The story is told of the little boy who admiring his daddy's wisdom asked him how he got to be so wise. “Experience” his father replied. This was followed by the inquiry as to where he got the experience, to which his father replied “I made a lot of mistakes”. There is a least one place where I could easily be that father. I certainly made a lot of mistakes. Did I learn from the school of hard knocks? I like to think that I did. But I have observed that while we all make mistakes, and we all suffer from the mistakes we make, we don't all seem to learn from them. Some of us are our own worst enemies.
The people who go through broken marriages, for example, seem to fall into one of two categories:- those who learn nothing from the experience, and those who change radically. I have seen this over and over. It is common, especially in the beginning, for both sides to lay 100% of the blame the other party. I am sure it happens a lot outside of broken marriages too, but it may not be so open for all to see. The problem though, is that if we don't take our share of the responsibility, we are likely to make the same mistakes over and over, and what is worse, our children are in danger (knowingly or unknowingly) of following our example (see “I will never be like my father, never”).
Psychology has noted that more often than not, the neglected become the neglectors, and the abused become the abusers. Less startling perhaps is that if we did not respect our parents we are not likely to respect our spouse, and our children are not likely to respect us. If we rebelled and did not repent, we set in motion an influence, a pressure that operates negatively in the lives of our children to follow suit (see August post “The Sins of the Fathers ...”). This business of blaming others for everything, of not not taking our share of the responsibility for our responses and for our own problems and difficulties, is widespread. Sure there are faults on the other side, and sure they need to accept their part of the blame, but things will not change with me, until I am willing to take ownership of my difficulties. It is not only the alcoholic who needs to make fearless moral inventories of his or her life (step 4 of 12 step programs). I am the only one I can change. Many have tried to change others, it does not work, trust me!
There are always both good and bad things that get passed down from our parents and grand parents. Sometimes we don't see the good, and sometimes we don't see the bad. Sometimes we are not allowed to see the bad (see last day's post). Even when we see it, we very often don't take sufficient notice of it to prevent it being passed onto the next generation. In such (and many other cases) if we do not take sufficient account of reality, it will come back to haunt us.
A primary goal for me, in the latter part of my life, is to fully engage in the ongoing process of embracing the good, and stopping my own and my inherited dysfunctions in their tracks. And, as much as they will listen, to show others the path, the ongoing growing/healing process that produces positive fruit in life. It started with my learning from the school of hard knocks that when I do not pay attention to reality, it comes and bites me in the rear end. I came to realize that God has fashioned reality as a tool to bring us back to Himself (see “A cursed earth ...”). On the other hand experience has also taught me that following His way, His Wisdom, His Word and His Spirit brings life and wholeness. One way or the other, we leave a heritage to our children and to those with whom we have influence. I want to model openness and transparency (i.e. reality) in safe relationships, and love joy peace and humility in life. I have not by any means arrived, but I have been bitten in the rear end too many times not to pay attention to the lessons that life is trying to teach me. There is a recovery saying that makes a lot of sense to me. It is this “We will not change until the fear and pain of not changing becomes more than the pain and fear of change”. Life – reality – the laws and principles God put in place in the universe – these things are speaking to us, teaching us to turn and to repent, to come home to the lover and guardian of our souls, to the one who will guide us into all truth freedom and abundance of life. The question is are we listening, or are we like Adam and Eve still placing all the blame on others for the persistent gnawing in our hind quarters. We need to examine ourselves, our own part in it all. This is God's way, and following God's ways is not only good and right and proper, it is wise!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Most parents teach their children that what they teach them is the truth even when it is a lie ..
Most parents (teachers/professors/authority figures/politicians/people) tell their children (hearers), that what they tell them is the truth, even when it is a lie, and they are not allowed to know that it is a lie, and they are not allowed to know they are not allowed to know (I call it proof by intimidation).
Not all professors require you to mindlessly mimic their opinion on the exam, but far too many do. And the fact that they have the power to withhold your A, puts incredible pressure on you to conform. These things work “best” where one party has some level of power over the other one (as for example in parent child relationships). The phenomenon I am talking about is so widespread, that most of us wander round in kind of a semi- hypnotic trance. If you wake up, you had better be careful who you tell, because those who love you the most are likely to punish you the most, because they bless them are asleep.
Let me quickly say something that (hopefully) will avoid my being misunderstood here. It is fashionable to blame our parents for everything. But fashions do not always tell the whole story. No parent is perfect, but then neither are their offspring. Your parents parents were not perfect either, and your parents likely inherited a lot of garbage they were not equipped to handle (see "The sins of the Fathers ..." ). If your parents are typical, and their parents are typical, they did their very best. When we are hurting, we don't usually see this. But we all have to deal with the effects on us, of the sins and ignorance of others. Our parents did and we do. We need to play the hand we are dealt. As adults we are not helpless victims. We all need to take responsibility for our reactions to the sins of others and for our own sins. There is much to say about this. What I want to say here, is that playing the blame game and the victim game keeps us stuck, no matter how justified we are (or feel). I am not suggesting this is easy. We need help, we need a lot of help. It starts by our admitting that we need it. The deeper the hurt the more help we need. Life has a way of messing us up. Councilors can help, but there are times when the hurt is so deep that only God can sort it out (see “Psychology without faith is lame”).
It helps if we are willing to see our own part in all of this. We also need to make sure that we do not pass this on to others (see “I will never be like my Father, never" July 2010). It can start like this, we all want others to think highly of us, and we all hide things. When we do this, knowingly or unknowingly our presenting face is a mask, it does not reflect reality. Of course, we do not admit that what we are presenting is not realty, and it is crazy making. Deception involves much much more than telling outright lies. This is why in court we swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Omitting aspects of the truth can be just as deceptive as telling an outright lie. The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis tells us that before they chose to sin (the fall), they were naked and without shame. After the fall they hid. They hid from God, from each other and from themselves. After the fall instead of honesty, openness and transparency (nakedness without shame) they covered themselves. We hide because we don't feel safe, and we hide because we don't want others to see our sin and our shame. Adam and Eve blamed each other (See 'you don't believe in Adam and eve do you? - June 2010), and just like the ripple effect on a pond, the consequences went on and on and on. It was no longer safe to be open and honest, they were covered in shame, and shame hides.
It is a downward spiral, it sucks us into its trap and imprisons us. We hide because of the fear of being exposed. We think “If people really know what I am like, they will reject me”. One of the things that happens in genuine Christian community (as opposed to those communities that just play church, and continue to wear masks), is that we discover how much alike we are, how many of our problems are universal. In a safe place like this, we also learn not to judge, because when the blinkers are off, we see that we are in no position to judge. We are all sinners saved by Grace. It can be very humbling, but is it the place of reality, and hence of healing (James 5:16). Such places do exist outside of genuine Christian community, but it is safest when we are willing to meet together in the shadow of the cross of Christ, in gratitude for what He has done for us. Unfortunately such places are rare, both inside and outside the church
Outside of this kind of community the fear of rejection and the fear of being judged, pushes us deeper and deeper into hiding. We need to hide the fact that we are not being open and honest. So we cover our omissions with more deception. We do this so convincingly at times that we even cover it from ourselves. You see there are two kinds of shamelessness. There is the shamelessness of the prostitute (which at least is honest), and then there is the shamelessness of the Pharisee (the religious leaders of Jesus' time). The shamelessness of the Pharisee is a self righteousness that is blind to its own faults. This shamelessness says “I have done nothing to be ashamed of, I am perfect”, and looks down on others not as “perfect” as himself. But the reality is that in many things we all fail (James 3:2). So then when we hide in this way, we are living a lie, and in order to maintain this lie, we need to tell (ourselves and others) more lies. What this does is to set up a shame fear control stronghold in our lives. We don't allow people to know that we are living a lie, and we don't allow them to know that we don't allow them to know.
Not all professors require you to mindlessly mimic their opinion on the exam, but far too many do. And the fact that they have the power to withhold your A, puts incredible pressure on you to conform. These things work “best” where one party has some level of power over the other one (as for example in parent child relationships). The phenomenon I am talking about is so widespread, that most of us wander round in kind of a semi- hypnotic trance. If you wake up, you had better be careful who you tell, because those who love you the most are likely to punish you the most, because they bless them are asleep.
Let me quickly say something that (hopefully) will avoid my being misunderstood here. It is fashionable to blame our parents for everything. But fashions do not always tell the whole story. No parent is perfect, but then neither are their offspring. Your parents parents were not perfect either, and your parents likely inherited a lot of garbage they were not equipped to handle (see "The sins of the Fathers ..." ). If your parents are typical, and their parents are typical, they did their very best. When we are hurting, we don't usually see this. But we all have to deal with the effects on us, of the sins and ignorance of others. Our parents did and we do. We need to play the hand we are dealt. As adults we are not helpless victims. We all need to take responsibility for our reactions to the sins of others and for our own sins. There is much to say about this. What I want to say here, is that playing the blame game and the victim game keeps us stuck, no matter how justified we are (or feel). I am not suggesting this is easy. We need help, we need a lot of help. It starts by our admitting that we need it. The deeper the hurt the more help we need. Life has a way of messing us up. Councilors can help, but there are times when the hurt is so deep that only God can sort it out (see “Psychology without faith is lame”).
It helps if we are willing to see our own part in all of this. We also need to make sure that we do not pass this on to others (see “I will never be like my Father, never" July 2010). It can start like this, we all want others to think highly of us, and we all hide things. When we do this, knowingly or unknowingly our presenting face is a mask, it does not reflect reality. Of course, we do not admit that what we are presenting is not realty, and it is crazy making. Deception involves much much more than telling outright lies. This is why in court we swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Omitting aspects of the truth can be just as deceptive as telling an outright lie. The story of Adam and Eve in Genesis tells us that before they chose to sin (the fall), they were naked and without shame. After the fall they hid. They hid from God, from each other and from themselves. After the fall instead of honesty, openness and transparency (nakedness without shame) they covered themselves. We hide because we don't feel safe, and we hide because we don't want others to see our sin and our shame. Adam and Eve blamed each other (See 'you don't believe in Adam and eve do you? - June 2010), and just like the ripple effect on a pond, the consequences went on and on and on. It was no longer safe to be open and honest, they were covered in shame, and shame hides.
It is a downward spiral, it sucks us into its trap and imprisons us. We hide because of the fear of being exposed. We think “If people really know what I am like, they will reject me”. One of the things that happens in genuine Christian community (as opposed to those communities that just play church, and continue to wear masks), is that we discover how much alike we are, how many of our problems are universal. In a safe place like this, we also learn not to judge, because when the blinkers are off, we see that we are in no position to judge. We are all sinners saved by Grace. It can be very humbling, but is it the place of reality, and hence of healing (James 5:16). Such places do exist outside of genuine Christian community, but it is safest when we are willing to meet together in the shadow of the cross of Christ, in gratitude for what He has done for us. Unfortunately such places are rare, both inside and outside the church
Outside of this kind of community the fear of rejection and the fear of being judged, pushes us deeper and deeper into hiding. We need to hide the fact that we are not being open and honest. So we cover our omissions with more deception. We do this so convincingly at times that we even cover it from ourselves. You see there are two kinds of shamelessness. There is the shamelessness of the prostitute (which at least is honest), and then there is the shamelessness of the Pharisee (the religious leaders of Jesus' time). The shamelessness of the Pharisee is a self righteousness that is blind to its own faults. This shamelessness says “I have done nothing to be ashamed of, I am perfect”, and looks down on others not as “perfect” as himself. But the reality is that in many things we all fail (James 3:2). So then when we hide in this way, we are living a lie, and in order to maintain this lie, we need to tell (ourselves and others) more lies. What this does is to set up a shame fear control stronghold in our lives. We don't allow people to know that we are living a lie, and we don't allow them to know that we don't allow them to know.
Friday, October 1, 2010
A thousand reasons to do it, a thousand reasons not to
There is a saying, that if a man wants to do something (clearly the ladies are excluded :) ), he will find a thousand reasons to do it. If on the other hand, he does not want to do something, he will find a thousand reasons not to do it. I have seen it over and over. Actually what I have seen is that if a man really wants to do something though there be a thousand reasons not to do it, if he finds even one reason to ignore the thousand, he is off to the races. He will then look for nine hundred ninety nine reasons to justify his actions, and he will find them (even if he has to tell himself a bunch of lies), and he will surround himself with those who (for whatever reason) agree with him. It is everywhere. It is in me, and it is in you, if only potentially.
Psychology explains all this in terms of denial and rationalization. Thousands of years earlier the Bible gave greater insight when it explained that the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9).
I have come to the place where I am fully convinced that each and every one of us, given the right (or perhaps the wrong) circumstances, is capable of the most heinous of sins/crimes. There was a time when I had murder in my heart, justifiable murder (at least in the perspective of the time). I didn't follow through though (just in case you were wondering). But why? Perhaps it was simply that I was not convinced that I would get away with it. Who knows accurately his or her own motives?
Woody Allen, in an explanation of his affair with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter is reported to have said "The heart wants what the heart wants". The point of the quote though is that it reflects very much the philosophy of out culture. Allan's explanation seems to imply that we are at the mercy of what the heart wants. But what if the heart wants incest, or rape? The heart may want what it wants, but should the heart always have what it wants?
A friend of mine once told me that he felt a marriage would be successful only if the parties were lucky enough not to meet someone they liked better outside of the marriage. But as the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Whatever happened to faithfulness, to integrity? Whatever happened to commitment?
Our choices have consequences. In the break up of a marriage, for example, the children suffer deeply. Research is just beginning to show that the break up of a marriage scars the children for life. Try googling “Life long trauma of adult children of divorce”. There is growing evidence that this trauma is only slightly lessened (if at all) when the divorce takes place after the children are grown. One person described the effect of divorce on the children as tearing the children in two. You see no matter how careful we try to be, our self justification puts pressure on the children to take sides. I mean if your mum and dad are fighting, who do you want to win?
Certainly divorce has a profound effect on the sense of stability and security of the children. It has to do with seeing what was thought to be permanent, sound secure and unmovable, collapse. It sets a powerful negative example of how to deal with problems, of how even relationships are to be evaluated by usefulness in this throw away, and increasingly sick society in which we live. In any case statistics show that children of divorce are far more likely to divorce than those whose parents work through their difficulties. It is even worse when the parents are Christian, since the children are likely to say “even God could not help mum and dad”. No wonder God hates divorce.
But the divorce rates are just one symptom of how sick our society has become. It is not just the environment that is showing signs of the abuse that is heaped upon it. Consider for example, our increasing self-centeredness, our propensity to take rather than give, to hate rather than love, to demand rather than negotiate, to tear down rather than encourage, to blame rather than own up, to build walls rather than bridges, to avenge rather than forgive, to see our side, but not the other person's. These things and more, are pushing us more and more into self absorption, isolation, loneliness and pain. Part of the solution, is to “take fearless inventory” of where we are “at” (step 4 of 12 step programs), to admit our side in all (and more) of what is written above, to turn from it and to return to the guardian and overseer of our souls. When we do this He will abundantly pardon, and when we start to follow Him in radical (and costly) obedience, we will discover He is the Comforter and the Healer, the lover and restorer of our souls, and the fountain of love and joy and peace. It is His promise.
Psychology explains all this in terms of denial and rationalization. Thousands of years earlier the Bible gave greater insight when it explained that the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9).
I have come to the place where I am fully convinced that each and every one of us, given the right (or perhaps the wrong) circumstances, is capable of the most heinous of sins/crimes. There was a time when I had murder in my heart, justifiable murder (at least in the perspective of the time). I didn't follow through though (just in case you were wondering). But why? Perhaps it was simply that I was not convinced that I would get away with it. Who knows accurately his or her own motives?
Woody Allen, in an explanation of his affair with Mia Farrow's adopted daughter is reported to have said "The heart wants what the heart wants". The point of the quote though is that it reflects very much the philosophy of out culture. Allan's explanation seems to imply that we are at the mercy of what the heart wants. But what if the heart wants incest, or rape? The heart may want what it wants, but should the heart always have what it wants?
A friend of mine once told me that he felt a marriage would be successful only if the parties were lucky enough not to meet someone they liked better outside of the marriage. But as the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Whatever happened to faithfulness, to integrity? Whatever happened to commitment?
Our choices have consequences. In the break up of a marriage, for example, the children suffer deeply. Research is just beginning to show that the break up of a marriage scars the children for life. Try googling “Life long trauma of adult children of divorce”. There is growing evidence that this trauma is only slightly lessened (if at all) when the divorce takes place after the children are grown. One person described the effect of divorce on the children as tearing the children in two. You see no matter how careful we try to be, our self justification puts pressure on the children to take sides. I mean if your mum and dad are fighting, who do you want to win?
Certainly divorce has a profound effect on the sense of stability and security of the children. It has to do with seeing what was thought to be permanent, sound secure and unmovable, collapse. It sets a powerful negative example of how to deal with problems, of how even relationships are to be evaluated by usefulness in this throw away, and increasingly sick society in which we live. In any case statistics show that children of divorce are far more likely to divorce than those whose parents work through their difficulties. It is even worse when the parents are Christian, since the children are likely to say “even God could not help mum and dad”. No wonder God hates divorce.
But the divorce rates are just one symptom of how sick our society has become. It is not just the environment that is showing signs of the abuse that is heaped upon it. Consider for example, our increasing self-centeredness, our propensity to take rather than give, to hate rather than love, to demand rather than negotiate, to tear down rather than encourage, to blame rather than own up, to build walls rather than bridges, to avenge rather than forgive, to see our side, but not the other person's. These things and more, are pushing us more and more into self absorption, isolation, loneliness and pain. Part of the solution, is to “take fearless inventory” of where we are “at” (step 4 of 12 step programs), to admit our side in all (and more) of what is written above, to turn from it and to return to the guardian and overseer of our souls. When we do this He will abundantly pardon, and when we start to follow Him in radical (and costly) obedience, we will discover He is the Comforter and the Healer, the lover and restorer of our souls, and the fountain of love and joy and peace. It is His promise.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
If you were born in India, you would be Hindu
Are you saying that if I were born in a garage I would be a car?
Don't misunderstand me, I do not by any means dismiss the influence of culture/family on all sorts of things, including religion. This argument though, which I came across on youtube in a response by Richard Dawkins to a question, is really a quite pathetic attempt to dismiss by contempt rather than by a reasoned and logical argument. If his argument were valid then why is he not a Christian? Well I suspect he would answer that he is a thinker (with the implication that all who are religious are not).
I have seen this type of arrogance before from academics. One man was so sure of the impossibility of the Christians position, that he suggested to me that Christians have different brain chemistry than non- Christians. In his mind, this explained what he thought of as our stupidity. But even if he was right about there being a difference in brain chemistry, it would not prove that he was right and we were wrong about God.
To dismiss all religious people as unthinking idiots as this “argument” does, is to discount many of the greatest thinkers of all time. Einstein, though not a Christian certainly believed in God. It was he who said “Science without religion is lame”. Almost certainly what lies behind what he was saying is that the existence of a creator God best explains the facts that there is something there, and that there is order. Modern Science was born in the Christian West out of the assumption that if it was all created by an intelligent being, then it would make sense to systematically study it. And Newton and many other great Scientists were and are Christian. Even Darwin in his later years was a Christian.
Certainly it is not fashionable to be a Christian, but truth is determined neither by fashion, nor by democratic vote. And most people I meet in this day and age have never examined the claims of Christ and Christianity with their adult minds (see coming post Liar, Lunatic or Lord). To come back to the title of this post (and incidentally to the second part of the Einstein quote above), I want to admit that there are many who are religious who simply follow without engaging their minds. But non-religious people are not exempt from mindlessly following the culture. How about you? Have you examined the claims of Christ with your adult mind?
Don't misunderstand me, I do not by any means dismiss the influence of culture/family on all sorts of things, including religion. This argument though, which I came across on youtube in a response by Richard Dawkins to a question, is really a quite pathetic attempt to dismiss by contempt rather than by a reasoned and logical argument. If his argument were valid then why is he not a Christian? Well I suspect he would answer that he is a thinker (with the implication that all who are religious are not).
I have seen this type of arrogance before from academics. One man was so sure of the impossibility of the Christians position, that he suggested to me that Christians have different brain chemistry than non- Christians. In his mind, this explained what he thought of as our stupidity. But even if he was right about there being a difference in brain chemistry, it would not prove that he was right and we were wrong about God.
To dismiss all religious people as unthinking idiots as this “argument” does, is to discount many of the greatest thinkers of all time. Einstein, though not a Christian certainly believed in God. It was he who said “Science without religion is lame”. Almost certainly what lies behind what he was saying is that the existence of a creator God best explains the facts that there is something there, and that there is order. Modern Science was born in the Christian West out of the assumption that if it was all created by an intelligent being, then it would make sense to systematically study it. And Newton and many other great Scientists were and are Christian. Even Darwin in his later years was a Christian.
Certainly it is not fashionable to be a Christian, but truth is determined neither by fashion, nor by democratic vote. And most people I meet in this day and age have never examined the claims of Christ and Christianity with their adult minds (see coming post Liar, Lunatic or Lord). To come back to the title of this post (and incidentally to the second part of the Einstein quote above), I want to admit that there are many who are religious who simply follow without engaging their minds. But non-religious people are not exempt from mindlessly following the culture. How about you? Have you examined the claims of Christ with your adult mind?
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
God, Wonderful and Terrible - Good and Bad news
I said in the last post that there is another side to the wonder of God that we see in creation. If we are born into a safe and loving environment, it may take time to see this, especially if we live far from wars and the savagery of man and of nature. However sooner (more often than not) or later, we come fact to face with the problem of the existence of pain and of evil in the world. It is a problem (in that it is hard to explain) for both the Christian and the non-Christian. I can never seem to quite make up my mind just how much to “blame” God for it all. I mean in creating free will, He certainly created the possibility of evil (a mankind who was prevented from choosing evil could not logically choose to love in any meaningful way). And what about earthquakes and other “acts of God”. Well at least the insurance companies know who to blame! I am not so sure, since as the Scriptures tell us the “Prince of the power of the air” has an agenda to kill and to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). He seems to be doing a good job!
But is it certainly God who knocked Paul off his horse when he thought he was serving him but was not. Paul later talks about knowing the terror of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:11). I suspect that this is an oblique reference to that event. The Scriptures also talk about God “Awesome and Terrible” (Deuteronomy 10:17 – KJV, AMP), that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and that unregenerate man is His enemy. It is true that He tells this last piece of bad news in the context of simultaneously telling the good news, for “if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). So Christ died for your sins and mine while we were still His enemies. “... perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. God is fearsome and terrible, but God is good and has provided the (only, unique) way of escape.
So there are two pictures here of God, and both are true. “Behold” Paul tells us “The goodness and severity severity of God”. On the one hand He is severe to those who turn their back on Him. On that day, we are told, those who have not accepted His pardon will cry out in terror for the rocks to fall on them. On the other hand, He is good to those who continue in His goodness. God is Love and God is good, but God is also a Holy God and God is a consuming fire. The good news is that we can choose to be on His side. But if we choose not to.....
People tell me they don't have a clue about what the Book of Revelation is all about. While I am not by any means an expert on this, I do have a clue. It is, after all, the “back of The Book”, and as at the back of any book, it tells how it all ends. God and good win, evil and the devil and his angels loose. They and all who follow them (default) are cast into the lake of fire, and God executes justice and revenge on His enemies. Those who have received His pardon, go on to the place where there is no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more torment. The rest of us are cast into the lake of fire, of everlasting burnings.
The default, the way we all start off, is that we are His enemies. We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. But Jesus invites us into His Kingdom. “Behold” He tells us, “I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). You don't dine with your enemies (it is a picture of fellowship). If you open the door and invite Him in, He becomes your friend, your saviour and your redeemer. If you harden your heart and choose not to listen to His voice and His invitation, you become deaf and remain His enemy. If we refuse His gift of forgiveness, His free Pardon, what are we left with?
I mentioned above that Paul knew the terror of the Lord. The full quotation is “Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men”. And in the same context “the love of Christ constrains us” and “ we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
I too implore you dear reader to be reconciled to God. There are many I pray will read what I have written. There are many with whom I have longed to be able to share the things that I write today, not as a guilt trip, but because I honestly fear for you. As I said in an earlier post, there are times when (knowing as least something of the terror of the Lord, and loving you deary) the burden of not being allowed to speak is intolerable (see 'Hell? Are you trying to scare me into heaven?'). Please forgive me for the times and the places where my life has failed to reflect the truth of what I say today. I am painfully aware that even as a Christian, I fail in many things (James 3:2). I am “hearing” more protests, more objections. I will answer some of them in the days to come.
But is it certainly God who knocked Paul off his horse when he thought he was serving him but was not. Paul later talks about knowing the terror of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:11). I suspect that this is an oblique reference to that event. The Scriptures also talk about God “Awesome and Terrible” (Deuteronomy 10:17 – KJV, AMP), that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and that unregenerate man is His enemy. It is true that He tells this last piece of bad news in the context of simultaneously telling the good news, for “if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). So Christ died for your sins and mine while we were still His enemies. “... perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. God is fearsome and terrible, but God is good and has provided the (only, unique) way of escape.
So there are two pictures here of God, and both are true. “Behold” Paul tells us “The goodness and severity severity of God”. On the one hand He is severe to those who turn their back on Him. On that day, we are told, those who have not accepted His pardon will cry out in terror for the rocks to fall on them. On the other hand, He is good to those who continue in His goodness. God is Love and God is good, but God is also a Holy God and God is a consuming fire. The good news is that we can choose to be on His side. But if we choose not to.....
People tell me they don't have a clue about what the Book of Revelation is all about. While I am not by any means an expert on this, I do have a clue. It is, after all, the “back of The Book”, and as at the back of any book, it tells how it all ends. God and good win, evil and the devil and his angels loose. They and all who follow them (default) are cast into the lake of fire, and God executes justice and revenge on His enemies. Those who have received His pardon, go on to the place where there is no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more torment. The rest of us are cast into the lake of fire, of everlasting burnings.
The default, the way we all start off, is that we are His enemies. We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. But Jesus invites us into His Kingdom. “Behold” He tells us, “I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). You don't dine with your enemies (it is a picture of fellowship). If you open the door and invite Him in, He becomes your friend, your saviour and your redeemer. If you harden your heart and choose not to listen to His voice and His invitation, you become deaf and remain His enemy. If we refuse His gift of forgiveness, His free Pardon, what are we left with?
I mentioned above that Paul knew the terror of the Lord. The full quotation is “Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men”. And in the same context “the love of Christ constrains us” and “ we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
I too implore you dear reader to be reconciled to God. There are many I pray will read what I have written. There are many with whom I have longed to be able to share the things that I write today, not as a guilt trip, but because I honestly fear for you. As I said in an earlier post, there are times when (knowing as least something of the terror of the Lord, and loving you deary) the burden of not being allowed to speak is intolerable (see 'Hell? Are you trying to scare me into heaven?'). Please forgive me for the times and the places where my life has failed to reflect the truth of what I say today. I am painfully aware that even as a Christian, I fail in many things (James 3:2). I am “hearing” more protests, more objections. I will answer some of them in the days to come.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A trinity of revelation IV. How it works!
I am a saint, I am, and I will go to heaven when I die. Does it sound a little overconfident, even a little arrogant? Let me explain this in the context of the trinity of His revelations. I hope this will make it clear how the “unity in diversity” of this trinity works. So then to start with, my Heavenly Daddy has assured me that before the bar of God I am justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that He remembers my sins no more. So what medium has He used to bring this assurance? My contention is that it is all three forms (the whole trinity) of His revelations. That is together creation, the Bible and His Spirit confirm and reinforce it. I need to unpack this.
In “A trinity of revelations I”, I explained that the arguments about the existence of God from the order (design) in creation are hollow to the unbeliever, but are compelling to the one who believes. You see as part of this, the revelation of God through creation will, if we let it, touch much much more than the intellect, it will touch the soul. We have free will, we choose how we respond to “general revelation”. I already mentioned that sunsets touch me, but they do not touch everybody. Part of the problem is that we have lost our ability to wonder, to be amazed. Remember in order to enter the Kingdom, we are to become as little children. Observe their wonder and joy at all that is. The heavens declare the glory of God, but our ability to see that glory is diminished by our man made “towers of Babel”, our concrete jungles, our apparent self sufficiency, our arrogance and the suppression of truth in unrighteousness (see 'General revelation'). God's revelation is also undermined by the lies of the enemy. God will not force His revelation on us, but for those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, His creation speaks into our soul that He is, and that He is wonderful. And with these eyes and ears Science, rather than telling me that God does not exist (see “I know too much Science to believe in God) fascinates me with its complexity and intricacy. It leads me to ask “Who is He, who created and designed all this?” When I come away from the shallow (but powerful) lusts that war against the soul and draw me into bondage, I find within my soul a longing to know the One who made it all. We see reflections of this in our desire to know and connect with those in the here and now, whom we admire.
There is another side to this I want to explore in the next post. But what I am saying here, is that for the one who has eyes to see and ears to hear, creation provides a kind of backdrop, a canvas upon which further compatible revelations in His Word, and by His Spirit can be written. When Satan and the World whispers into our ears that God does not exist, and it's all a figment of my imagination (Satan speaks his lies in the first person), the heart of the believer answers back “The heavens declare the Glory of God, Creation speaks to me that He is, and that He is wonderful”. This, however, is but one strand of how I know.
That He is wonderful is also confirmed by His Word. In fact “Wonderful” is one of His names (Isaiah 9:6). Part of the wonder of who He is, is that He loves me (John 3:16), and that when I repent and receive His forgiveness, He leads me into fullness of life, and assures me of a place by His side when I die. So as I say, He calls me a saint. Am I saintly? I am less confident about that, a lot less confident. You are a saint too, if you have received Him as Lord and Savior and received His forgiveness for your sins. And you may not be any more saintly than I am. On the other hand He has qualified us to be inheritors of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). We passed! And He has told us in His Word that He wants us to be confident in these things. In I John 5:13 He says “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Notice the tense “have”, it is a present possession. It is a gift, it is not of works (Ephesians 2:8). Is He not indeed wonderful as creation reveals?
And all this is confirmed, reinforced and made real, by the witness of His Spirit. In Romans 8:16 we read “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ... ”. So here is another place where we are meant to experience Him. The assurance His presence brings will not always be 24/7, but then we have the other strands to fall back on. It is in the dark times we learn to trust Him and His Word. His Word is sure.
So then the three strands of His revelation agree and reinforce one another. But at other times, the three strands of revelation keep us in balance. The problem of balance is a major problem for humankind, for we far too easily loose it. Some groups, for example, emphasize the revelation of God by the Word, others emphasize the revelation of God by the Spirit. There is a well known saying that is designed to correct this (and it too is Biblical). The saying is “The Word without the Spirit we dry up (the letter of the law kills), the Spirit without the Word we blow up (we need the Word for correction II Timothy 3:16), but with the Word and the Spirit together, we grow up”. Its a trinity, unity in diversity, confirmation and reinforcement. I like to insert “in the fellowship of the saints” after 'together' in the above saying. We need each other. In the fellowship of those who believe in space (God is at work in Africa), time (the saints of old) and theology (listening to each other), we are to exhibit unity in diversity (and balance). When we do, we reflect Him (Trinity) in our cooperate witness. As iron sharpens Iron, so man sharpens man! As I hinted at in the last post, this is a furnace, and it is meant to refine us and bring us into balance, and unity! Trinity is three in one, it is not one period (unity in conformity), it is not three separate things (diversity without unity) it is three in one (unity in diversity). They will know we are Christians by our love. We have a ways to go!
In “A trinity of revelations I”, I explained that the arguments about the existence of God from the order (design) in creation are hollow to the unbeliever, but are compelling to the one who believes. You see as part of this, the revelation of God through creation will, if we let it, touch much much more than the intellect, it will touch the soul. We have free will, we choose how we respond to “general revelation”. I already mentioned that sunsets touch me, but they do not touch everybody. Part of the problem is that we have lost our ability to wonder, to be amazed. Remember in order to enter the Kingdom, we are to become as little children. Observe their wonder and joy at all that is. The heavens declare the glory of God, but our ability to see that glory is diminished by our man made “towers of Babel”, our concrete jungles, our apparent self sufficiency, our arrogance and the suppression of truth in unrighteousness (see 'General revelation'). God's revelation is also undermined by the lies of the enemy. God will not force His revelation on us, but for those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, His creation speaks into our soul that He is, and that He is wonderful. And with these eyes and ears Science, rather than telling me that God does not exist (see “I know too much Science to believe in God) fascinates me with its complexity and intricacy. It leads me to ask “Who is He, who created and designed all this?” When I come away from the shallow (but powerful) lusts that war against the soul and draw me into bondage, I find within my soul a longing to know the One who made it all. We see reflections of this in our desire to know and connect with those in the here and now, whom we admire.
There is another side to this I want to explore in the next post. But what I am saying here, is that for the one who has eyes to see and ears to hear, creation provides a kind of backdrop, a canvas upon which further compatible revelations in His Word, and by His Spirit can be written. When Satan and the World whispers into our ears that God does not exist, and it's all a figment of my imagination (Satan speaks his lies in the first person), the heart of the believer answers back “The heavens declare the Glory of God, Creation speaks to me that He is, and that He is wonderful”. This, however, is but one strand of how I know.
That He is wonderful is also confirmed by His Word. In fact “Wonderful” is one of His names (Isaiah 9:6). Part of the wonder of who He is, is that He loves me (John 3:16), and that when I repent and receive His forgiveness, He leads me into fullness of life, and assures me of a place by His side when I die. So as I say, He calls me a saint. Am I saintly? I am less confident about that, a lot less confident. You are a saint too, if you have received Him as Lord and Savior and received His forgiveness for your sins. And you may not be any more saintly than I am. On the other hand He has qualified us to be inheritors of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). We passed! And He has told us in His Word that He wants us to be confident in these things. In I John 5:13 He says “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Notice the tense “have”, it is a present possession. It is a gift, it is not of works (Ephesians 2:8). Is He not indeed wonderful as creation reveals?
And all this is confirmed, reinforced and made real, by the witness of His Spirit. In Romans 8:16 we read “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ... ”. So here is another place where we are meant to experience Him. The assurance His presence brings will not always be 24/7, but then we have the other strands to fall back on. It is in the dark times we learn to trust Him and His Word. His Word is sure.
So then the three strands of His revelation agree and reinforce one another. But at other times, the three strands of revelation keep us in balance. The problem of balance is a major problem for humankind, for we far too easily loose it. Some groups, for example, emphasize the revelation of God by the Word, others emphasize the revelation of God by the Spirit. There is a well known saying that is designed to correct this (and it too is Biblical). The saying is “The Word without the Spirit we dry up (the letter of the law kills), the Spirit without the Word we blow up (we need the Word for correction II Timothy 3:16), but with the Word and the Spirit together, we grow up”. Its a trinity, unity in diversity, confirmation and reinforcement. I like to insert “in the fellowship of the saints” after 'together' in the above saying. We need each other. In the fellowship of those who believe in space (God is at work in Africa), time (the saints of old) and theology (listening to each other), we are to exhibit unity in diversity (and balance). When we do, we reflect Him (Trinity) in our cooperate witness. As iron sharpens Iron, so man sharpens man! As I hinted at in the last post, this is a furnace, and it is meant to refine us and bring us into balance, and unity! Trinity is three in one, it is not one period (unity in conformity), it is not three separate things (diversity without unity) it is three in one (unity in diversity). They will know we are Christians by our love. We have a ways to go!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A trinity of revelation III. His Spirit to my spirt.
There is a big difference between knowing about somebody and knowing them as a person. The Bible uses the same word 'ginosko' for knowing God as it does for the intimate knowledge of a man and a woman. There is mystery in how the Bible describes the relationship we can have with God. There is the intimate unspoiled Father (daddy) child relationship we all needed and at one stage longed for with our earthly fathers (Romans 8, see “Not like my Father”) , there is friendship with God (John 15:15), there is God as comforter, and greatest of all, we are the Bride of Christ.
We come to know a person, as they allow us into their life. The wonder of it all it that that is exactly what God wants to do for us. He wants to invite us into the intimate relationship and fellowship of the Trinity. It is a cause and a reason to wonder, that the Creator of the Universe, the One who spoke and stars were flung into space, is interested in, and is crazy about little old me, and little old you.
Our concept of knowing in the West is dominated by rationality. There is however a trinity of ways of knowing. We can know by reason, by intuition and by experience (see the July post 'Is Reason is the unique pathway to knowledge?'). When we come to truly know a person we know him or her, in all three of these ways of knowing. We will know things about the person that can be stated as facts, we will have gathered intuitively aspects of her character, and we will experience him in relationship. Most of us have this experience a “kindred spirit”. It is much much more than a purely rational thing.
We are meant to experience God. Paul describes God as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3). How can we comfort others with God's comfort if we have not experienced it ourselves? We are intended to experience His comfort then, but there is so much more of Him that we are meant to experience too.
There are some in the body of Christ for whom the word “experience” is a dirty word. 'We cannot rely on experience' they tell us. I agree that we cannot rely on experience alone. We need to test all things from the Word of God. Is it Biblical to receive the experience of comfort from God? Yes it is! Do we need to beware of experiences that go outside the Biblical norm? Yes, but we also need to be careful that we do not reject signs and wonders that are from Him. I need to ask a question. “Is God allowed to surprise us?” For too long we have put God in a box. I fear that without realizing it we have posted signs on our churches “God keep out”. Rumour has it that God wants His church back!
I understand though that there are lying signs and wonders, and again, yes we do need to test all things. I also understand that it is safer to reject it all, but if we do we should not be surprised that finish up with we an impoverished even boring Christianity, that has little attraction to the World. I remember one preacher saying in a sermon that heaven is going to be like one long Church service. My immediate response (tongue in cheek) was “Oh no, what's the other place like?” I have not always experienced church as I believe it is intended to be. There are times when an hour and twenty minutes seems like an eternity, but there are also times when five hours have passed with my hardly noticing the time. At such times I am aware of the healing presence of God. Such times bring reality to the Hymn writers words that talk about being “lost in wonder lover and praise”.
There is a promise that comes to mind where Jesus tells us of the one who has and obeys His commandments “I ... will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him” (John 14:21 Amplified Bible) . It is a promise with a condition to be fulfilled. In a related point, we are intended to become more and more like Jesus. This is His goal for our lives (Romans 8:29). Here is another question. Does God expect us to become more like Jesus but without the resources, in particular the affirmation, that He gave Jesus? That would not be just. Jesus clearly experienced the tangible presence of God. The audible voice comes from heaven “You are my beloved son, I am some proud of you my son (Phil paraphrase of Mark 1:11).
Most of us have not received that level affirmation that the Father gave to Jesus before He even started His ministry. But that same affirmation is there in the Word “He has given us the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry “abba” daddy Father, and He calls those of us who have received His salvation “saints”. He intends that we move into the realty of this relationship with Him, as His Word becomes more and more real in our lives. His Spirit witness to our spirit that we are His beloved sons and daughters (Romans 8:16). It is intended to be tangible. But we do not have because we do not ask, and most of us are probably afraid of it too. I myself would prefer not to be knocked off my horse (Acts 9). I'm pretty safe, I don't own a horse!
So then this third strand of revelation is much more than a revelation of propositional knowledge, it is a giving of Himself to us. As He said to Abraham all those years ago “I am your exceedingly great reward”. He is ours too, if we will seek Him, and if we will allow it.
We come to know a person, as they allow us into their life. The wonder of it all it that that is exactly what God wants to do for us. He wants to invite us into the intimate relationship and fellowship of the Trinity. It is a cause and a reason to wonder, that the Creator of the Universe, the One who spoke and stars were flung into space, is interested in, and is crazy about little old me, and little old you.
Our concept of knowing in the West is dominated by rationality. There is however a trinity of ways of knowing. We can know by reason, by intuition and by experience (see the July post 'Is Reason is the unique pathway to knowledge?'). When we come to truly know a person we know him or her, in all three of these ways of knowing. We will know things about the person that can be stated as facts, we will have gathered intuitively aspects of her character, and we will experience him in relationship. Most of us have this experience a “kindred spirit”. It is much much more than a purely rational thing.
We are meant to experience God. Paul describes God as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3). How can we comfort others with God's comfort if we have not experienced it ourselves? We are intended to experience His comfort then, but there is so much more of Him that we are meant to experience too.
There are some in the body of Christ for whom the word “experience” is a dirty word. 'We cannot rely on experience' they tell us. I agree that we cannot rely on experience alone. We need to test all things from the Word of God. Is it Biblical to receive the experience of comfort from God? Yes it is! Do we need to beware of experiences that go outside the Biblical norm? Yes, but we also need to be careful that we do not reject signs and wonders that are from Him. I need to ask a question. “Is God allowed to surprise us?” For too long we have put God in a box. I fear that without realizing it we have posted signs on our churches “God keep out”. Rumour has it that God wants His church back!
I understand though that there are lying signs and wonders, and again, yes we do need to test all things. I also understand that it is safer to reject it all, but if we do we should not be surprised that finish up with we an impoverished even boring Christianity, that has little attraction to the World. I remember one preacher saying in a sermon that heaven is going to be like one long Church service. My immediate response (tongue in cheek) was “Oh no, what's the other place like?” I have not always experienced church as I believe it is intended to be. There are times when an hour and twenty minutes seems like an eternity, but there are also times when five hours have passed with my hardly noticing the time. At such times I am aware of the healing presence of God. Such times bring reality to the Hymn writers words that talk about being “lost in wonder lover and praise”.
There is a promise that comes to mind where Jesus tells us of the one who has and obeys His commandments “I ... will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him” (John 14:21 Amplified Bible) . It is a promise with a condition to be fulfilled. In a related point, we are intended to become more and more like Jesus. This is His goal for our lives (Romans 8:29). Here is another question. Does God expect us to become more like Jesus but without the resources, in particular the affirmation, that He gave Jesus? That would not be just. Jesus clearly experienced the tangible presence of God. The audible voice comes from heaven “You are my beloved son, I am some proud of you my son (Phil paraphrase of Mark 1:11).
Most of us have not received that level affirmation that the Father gave to Jesus before He even started His ministry. But that same affirmation is there in the Word “He has given us the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry “abba” daddy Father, and He calls those of us who have received His salvation “saints”. He intends that we move into the realty of this relationship with Him, as His Word becomes more and more real in our lives. His Spirit witness to our spirit that we are His beloved sons and daughters (Romans 8:16). It is intended to be tangible. But we do not have because we do not ask, and most of us are probably afraid of it too. I myself would prefer not to be knocked off my horse (Acts 9). I'm pretty safe, I don't own a horse!
So then this third strand of revelation is much more than a revelation of propositional knowledge, it is a giving of Himself to us. As He said to Abraham all those years ago “I am your exceedingly great reward”. He is ours too, if we will seek Him, and if we will allow it.
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