metaphor is powerful because it says we should follow our dreams, the things that really make us come alive, wherever they take us. In his words, “Once you find it, you must follow it, and that takes courage, strength, and imagination”
Much of my life I have tried to pursue life by how well I got through a day or how much I enjoyed what I was doing in my life, by the use of my wits and my ability to explain hard things in a simple way. But I have come to the place where I know this is fruitless and has not satisfied who I find myself to be in a deep way. I have come to see that things or vocation or time or even pleasures cannot be my little red rubber ball, nor anything that is only of temporary existence. I know I am made for more than that. These things just do not fulfill. What if maybe all this is looking for and at “life” in a fundamentally wrong way? What if life cannot be found in day to day existence, and really isn’t about making it through another day, or having our heart beat for another year, or even in finding out what we do best or are really skilled at? Maybe life really isn’t just our biological existence, and the ways we make that tolerable or interesting. So where then do we find a life that is actually life?
If the universe is fundamentally impersonal, then why should we expect life to be found anywhere at all? I don’t think, in the case of a cold and empty universe where all there is is physical matter, that life can be found. How could it be? My “life” would just be existence for a mere 70 to 80 years and then back to dust. No matter how interesting or eventful my existence was, that would be the fundamental thing. Life would be simply prolonged death, and there is no meaning. But what if? What if the universe is fundamentally personal? What if a personal but infinitely powerful being made this universe and calls us into personal fellowship or friendship with himself as the fundamental thing life is? Then that would mean that all the searching for purpose and meaning and “life” in the impersonal, in things or existence or physical pleasure, whatever I can do and muster up, was searching in all the wrong places. These things I have known, and I have believed that knowing my creator was very important. But the new idea, is that He Himself is life.
The right to place to search would be in the realm of the personal, the realm of the creator who is personal. This is what I now believe life is. It is not existence biologically, no matter how interesting or extravagant that existence is. It is friendship with the one who is the personal core or center of this universe: its creator. Many years ago I was approached by this creator to start a friendship, but it has taken many years for me to realize that He did not want to make my “life” better or easier or more satisfying. He wanted to become my life itself.
Now for some of you, you may not agree with me when I say that Jesus is the answer to this question (and I am going to talk about him some more in this). But I have found that He is. I didn’t believe that growing up, and even for many years as his follower, I didn’t get that he himself is life. So if that is where you are at, I would encourage you to read the New testament for starters (start with the book of John) to check out who Jesus is and what he has said and done.
Jesus Christ said that eternal life is to know this one true God, and himself, who had been sent by God. Life is found in the personal creator God. Jesus also said that if we heard his words and believed the one who had sent Him, we had crossed over from death to life. Fundamentally we are dead apart from knowing Him. But we are also alive when we hear him and begin to believe him and to have a friendship with him.
I am not saying that life is anything about becoming religious, joining a church or synagogue, giving money to poor people, or becoming a good person. Those won’t make dead people come alive. But the person who holds the power of life and death can. And He wants to. And he says that life is in knowing him. Jesus said He had come to give us life, and to the full. And he gives it through Himself.
Jesus gave himself for us in this world and he took away the cause of our alienation from his Father, the guilt of our evil that is a very part of our natural selves. Not guilt feelings, but actual guilt because of wrong choices and actions and motives. We see this spring up often, in the lies we tell to protect ourselves and in the desires we have to advance at others’ expense. We see it in the self centered nature of our existence where we primarily protect our own existence and in the lack of concern we have over our creator’s desire to be loved by us. It permeates us. So does a specialness, no doubt. We have a sense that we are special and valuable and worthy. But that does not negate the fact that we have fallen short in many ways of what we know we should be. We can pretend we are fundamentally good, but we know better when we are alone and realize we don’t have friendship with our creator just because we might wish to. And so, as the basic biblical message says that we come to God on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus in history, it is because his sacrifice of His life is the real sacrifice that makes us friends with God in light of the wrong we have done. This sacrifice took away our guilt. Again, this is our true guilt because of evil, not just guilt feelings. Jesus did this so we could know Him and find life in Him. “He died for us, so that…we might live together with him.” He also was raised from the dead, and therefore we can know him now.
Again, I am not saying that being someone who knows Jesus is about being a good person or a church person or someone who helps the poor, although at least some of Jesus’ followers these days do things like that. Someone who knows Jesus is to be someone who is finding life in him. We start by stopping our effort at giving ourselves life, and instead let Him give us life by what he did for us in His death and resurrection from the dead. And then we can begin to know and love him, to become his friend. And life is forever found in knowing him more and more.
Back to the metaphor of the red rubber ball. Someone put that red rubber ball on the playground for that little boy to find. So, I don’t need a red rubber ball, what I need is the one who put the red rubber ball on the playground. I need the person, not the impersonal thing or passion or vocation or work he has given me that seems to satisfy for a while. And once I begin to know him, I can be content. And then he may just give me a rubber ball to express much of my love and friendship for him in a way that suits me best. But that keeps the red rubber ball (or is it golden, or another color?) in the right place.
Thoughts from your friend,
Kevin.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Life is...
What is life?
What is the meaning of life?
When you say, "X and Y just happened in our lives", what do you mean by your life?
Are you alive? When you say you are alive, does that mean anything different from a tree or a frog that are "alive?"
Jesus made two statements that should cause us to reflect on how we use and think about "life."
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6 NIV
What does He mean that He is "the life?" Does it strike you as strange that he would say the he, a particular person, is life?
Then again he said: "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 NIV
In the John 11:25 passage, Jesus is correcting Martha who just said that she knew her brother would rise again at the resurrection. Seems like pretty good theology, but not when said to the one who is resurrection, and who is life, and he just said her brother would rise. She didn't get it. Resurrection is not a thing far off that mechanistically will happen to people. Resurrection is JESUS personally calling us to be with him. This is what he is saying to Martha. "Martha, him coming back is not about some time in the future, it is about me. I will raise him because I am the resurrection, and I am life. He's dead now because I chose that, and he will live now because I will also choose that." Look what Jesus had said in verses 14 and 15: "So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Jesus was GLAD he was not there to rescue Lazarus. Huh? Because believing in Jesus is more important to Him than prolonging our existence, He was glad Lazarus died; He brought that to pass. He is Lord of all, life and death. And if letting Lazarus die would help these disciples, Mary and Martha, and the others, to believe, then even death served a good purpose for Jesus.
Look at the following passage in this light and see if this all makes sense. This is from 1st Timothy:
"The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives." 1Timothy 5:5-6
The idea in this "living for pleasure" is stated in the NASB as: "But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives." The other place this verb, spatalao, is used is in James 5:5: "You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter." The idea is living luxuriously or voluptuously. Basically, it seems it is finding meaning and purpose, or life, in pleasure, luxury, etc. So the person is dead. Because they are not finding life in God, in Jesus.
How we think about this idea of life is very important. When Jesus says life, He means Himself. Our existence is NOT our life. In one sense we can use the word that way, as the scripture does a bit, but not much. For instance, Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Jesus is life). The life I live in the body (my existence) I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me (he is my life)." Galatians 2:20
So sometimes when we say "our lives" we mean our existence, our breathing and heart pumping, but maybe not always. Maybe sometimes we are saying something more, and for those of us who trust Jesus, we need to rethink this and come to grips with how He views this.
So even the idea of eternal life needs to be understood in this light: "Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3.
So life, eternal life, it is all about knowing Jesus.
Heaven is not a philosophical good; it is being with Jesus and He defines what good is, good does not define him. He is life, and in Him we find life. He is not the way to something else we call good or heaven, He is the way to His Father, and to Himself. "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him." 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 See, he didn't die for us so we could go to some impersonal heaven, he died for us so we can be with him.
So test yourself in this: When you think about having a better "life", what comes to your mind?
More parties on the weekend? More football? Better food? A bigger television? Retirement so you can stop working hard and relax? A new hairdo? When we think in these ways how are we really different from the widow who "gives herself to wanton pleasure?"
Certainly a better existence is an okay thing, but we can have a terrible existence, and still find meaning and purpose and true life in Jesus. People who are tortured for their faith know this deep inside. Richard Wurmbrand lived many years in torture and prison in Romania, and he said he forgot the Bible. But he came to know the truth in it by experience. He met God in a very profound way even though his existence was the stuff of nightmares. And likewise people who have a very extravagant existence can also feel their "life" is meaningless and empty. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us this very clearly. Solomon had everything but saw that it was empty. When people feel this emptiness they are feeling the truth; and the answer is finding the person of Jesus.
The only place life is is in Jesus.
For those of you who want to hear more on this topic, I encourage you to listen to John Piper talk about this in two sermons on John 11: 1-16 (link to John Piper on John 11:1-16,) and John 11:17-44 (link to John Piper on John 11:17-44).
What is the meaning of life?
When you say, "X and Y just happened in our lives", what do you mean by your life?
Are you alive? When you say you are alive, does that mean anything different from a tree or a frog that are "alive?"
Jesus made two statements that should cause us to reflect on how we use and think about "life."
"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." John 14:6 NIV
What does He mean that He is "the life?" Does it strike you as strange that he would say the he, a particular person, is life?
Then again he said: "Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 NIV
In the John 11:25 passage, Jesus is correcting Martha who just said that she knew her brother would rise again at the resurrection. Seems like pretty good theology, but not when said to the one who is resurrection, and who is life, and he just said her brother would rise. She didn't get it. Resurrection is not a thing far off that mechanistically will happen to people. Resurrection is JESUS personally calling us to be with him. This is what he is saying to Martha. "Martha, him coming back is not about some time in the future, it is about me. I will raise him because I am the resurrection, and I am life. He's dead now because I chose that, and he will live now because I will also choose that." Look what Jesus had said in verses 14 and 15: "So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Jesus was GLAD he was not there to rescue Lazarus. Huh? Because believing in Jesus is more important to Him than prolonging our existence, He was glad Lazarus died; He brought that to pass. He is Lord of all, life and death. And if letting Lazarus die would help these disciples, Mary and Martha, and the others, to believe, then even death served a good purpose for Jesus.
Look at the following passage in this light and see if this all makes sense. This is from 1st Timothy:
"The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives." 1Timothy 5:5-6
The idea in this "living for pleasure" is stated in the NASB as: "But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives." The other place this verb, spatalao, is used is in James 5:5: "You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter." The idea is living luxuriously or voluptuously. Basically, it seems it is finding meaning and purpose, or life, in pleasure, luxury, etc. So the person is dead. Because they are not finding life in God, in Jesus.
How we think about this idea of life is very important. When Jesus says life, He means Himself. Our existence is NOT our life. In one sense we can use the word that way, as the scripture does a bit, but not much. For instance, Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Jesus is life). The life I live in the body (my existence) I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me (he is my life)." Galatians 2:20
So sometimes when we say "our lives" we mean our existence, our breathing and heart pumping, but maybe not always. Maybe sometimes we are saying something more, and for those of us who trust Jesus, we need to rethink this and come to grips with how He views this.
So even the idea of eternal life needs to be understood in this light: "Now this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3.
So life, eternal life, it is all about knowing Jesus.
Heaven is not a philosophical good; it is being with Jesus and He defines what good is, good does not define him. He is life, and in Him we find life. He is not the way to something else we call good or heaven, He is the way to His Father, and to Himself. "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him." 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 See, he didn't die for us so we could go to some impersonal heaven, he died for us so we can be with him.
So test yourself in this: When you think about having a better "life", what comes to your mind?
More parties on the weekend? More football? Better food? A bigger television? Retirement so you can stop working hard and relax? A new hairdo? When we think in these ways how are we really different from the widow who "gives herself to wanton pleasure?"
Certainly a better existence is an okay thing, but we can have a terrible existence, and still find meaning and purpose and true life in Jesus. People who are tortured for their faith know this deep inside. Richard Wurmbrand lived many years in torture and prison in Romania, and he said he forgot the Bible. But he came to know the truth in it by experience. He met God in a very profound way even though his existence was the stuff of nightmares. And likewise people who have a very extravagant existence can also feel their "life" is meaningless and empty. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us this very clearly. Solomon had everything but saw that it was empty. When people feel this emptiness they are feeling the truth; and the answer is finding the person of Jesus.
The only place life is is in Jesus.
For those of you who want to hear more on this topic, I encourage you to listen to John Piper talk about this in two sermons on John 11: 1-16 (link to John Piper on John 11:1-16,) and John 11:17-44 (link to John Piper on John 11:17-44).
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Rich Mullins - None are Stronger
Rich Mullins says in this video much of what I have tried to say in the blog. Jesus said one time in Luke 16:15: "He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."" He was speaking to Pharisees who were sneering at him as he had told his disciples that they could not serve both God and money. The text says that these Pharisees loved money. I think this is the spirit in which you should listen to what Rich has to say. Men have all kinds of ideas about what the world needs, but God has his, and it is those we should follow and lay down our lives for. He is the only one who has good news to give us that can our souls for eternity; governments and education can do nothing in this regard. Yes, God CAN work through those institutions, but it is His people that are given the work and message of the gospel for the whole world. And at bottom line, men's ways that are opposed to God's are, in fact, something He finds detestable. That's a strong word, and so we better listen to what God thinks; He holds our fates in His hands, not men. So, I give you, Rich Mullins speaking and sharing his song: None are Stronger.
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