A Christian Response to Newtown, Part 2

Continuing from 01/17/13…

Though I didn’t quote this part of my friend’s letter, his thesis was that my position did not acknowledge the biological likelihood of genetically determined mental illness behind Adam Lanza’s actions. Therein, when I attributed his shooting of innocents to a spiritual condition, the rational explanation of why this happened was not addressed. My friend asked me to consider if placing the blame for Newtown on the fallen nature rather than the shooter’s mental condition failed to answer the true needs of this situation. 

“…if we ignore the REAL cause of his problems, by claiming that his actions are a logical result of our fallen nature as a species,…”

I guess this is what philosophy is all about. 

philosophy = the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.[1]  

"What is REAL?" is a corollary of the "What is truth?" Someone asked Pilate.

So spiritual versus rational:

From a rational point of view, I completely agree with my friend. The mentally ill are not supported or helped as needed. A practical response to the Newtown massacre is to look carefully at ways to improve how this larger system we call society responds to these individuals. I agree. I rationally get this.

Spiritual point of view: A spiritual failing of the society is to reject God, and thereby miss out on the REAL resource available to humans which is the depth of mercy and justice such an approach calls for. Our society will always divert resources to other causes than the weak among us until some tragedy demands we do otherwise. As a society, we fail miserably in the practical areas because we miss our potential. We miss our potential because we reject God and thereby remove ourselves from the influence of the Holy Spirit.

In his letter, my friend asks if ignoring the mental illness of Lanza and pointing to the fallen nature as a root cause of the event, are we not sinning against Lanza by casting stones at him and by extrapolation, the mentally ill? Three responses come to my mind.

1. I do not blame Lanza for his fallen nature nor did I state I felt the mentally ill generally should be punished for their behaviors which fail societal norms. I brought up the fallen nature in the article as the root of our collective fascination with sex and violence. Individually, I would have to accept that I am like Lanza and all other humans in a place of dealing with the fallen nature. This is something Lanza could not do. Is his fallen nature a causative factor in his actions? Or was a physiological mental illness the complete source of his irrational behavior?  God knows for certain; I do not. 

2. “Casting stones” in the context in which Jesus used the term is an act of punishment. The adulterous woman was to be stoned which was in line with law by which the Jews lived. One thing which is often mixed up is the difference between a voice which condemns sinful acts calling for punishment and a voice which calls for sin to be addressed. Jesus did turn to the woman--who was guilty--and though He had turned the improper judgment of those who would stone her into the mercy of walking away, did He not identify her sinfulness when He told her to sin no more? It is not casting a stone, that is to say moving to punish or condemn Adam Lanza (or anyone mentally ill) for his actions, to acknowledge that the sinful attitudes of the culture around him provided a context for expressing feelings he had no ability to process either emotionally or intellectually. 

3. Accepting the intersection of the spiritual and rational in this case, I see a need  to speak out concerning the spiritual dynamics which swirl through this and other stories of mayhem that occur in our society, while I recognize the need for and support rational responses of supporting families and the individuals burdened by mental illness. 

My friend’s position is not wrong, and my original premise of cause is not negated.  There is a unity in our responses that seeks inspiration in the revelation of Christ and takes action as a result.

The conundrums we face as Christians in addressing morality in an amoral, technologically advanced, and hyped-on-entertainment society is why I named this blog, Spirit in the Wild Wood.

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/philosophy?

A Christian's Response to Newtown, Part 1

The last post on the Newtown massacre had an interesting result. People I know in my community have become aware of this blog, and writing some thoughts the last time brought personal feedback from exactly two people in the local community. That has never happened before.  It is notable, these comments were directly opposite of each other.

One thing I have learned in life: disagreement is natural and it does not indicate either party is necessarily wrong. Perspective and the concurrent subjectivity will always cause differences of opinion. None of us escape this.

One community member wrote me privately and one spoke to me at work. With the writer’s permission, I quote from the letter:

“I feel like this shooter in Ct. was deeply let down. He needed help. He clearly was not normal mentally-he was mentally ill. He had no place to lay his head.”

Later he writes:

“And if we ignore the REAL cause of his problems, by claiming that his actions are a logical result of our fallen nature as a species, are we as a society not sinning against him, casting stones that shouldn't be cast?”

I knew as I wrote my initial thoughts on the Newtown massacre, that the perspective represented by the above quotes would be held by many. My effort now is not to debunk the challenge of these words appearing in opposition to mine but demonstrate how these two opposing views are, in fact, in unison. The power of individual perspective is its weakness, as it states its case it often will not expound the complete truth.

For the sake of analysis, divide the topic of how to respond as a Christian to Newtown, into two modalities of thinking. These are spiritual and rational.

By spiritual, I mean simply accepting there is a spirit realm existent which interacts with our material life in ways that are both inscrutable and logical. Though the spirit dimension is neither measurable nor quantifiable and would appear therefore to defy logic, I accept a point of intersection between the spirit dimension and the material dimension which is logically understood.

By rational, I mean both a perspective and an identified system of thought:

1. the principle or habit of accepting reason as the supreme authority in matters of opinion, belief, or conduct. 2. Philosophy. a. the doctrine that reason alone is a source of knowledge and is independent of experience. b. (in the philosophies of Descartes, Spinoza, etc.) the doctrine that all knowledge is expressible in self-evident propositions or their consequences.[1]

Many issues of today in the US, it appears to this author, are rooted in the dichotomy presented above between spiritual and rational thought. Western Civilization moved consistently toward rationalism from the Renaissance forward. At one point, this movement became so profound it is now named the Age of Reason. One patriot of renown in our country’s history, Thomas Paine, who helped stir revolution with his pamphlet, “Common Sense,” also wrote one entitled “Age of Reason.”

In the second pamphlet, he writes passionately about the problem as he saw it of religion hindering humanity by its lack of rational thought. We continue to struggle today as a society to balance the benefits of values which many find taught by religion with practical thinking in the construct of law and economics.

The author quoted above mixes spiritual allusion into both of the points he made challenging my last post.  “He had no place to lay his head,” are words used to describe Lanza’s deep estrangement from the world around him. The sentence is in my mind an allusion to Matthew 8:20 NAS. Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

In the second quote, “…(A)re we as a society not sinning against him, casting stones that shouldn't be cast?”  This is clearly a reference to John 8:2-12. My friend’s point is to call me to my spiritual roots as I examine the Newtown massacre and have compassion on the mentally ill person who has been victimized in a sense by the lack of needed help which made him and those around him vulnerable to his mental illness.

Next up on this path in the Wildwood, the unity I see between what appears as our differing thoughts.

---

[1] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rationalism?s=t

Eyes on Mordor and not on Christ

In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a great evil lives. By the end of the story, we are confronted by the image of an oversize eye floating atop a massive stone pillar. The pillar and eye form nothing more than an emotionally thrilling, deeply threatening lower case “i”. The metaphor is simple: "i am God" is a great evil. The lower case indicating the human.

From the most logical stand point, all of life is spiritual. There are choices and activities which hinder spiritual development. Even a weakening or stagnant spiritual life is a spiritual condition. The paradigm shift that needs to occur in the practice of the Christian faith is a decision, an awareness, a self-discipline to reject the notion that some aspects of the Christian life are mundane, human and not spiritual. Rather, there are no coincidences, no simple happenstances which we simply live through. The mundane and every other aspect of our existence is meaningful in Christ.

Christians are sometimes confused or overly confusing regarding what is and what is not spiritual truth. In that confusion, folks influenced by such winds of doctrine are very likely to emotionally disconnect…to not realize, recognize or respond to God as real in a moment...in every moment. String several of these together, and the result is to describe our condition as a “dry time”. The wind will blow a dust in our eyes, stinging and blinding. We are likely to blame God, or in the least lose our focus on Him.  

Our Lord is not the author of confusion nor is there a desert in His Presence. 

Or perhaps, we may not be confused, but experiencing the effects of the great darkness on the earth. In not being aware of how we continue to love life in the earth and what it offers, we unwittingly live on the dark side while professing Christ. Several of the groups into which Christians have sub-divided make a portion of their teaching  to include “spiritual warfare” against the devil. True Ephesians tells us to wear the whole armor of God, and that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the principalities and powers in the heavens. Yet it appears to this author in the fights of his life, that what we blame on the devil are very often simply decisions and desires that reside within us in our fleshly-- read that oriented toward our physical body--minds. In being our own person, the "i" rules. In loving ourselves over God, we choose sin instead of submission and reap the natural consequences! Making blanket statements about how the devil is attacking us and asking others for their prayers in the face of this onslaught sounds spiritually effective and dedicated to life in Christ, but such is nothing more than pretense at the forms while denying the awesome power of the love of God.

i know what i am talking about.

Church is the Compost Bin for Human Garbage

Think of the human soul as a plant. The natural man, the one we know as our inner self, is fallen and sinful and good for nothing that is holy. Yet, this inner man is the rich stuff of humanity. Our ability to love and be compassionate, our ability to empathize, our desire to be helpful and supportive of others was a part of creation before the fallen creature became what humans are. We were created in His image, right? Now all this good stuff is destined to be used for selfish ends. Manipulation and coercion in the name of love, those pressuring expectations we resist from people around us yet continue to foist on others, all stem from our selfish desires mixed with our ability to love. We often believe we have another's best interests in mind, but our whole perspective is usually tainted to one degree or another with our own limited understandings. These limits are usually a manifestation of our self will.

We experience the spiritual birth and freedom from self given to us by an act of grace. We become a different plant in our souls--the new creature--but we fail the purity of the love of God often and adopt the stance, "It's a process." The composting metaphor is about this Christian growth process.

The compost pile achieves its wondrous reduction of organic wastes into a rich additive for garden soil by aeration. There are other factors, of course, but that exposure to oxygen enhances the effectiveness of the compost pile. That's why our ceramic, under the counter composter has holes in the lid. That's why our back yard bin has the grid system of vents on all four sides and from top to bottom. Exposure to oxygen is necessary. 

Remember I mentioned the odor sometimes in the under-the-sink container? That's because those holes on the top are a marketing feature. They don't work. There is not nearly enough aeration from these holes, especially as the container fills up. The stuff on the bottom has little air and rots without actually "composting." Those lid holes allow the label to read "kitchen composter" and not simply "multi-use ceramic container". The price is raised, as the container with the holed lid has "value" beyond what it actually is. I've seen this item at $15.00 in most stores. The phrase "Buyer Beware" comes to mind. (Ours was a gift.)

Our Christian journey is like this. We all know and understand the principle of confession. However, in application, we often regard confession as necessary once we have actually sinned. I think our sinful nature needs a place of open sharing on an on-going basis. We need Christian brethren to provide a place of exposure for willful thinking and desire, our sin nature, without judgment or censure. We need acceptance from others for the fallen creature we are. I am not condoning, condoning sin. Rather, I am suggesting a greater level of honesty. Because we fear condemnation from others in our Christian groups for having the thoughts that spring from a sinful nature, we only discuss this reality in guarded ways if at all. The result is our sinful nature doesn't get the exposure it needs to decompose. Exposed in discussion in a safe environment, we gain knowledge that others are experiencing the same and see we are not alone or different. This builds understanding of others and camaraderie between folks, and our sin nature weakens through an exchange that allows us space to deconstruct our feelings and motivations looking for the selfishness to admit in confession. A confession that comes before we act out that selfishness.

What's left in this process is an awareness of our core ability to love and an understanding of how to be angry without sinful attitudes; we gain a connection to our human ability of empathy without a need to manipulate others. By contrast, when we allow ourselves confession only after sin has occurred, it is a bit like those holes in our under the sink ceramic composter. It looks like aeration for the soul's need, it is marketed as such, but deep inside the container, the rot flourishes.

God's Spirit moved to reveal Himself to us; we responded by accepting the atonement. Salvation is the result. However, life within the Body of Christ is the functioning of a sanctification process which is intended to help us deconstruct the power of the fallen nature. We embrace this process fully as individuals through a group dynamic. We willingly create a Christian social climate that fosters mutual admissions of our fallen natures as a daily reality...or we only cautiously give lip service to the same which stumbles us all.  In open climates without judgment, we discover between us a patient love for who we are as fallen beings, and there grows freedom from the fallen state.

Individuals so connected to others will find worship in spirit and truth of our Creator in the prayer closet and throughout the day. When our earthly attitudes are being composted through aeration among brethren, we find ourselves more able to draw sustenance from Him, more connected to His purity and strength, and we become more spiritually skilled at abiding on His stem resulting in a flourishing of spiritual fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in abundance.

We by grace are connected to Him, and in a responsible manner among ourselves, we practice spiritual principles of forbearance and honesty. Then our core human abilities draw life and direction from the stem of the Spirit of God rather than from the spirit of the world which burdens us. We discover a vitally different source of nutrition for our souls.

Church is a compost bin for humans.

Composted Souls

I need to empty the kitchen composter, but it's on my mind to get the second post up on the subject of the natural man.

Composting is a process for getting carbon-based stuff of all kinds to rapidly break down into a substance that can be easily worked into soil. The process invites a literal hot-bed of micro-organisms into the compost bin and thence into the soil once applied. As a result, the rich nutrition which is inherent in the carbon-based stuff is made available in the composted product and is used to boost soil for better plant growth. Plant growth from compost supported soil is vigorous and more fruitful than it might have been.

Back in the late 80s and into the 90s, I remember books and sermons and seminars about being "healed" emotionally. The line of thinking was that trauma in youth or some other point in life damaged the emotions and created an obstacle for folks in over-coming sin. The "spirit" walk that produced the fruit of righteousness was in want of an emotional state that supported it, thus gaining a "healed" state was part of the path into God. God, of course, brought the healing, yet such healing was a prerequisite to successful spirit life. Perhaps...I am not discounting the idea. I was certainly one who thought I needed healing of this kind.

I am thinking though, that the semantics of such logic sets up its own obstacles. The believer so instructed has a ready explanation and often justification for selfish behavior.  "Man, I've done it again. When will I get over the root of this problem? When will I be able to truly serve God? Better see my pastor--spiritual mentor--Christian therapist soon before I fall again."

For most, I think it better to understand what God has clearly established in the Bible is enough. The old man is waste material. It does contain some vitality or dynamism, if you will. However the value of that is simply like the value of the stem of a tomato or a gladiola or ... etc. The stem is needed for a while, but once the intent of the plant is fulfilled--the tomato is in the salad, yes?-- the stem and leaves are in the trash can for the garbage it has become. Or, for the more disciplined individual with a little foresight, that waste material ends in the compost pile.

Garbage, the Natural Man.

In our kitchen underneath the sink and out of view is a ceramic canister about ten inches tall. It is our in-house repository for kitchen waste in the first stage of becoming garden compost. 

The lid of the canister has a unique feature. Multiple small holes of about a quarter-inch each encircle the center knob of the lid. Held in place by a small rim inside the lid is a foam pad. Thus air enters the canister, but odors are not escaping. Lifting the lid might relieve a strong and sometimes offensive odor of rotting vegetable parings and coffee grounds. The odor or lack thereof is the result of the actual mix inside and the length of time it has waited on me to empty it. With the simple lid in place, however, no one need be concerned of foul smells when opening the cabinet door. Odors are kept in the canister.

When the canister is full, I empty it outside into a larger version where yard clippings, this smelling mishmash from the kitchen and piles gathered from horse barns “cook” into a rich addition to the garden soil. The key to getting kitchen waste and other organic leftovers to become a mixture suitable for the soil is aeration. The larger composting cubicle has an open, half-inch wide, grid system running horizontally every five inches up and down all four sides to promote aerobic activity within the bin. It is a similar principle to the lid in the kitchen canister.

Composting is a telling metaphor on how we deal with the natural man. I’ll head down this path next in the Wildwood.

There but for the Grace of God, Part III

The last commenter to this blog, Postmodern Redneck, stated simply what I intended for this post. Postmodern said, "... religious activity can help a person mask their sinful nature and keep from facing it."

True!

...and we Christians tend to call it "grace" from God. There is no getting around it, Jesus did say, "Forgive seventy times seven." So, yes, when we have sinned but seek forgiveness, receiving forgiveness is grace. To receive forgiveness multiple times is also a function of the deep and wondrous grace of our Lord Jesus.

Which brings us back to Jerry Sandusky and his example: a person who appears dedicated to good works, attends church regularly and maintains an abhorrent secret life of molesting children. Some people harbor a particular sin. That's it. They make friends with it, living "for Christ" outwardly while practicing the sin in hiding. This duality weighs on some, but for others, it is just the way life must be lived. The conscience becomes silenced purposely or "hardens" through the individual's lack of response. Such a condition is both evidence and process of a growing spiritual darkness. The jargon employed explaining this behavior to one's self may include phrases such as, "life-dominating sin", "the area of my struggle", or the inane euphemism "my cross to bear". Ultimately, however practicing the sin is accepted, the perpetrator accepts a rationalized truth that humans are a mixture of good and bad. Thus, the "bad" has to be accepted as inescapable reality, but the good one works is of value. Hey, one must take the good with the bad, eh?!

Seems to work okay when the "bad" is a bit of laziness, over-indulgence in food or alcohol, or maybe a bit of lying--the little white ones, of course. But we must be honest with ourselves and with the Lord. Does degree or type of sin actually dictate who receives "grace" and who does not? Is the person who tells lies occasionally, who admits these are wrong to the self, but who nonetheless accepts that behavior as both inevitable and as forgiven under the covering of God's grace any better than a man who sets up a charity that helps hundreds of kids but molests only 10-15 boys? If we allow that "grace" accepts our continuing in the sin of lying, since after all, we do much more good than that little bit of lying we won't let go of; then "grace" must have accepted Sandusky in his continuing acts of child molestation in view of the real good he accomplished otherwise.

Either God justifies individuals on the basis of the good done, or He does not. Either God must allow us to be ruled by sin under the flag of grace or our logic about grace is faulty.  Why do we Christians not notice a non sequitur. I suggest many of us simply do not accept grace for its true power. If we are claiming Christ but living with a secret sin, the evidence of this lack of understanding is clear.

Grace as undeserved forgiveness certainly is part of the gospel message. That grace does function in the face of seventy times seven. However, once we accept our sin nature as the inevitable way we must live, we have denied the spiritual reality of a grace which also equips us for walking a victorious life over our sinful natures.

Grace, the full measure of the grace in the gospel truth, leads in righteous choices. Such choice is exercised over our inclination to sin and into the light of submission before the in-dwelling Presence of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Does my natural man rule me? Yes, unless by the grace of God, I choose a different way. Except for this grace, I travel the same road of self-delusion as Sandusky and... well...every other human. 

There but for the Grace of God, Part II

The topic is child molestation not Jerry Sandusky, but as the latest public version of the problem,  he allows us a human face.

Simply put, as abhorrent as his behavior was, there is no room to cast stones at him. It is a human story of failure to recognize sin or to recognize it but fail a walk in the available grace of God. Perhaps knowing the meaning of grace is part of the problem. I contend Jerry Sandusky --no matter what he believed about God, professed about God, nor practiced in his religion -- did not understand the grace of God.

That is the end of the matter, however. Rewind to the beginning.

How did he manage to become ensnared by such vile desire? I'm guessing, but I am confident in the guess, to assert his sexual exploration began as a child with other boys, perhaps even pre-pubescent. In his teens while he acted oriented toward girls of appropriate age, he maintained some level of secret behavior involving boys. Some part of his soul driven by his fallen, flesh nature never matured beyond this. He developed heterosexually or pretended to do so, but a secret willingness to participate in homosexual behavior remained. The desire remained along with the knowledge some boys could be so coerced. With his advancing age, developing position and disposable income, he learned techniques of manipulation. This likely behavior pre-dated the start of the charity, and it is plausible he started the charity without plotting a way to groom a never-ending list of boys of the age he targeted. He may have even prayed, "God help me not use the charity this way." Such is the folly of self-denial.

I think something in him believed in doing acts of charity. This idea on my part is tied to my life experience of knowing we humans, Christian and not, are a mixed bag of good and evil decisions. How many church going folks will lie on their tax forms? How many folks would never steal anything but have very immoral sexual fantasies? How many pastors, policemen, judges, doctors, firemen, teachers, etc., went into their chosen vocation to answer some inner-drive to help fellow humans, and yet harbor feelings, desires, thoughts or out-right actions of wrong behaviors? Jerry Sandusky is not alone. He got caught because he abandoned himself to a lifestyle of self-indulgence in his prurient interest, which produced enough witnesses to incontrovertibly testify he did the acts.

Is the one who acts out a prurient desire worse than the dreamer of such? Perhaps so in most US citizen's eyes, but not when judged by the holiness of God our Father. Our actions may or may not be judged by the law. The heart is judged by God.

Next path in the Wild Wood will examine the nature of the grace of God, and Sandusky et al professing grace while living outside the same.

There but for the Grace of God...

The news is vile on most any occasion...or at least too many facets of it. Gruesome murders, scandals amid politicians and others of lesser note, child abuse, drug conglomerates leaving their piles of human debris. Sandusky couldn't be missed, eh?

The child predator appears one of the worst, no doubt. However, the unease of a man establishing a charity reaching for and lifting up under-privileged youth, who then picked his victims from the clients of the charity is peculiarly nauseating. That mask of overt goodness as a cover-up of pedophile predatory behavior ravages one's sense of trust in any goodness at all.

Raises some questions; no doubt about that at all.

How could others turn a blind eye?
How could this man's theology not scream at him he was in the wrong? (I read in the news he was a church goer of some regularity.)
How did he get himself involved in sex with minors to begin with, and why did he determine to start the charity?

I could go on.

It's all about sight, or lack thereof. I have some windows to wash so,

more later from the Wild Wood.

Yes or No? Our Binary Code.

Ever noticed how much of the spiritual life boils down to the tension between yes or no?

There are two ways to walk through any moment in life: down the path -- up the same, faithful -- not, smile -- frown, anxious -- calm, loving or not, and so it goes. Kind of like the binary language of a computer, I guess. Which way will the neuron be flipped when we make a decision that produces a course of action?

Easily, Christians reading this will jump to the high mark, of Jesus or of the world? True enough, but how many have determined that strict legalism is the way of Jesus and not the way of the world?

John warns us in 1 John 1: 1-5
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. (Light or dark?)  If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;  but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.   If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
This part of John's first letter moves forward until in chapter 3:6 we read,

No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.  Practically and spiritually the only question for living a faithful life becomes,  "Am I abiding in the Spirit of Christ ... yes or no?". 

The Lord Arm Throws Jacob to the Mat!!

Every fall, the profession of teaching does something many professions don’t do often enough. Each teacher has the opportunity to start afresh, apply new approaches, new ideas and hopefully, improve his or her effectiveness.

Better than the above is the promise of the Father:

The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3: 22-23

The love and faithfulness of the Lord are at the center of walking with Him. Believers will hear a wonderful promise from the Old Testament such as this one, then the reality of life and its disappointments cause some folks to doubt or even reject the truth of God’s existence. Recently I had the opportunity to offer encouragement regarding the faithfulness of God to both a man in his seventies and a man in his early thirties. The former simply asked me if I ever doubted God’s existence, as he revealed such thoughts after a lifetime of church-going. The latter was raised in a Christian home and attended Christian school. He has maintained his faith all of his life, including notable faithfulness in what we call the disciplines of faith.  My young friend is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of God answering prayer. All of us face one or more times of examining what we think we believe about God compared with how He appears to work in our individual life.

Scrutinizing one’s faith is varied in depth and outcome depending on individuals, but all believers will experience this  as part of the faith walk. It is a “wrestling” we must each do with the Lord. (Remember the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling with God? Genesis 32) Though believers have received the Holy Spirit, there is a life-long quest for deeper knowledge of the Lord from the moment of decision to accept the redemption of Christ. Within the believer, there is a mixture of motivations for that pursuit. It is fairly common to seek after God for what one perceives God can provide, while He seeks that a person know Him for Himself. Don’t we all prefer our friends to accept us for whom we are and simply enjoy our company rather than seek to be with us for what we have to offer them? Sifting our motivations down to only pure ones can be a root of the wrestling match. There are other issues symbolic in Jacob’s wrestling with the Lord, but the outcome of the story is why I bring it up here. When Jacob remained committed to the wrestling through the night and prevailed against God (there’s something to ponder!!), Jacob asked for a blessing; and the Lord renamed Jacob Israel. He became the father of the twelve tribes, the entire nation of God’s chosen, the group of humans in which we as gentiles have been adopted. The point: we must each wrestle in the relationship with God before we enter the path of our full blessing and destiny of our being in Him.

I may be wrong, but my guess is the friend of mine in his seventies avoided the deep things of God in the first place while following a social tradition he called faith; as he approaches the end of his life, such wrestling has begun. Never too late!

Another reason people experience a discrepancy between what they believe and expect from the Lord compared with what they actually find is incorrect or incomplete instruction embedded in traditions which are built around believing in the Lord. My young friend is overwhelmed with a sense that God isn’t Who He says He is.  The actual fallacy is that God isn’t exactly Who man has said He is.

Why does our Father engage us in wrestling? Maybe in reevaluating our faith, something impure in us wants to reject God and begins looking for “relief”. Or, the opposite is true. Something within is hungering and thirsting for more of godliness. The Father confronts the believer and ordains the wrestling as a means of revealing these inner motivations to him or her. The believer gains spiritual insight or rejects its revelations. For the one who determines to go on with the Lord, the wrestling has served the development of spiritual trust. Deeper trust in the Lord is a vital and blessed state. So, the wrestling is good for the believer. 

Some wrestle and shrink back from faith, even reject it. Some move forward into greater spiritual knowledge of God. The heart must be challenged; it needs to be weighed and known…by the individual. The Father already knows. Wrestling with Him helps us believers know ourselves.

Are you on your back spiritually, wondering what's going on? It may be your hunger for our Father and Lord has motivated Him to answer your maturity with a challenge toward growth in the area of trust. You currently feel thrown to the mat as you wrestle with Him. Every morning He greets you with fresh love and compassion, encouraging you to prevail against His challenge!

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,” Jesus as recorded in Matthew 5:6

A Related Thought to the Last Series

1 John 4: 1-6

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

Here is the conundrum of our day: How does one respond when people profess Jesus Christ and manifest behavior which appears in conflict with the spirit of the teachings of Christ?

Your thoughts?

The Spirit of the Code. Part Three.

In this post, the remaining excerpts from a church "Code" are examined. This is the church body that removed a special needs child who reacted with a loud but joyful noise following a praise song.

We Are All About the Numbers – Tracking metrics measures effectiveness. We unapologetically set goals and measure progress through all available quantitative means.

This author has to wonder if this code may help explain their behavior. Do they maintain their decorum as an honor to God or protect their attendance records? Also, does this attitude quietly suggest that something is wrong with "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I (Jesus) am in the midst of them." The modern, American church experience is often justified inside more church buildings than simply the one in question on the basis of the number of people drawn into the sanctuary. Regardless of the number jumping in, seems like a more important measure is the spiritual maturity being gained by those who are participating in the spirit of the group. How many of these "unapologetically" gathered are faithfully finding the spiritual rest, which in turn manifests the fruits of the spirit?

We Need Your Seat – We will not cater to personal preference in our mission to reach this city. We are more concerned with the people we are trying to reach than the people we are trying to keep.

Clearly the scripture makes no direct statement on how to accept a person with cerebral palsy and its physical limitations into the group gathering. However, the spirit behind a policy of removal from the gathering of one so weak feels alien to the spirit of love, patience, and goodness which we Christians proclaim is the evidence, the fruit, of the Presence of the Spirit of Christ.

We Act in Audacious Faith -- In order to dominate a city with the gospel of Jesus, we can’t think small. We will set impossible goals, take bold steps of faith and watch God move.

Domination and manipulation are the signature characteristics of the spirit of the age, the spirit of the anti-Christ. Can a group set out to "dominate" in the spirit of Christ? Has any group been called to domination of a city? Two enter a home which greets them with peace or the two leave a city shaking the dust from their feet can be found as the direction of Jesus. Preaching to thousands can be found in the "Acts of the Apostles". Domination of a city is not found in the New Testament. Are the attitudes and decisions needed to fulfill this part of the code justifiable in view of "blessed are the meek," and "blessed are the poor in spirit." Sometimes as Christians we adopt the ways of the gentiles to achieve the ends we perceive give glory to God. However, I think God holds us accountable for the ways, means and ends. An appearance of godly outcomes may be just that.

I mentioned before, I do not intend to condemn, nonetheless I am convinced the Code of the church in question is very much an evidence of what weakens the message of the gospel being preached in this spirit.

Of What Spirit is the Church "Code"? Second in a three part series

So how do we qualify the spirit of a group?

Examining the Code statements of the group in the previous post, and consider each separately against the scriptures.

1. We Are Known for What We Are For – We will speak vision and life over our people. We will lift up the salvation of Jesus rather than using our platform to condemn.

Nothing to take issue with here. Most of us Christians would agree and say something similar. It also appears fully in line with the revelation of Jesus.

Luke 9:54-56A
When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" But He turned and rebuked them, and said, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

2. We Are Ruth's Chris, Not Golden Corral – Simplicity enables excellence. We place a disproportionate value on creating a worship experience that boldly celebrates Jesus and attracts people far from God.

Likewise, most Christians would agree with attracting others by lifting up Jesus.

John 12:28-32
"Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven : "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered ; others were saying, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes. "Now judgment is upon this world ; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."


3. We Are United Under the Visionary – "church name" is built on the vision God gave Pastor Steven. We will aggressively defend our unity and his vision.

Here, I would sound an alarm.

Ephesians 4:1-6

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Oh, the dangers of lifting up the vision of one human as the vision of God for others! I am certain Pastor Steve is a fine guy, but he is just a man. The anointing is on Jesus--Christ means anointed--and as He dwells in the believer, so the anointing of God is on the believer. The anointing of God pours itself out on the righteousness of Jesus, and is therefore on each of us. To place maintaining unity on the "vision" of one man sounds good as long as it works--meaning the man is able to continue unify people around his continuing efforts. However, it begs the question of whether or not these people are unified in spirit, and in particular, are they unified in the Spirit of Christ? What unity do Christians find by declaring unity in spirit with a singular person?

Quite simply, the code as written is not in line with Ephesians 4 above. The revelation of the Word of God tells us to be unified in the Spirit of Christ not the leader's vision.

Most likely, the answer given by those who would recognize the above recorded code or something similar from their church is that the word choice is just semantics. Since Pastor Steve lifts up Jesus and is their leader, they are unified around Jesus.

I would contend there is a spiritual function associated with wording of the code that undercuts reliance on the Spirit of Christ. The power of group-think is hard to recognize inside of the group, but it is nonetheless real. Worded as is, what happens if one disagrees with anything Pastor Steve says? We are all subject to subjective emotional forces in the soul. We often adhere to a group's unwritten codes as a means of self-protection and self-justification. In a group that reinforces moral living, this force is not regarded as a bad influence. Yet, if Jesus is not the source of righteousness but merely one man's voice about Jesus, has something vitally important in the spirit of the group been sacrificed?

In part three, we will examine the remaining codes I highlighted in the original post.

On Gaining Spiritual Sight

I have come to not only love God, but am developing a better understanding of what it means for me to have faith. At some level, it appears the Christian church has made its main issue whether or not you believe first that there even is a God; and second, that belief in the Crucifixion and Resurrection are the fullness of what we must hold by faith. As true as that last statement is, I find a deeper experience of faith in moving beyond that beginning point. I hope you are able to say the same. His Presence and His overt acts of support for me in my daily life are truly vital. I am daily amazed by His love and care.

In 2010, my wife and I heard of/observed two Christian marriages of 25+ years each disintegrate. It is sad for these people and sad for the message that God is love to a hurting world. The reality is that in each marriage something broke down involving faith.

The intent to walk with God is not enough. We each are broken individuals that find strength and wisdom from God to live apart from our brokenness, but we make a mistake to believe anything about ourselves other than of our human, broken state before Him. The intention to be a Christian is not where life is found. Living in Him is where true life is found.

I have thought a lot about the question of what is it we might do that would keep us each on a life-filled path--if He is for us, how can we fail? What is our responsibility in NOT making choices which in the moment do not appear to us damaging to ourselves or our loved ones in the long run? Is it just a statistics game like throwing dice, whether or not we really mess-up our life?

I bring no condemnation, just observation to either of the two marriages I mentioned earlier. What keeps us from outcomes such as this? And I mean more than just the pain of divorce. A lifetime is but a breath in terms of eternity; but nonetheless, hours into a day, weeks into a month, years into a decade is much time and many, many decisive moments with life-changing ramifications.

Here’s something that helps, I think:

Simply put, we are our own enemy. We will act selfishly, if we act naturally from within and for the goal of the ever-present sense of “I am…, I need…, I want.”

Antidote? Engage people in your daily life with the heart-set (not just a mind-set) of putting their needs above your own. This takes on different expression if the other person is your spouse, sibling, sibling in Christ, colleague or a sales clerk; yet it is in this attitude, that we learn what it means to rely on the Presence of God. He is opened to us in our thinking and our feeling by this level of reliance.

He desires to teach us deep meanings and provide us significant insights into spiritual truth, which is absolute truth. In actively dying to self is a constant recalibrating, if you will allow the term, of our perception of the world around us. In scripture we find the renewal of the mind of Romans, chapter 12. It is this renewal, we are constantly made aware of our need to function as something greater than our own brokenness.

It is in this God-ordained renewal, that we gain spiritual sight. It is in the spiritual sight, that we can see what needs to be done and avoided in our relationships. Life will not be reduced to a list of do-good choices that guarantee spiritual success. Spiritual success does not exist.

Spiritual life in Christ is lived or mimicked or abandoned by those who speak of it.

His Resource and Our Responsibility: reflection on a work out in the Father.

Paul exhorts in Philippians to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."

We are not saved by works. However, walking in salvation provided by God is a pathway, the pathway of Jesus.

We walk the path by learning to walk in the Spirit of God. This is knowing Jesus as the way. We pass through this life in the way of Jesus and it is a work in progress. We "work" to sort our selfish desires of the natural man from the pure and righteous desires of the Spirit of God living within.

It's a work because of learning the depth of self-denial even unto the death of the natural man, which we find emotionally painful.

It is work because it is a daily-- no a moment to moment --discipline.

Think of it this way: Our Father is full of resource available in the Spirit for us, and He calls us to a sobering responsibility here in this life. (Seven of eight NT references using the word sober are exhortations to the believer to be sober in spirit.) The work is in learning what His level of available resource is for us (unlimited in all things He desires for us) balanced against what our level of responsibility is in appropriating His resources. This work is not done to gain salvation, but follows for all of the rest of life from salvation or the moment of understanding and receiving His atonement.

Work out...something we do in the gym or on the field or in the basement to build strength.

Placing yourself in the rest of Jesus within, through faith in His work on the Cross is a deep work.

The working out of our salvation builds our strength in the spirit.

Thanksgiving 2010

I am thankful to be learning the ways of the Spirit of Christ

Facing life standing on the Revelation of Jesus Christ,

All in all He is enough.

Imagining the wonders of God,

Thanksgiving and supplication in all requests of Him,

Hope is a continual state.

Facing inward to the In-Dwelling Holy Spirit,

Always at rest in the power of heaven's love

Intent on becoming the fullness of His purpose for me,

Trusting in all tribulations that His goodness is supreme,

Hindrances of the soul's burden cast on Him -- I embrace spirit

Facing upward into the grace of the Father,

Altogether the Family of God holds onto one another,

Independence of will to choose His righteous leading,

Turning away fears in confidence that He holds my family and me,

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!

Boxed God, Part III

The four views of God identified by Bader and Froese help us understand the many divisions within Christianity. The labeling of the views is necessary for communication, but individuals rarely recognize the limits created by identification as a believer in God as Authority or God as Benevolent. Rather we tend to identify ourselves as "Christian" first then some cultural extension labeled through association with a historical denomination, or in growing numbers, as non-denominational. (number of denominations and discussion of church authority here)

However, running through the flavor of the teachings we often hear are leanings toward one of those labels or views of God. Why? The answer is simple and angers some: we have mixed the Truth of God with the meager understanding of men.

The "authority" view of God stands on the idea of man's destiny to build societal structures governing humans, which reflect goodness, fairness and justice. As such, these frameworks must have authority to control the actions of all and in particular the lawless. Therefore, an ability to reference God will garner support from different factions of the electorate. More narrowly within the realm of the believing community, a view of God as authority supports the rule of an authority structure. Our need for authority shapes our view of Who God fundamentally is. The mixture occurring in this view is our basic sin of the pride of life. We want to be responsible for building a good world for which we will receive affirmation and glory.

The "benevolent" view of God is based on our human need for meaning. This view recognizes the frailty of man's ability to create justice and holds forth love itself as justice. Herein, the Christian experience is defined not by its authority structures (though interestingly, that high place is not always dismantled) but in its social activism. The problem here is that we begin to express a tolerance for sin in the name of a love. We strive here to reveal the love of God but end up loving ourselves for our own sakes and not for His glory. This is mixture with the lust of the eyes.

The "critical" view of God is often held by populations of the world who have been the downtrodden and exploited, or perhaps, those who have felt a need for revenge but know they cannot act on such raw feeling. The focus on the need for justice becomes an assurance that it will come at the end of time. Certainly it is true that God has told us there will be a judgment of all men for all deeds, but the limits of this view are the limits of the earthly conflicts that exist over who will control wealth, beauty, and power. By focusing on the judgment due those who make seeking such control the meaning of their lives, we play out our own greed in masked sublimation. This is mixture with the lust of the flesh. (more careful discussion of the basic sins of life found here.)

Thoughts on the "Distant God" and my conclusions are the next path in the Wild Wood.

Boxed God, Part II

In America's Four Gods, Froese and Bader analyze and label the way Americans view God. I have experienced the labels personally. I have discussed a variety of topics with others whose perspectives were clearly based on one of these views. There are a couple of thoughts and three conclusions I would share here, but it will take a post or two after this one.

I wish you could be here to do this with me over coffee. The mountains are in full blown color, and this fall startles the eye and calms the heart with God's brilliant brush--unlike any in recent memory!

I wonder if that last statement is a view of the Father's benevolence, or if it is more influenced by seeing God as distant and known only through His creation?

Therein lies a great truth shared among those of faith. God is not reduced to one side of His character and few would try to limit God to a label. (I haven't read the book--probably won't take the time--but I suspect the authors make that point, as well. At least, I hope.) Yet, the reality is, American religion and politics does just that. People of all stripes find a corner of God in which they relate to Him and from within those limits, identify "His" (read that "their") goals for society. Thus is the preaching and politicking done. Unfortunately most often to the detriment of both the spiritual experience of faith and the failure of reaching good ends in the political realm.

What is it my mother used to tell me? "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." She probably hoped for a benevolent God but kept Him in her Distant view.

Leave your coffee cup in the sink. I have to run you off, so I can get ready for work. Part three soon, maybe tomorrow.

Living Beyond Sin

I have a goal in life...live in the Spirit of Christ.

Within that goal are smaller objectives that support the goal. These include but are not limited to helping our family maintain and further develop in the love in Christ amongst us; help a family of believers in the Lord with whom my wife and I fellowship do the same; make friends and extend the deep heart of God in reconciliation with those I know but who do not know Him, and so it goes.

Examining my own life and observing the real world around me has been a continual classroom of learning. Class should teach facts, principles of the topic under study, known solutions to obstacles of those principles, analysis skills appropriate to the topic, and applications of knowledge and evaluations of outcomes which expand knowledge and establish confidence within the topic and beyond.

I've learned there is an obstacle to achieving the stated goal above, which must constantly be navigated.

The sinful nature of humans. Were it not for this obstacle, it would be a perfect world.

In wrestling with my sin nature over the years, I have pondered the questions of the last post often. I think all the answers are described in our Scriptures--Thank You, God!--we must simply apply faith to walk in the Truth of those answers. postmodern redneck responded to the last post with a clear summation of the work of "grace" in "sanctification" or for the uninitiated in theological terms: God's grace is His being willing to approach our sinful souls which are so alien to His perfection and move to help us, which leads us in the decision to separate and walk away from our natural inclination to live the habits and practices of the fallen world around us. This becomes a continuing process into ever-increasing levels of holiness.

Hmmm..."Holiness" there's a theological term that has ripped up more than one group of Christians. Some groups even take on this term exactly as part of a name. I won't even start on the lack of faith inherent in the naming of groups!

Back to sin or the opposite state of holiness.

Perhaps our greatest real problem is that we deal with sin in a sinful manner. Jesus said, "It is finished," on the cross. He meant His work on earth, and that means He had defeated God's enemy, Satan, who would no longer be able to enslave with sin humans who receive that completed work of grace.

Did you hear any fatalism in the account of the last post in which a pastor says to his flock, we only have a choice of what sin will be ours?