“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” – 1 Corinthians 13:13

Of the three virtues of faith, hope and love, it has been hope which I have struggled with the most recently. All three of these terms have been buried in the shallow “greeting card” culture modern Christianity, and family bookstores, have so eagerly adopted. I have already written on trying to take back a deeper understanding of faith and love, but hope has eluded me. Only has recent experiences given me a fresh perspective on a possible look into the true virtue of hope.

Leaving the Delusion

“Hope” is a word that has been in getting a lot of attention with the last few years of politics, both as a battle cry and as a patronizing insult. Many have become jaded toward the concept of hope since, “what good is hoping for better if you won’t do anything about it?” Hope has become a symbol of delusional thinking.

Hope can easily be a delusion, depending on what we are putting our hopes in. Do we hope we will be richer? Do we hope that “everything will work out” if we just sit and wait? Do we hope that our circumstances will miraculously change? If we are hoping for these things, then we are indeed deceiving ourselves.

What We Should Hope For

“But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.” – Matthew 6:20

Scripture gives us two clear directions for where we should invest our hope. First, we put our heart and our hope in the life to come. This world will never be the ideal place we wish it could be. If people invest all their hopes in this world, they will always be disappointed. Our ultimate hope is that we endure this life with grace and determination knowing the kingdom of God is our true reward.

“for the law brought nothing to perfection; on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.” – Hebrews 7:19

Second, and juxtaposed to the first, we put our hope in the possibility of redemption in this life. No matter the relationship or the person, we are instructed to endure, suffer, and forgive to always keep open the possibility of reconciliation. I believe our deepest darkest moments in life are when we give up on the possibility of redemption either with others or with ourselves. Redemption is the miracle we hope for in this life.

When Hope Reveals God

Expecting a miracle, especially one of our own design, is dangerous. However, when we acknowledge a situation is beyond our control, focus our attention on what we can control, and leave the rest providence we often find in hindsight a divine hand working miraculously toward redemption.

I am going to try something new here.  Below are some thoughts on Heaven from a good friend of mine, and below that, is my response.  I think a lot of people have these thoughts regarding the afterlife, and I feel like this is a good way to draw them out.

—————————————–

From Todd:

I woke up in a sweat, aliens were fighting to take over earth and my friend Des and I were left battling for our existence. When I left my area, the aliens, which were machines, were attacking me and another machine was fighting me, but no match (no, I didn’t just watch transformers). Running to get Des and let him know it was over, I was scared. I dreamt that together maybe we could make it, but then running to the escape pod, I realized the aliens had set a self destruct and we had minutes left. Running, I knew I was going to die in less than four minutes.

Now I am sweating. I think to call someone, but I don’t. I continue to run. I turn to Des and ask him if he is ready to go to Heaven, I answer to myself “no”….then roll over and I am awake.

Grabbing my iPad I have to get this thought out. Why? Why aren’t we ready to go to heaven? Maybe everyone else is ready and I’m the only one who isn’t. After 42 years on earth, I guess I’m just used to it. I have been going to church since I was born, and Heaven never once came across as a bad place to be… so why not go? Heck, the way most preachers make it sound, we should be lining up to get in…buy we aren’t. As a matter of fact, we fight. Have a crappy life… it might get better. Lose a family member at a young age…work through the pain. Got cancer…most people fight it.

But why? In the bible heaven is described as a place of rewards:

“Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:12)

“Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward [is] great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” (Luke 6:23)

(I’m sure like most people, the way I have lived my life sure doesn’t deserve any rewards.)

And where God is worshipped:

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:8-11)

Am I so selfish? has my life on earth been tainted so much that the thought of “forever worship” is a struggle? What if it was worship on the beach? Or worship from 10am to 6pm with a nice hour long lunch….then would I have the same feelings

Heaven sounds good? Doesn’t it?

18 And the building of the wall of it was [of] jasper: and the city [was] pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city [were] garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation [was] jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates [were] twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city [was] pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.

Heck, who wouldn’t want to go? No mention of the restaurants or the nightlife, but c’mon, it sounds good, right?

But my original question remains, now for just you believers in Christ, if Heaven is a place where we spend an eternity with God in a beautiful city, worshipping our creator, why are we scared to enter?

—————————————–

From Yaholo:

From a personal perspective, and as another friend of mine once said, it is not that I am afraid to die, it is that I am ashamed to.  I have a strong drive to want to accomplish some level of good in the world. I want to raise a good family, and be a reliable provider.  I have much I wish to teach and instruct others, so that knowledge I have fought for can continue after I am gone.

Of course, I am sure there is a lot of vanity here.  A desire for a legacy, the hubris to think I can make an impact on the world, and the lack of faith to think that God cannot use my work after I am gone.  I am aware of all these traits, but never-the-less believe I have some honorable motivations to live.  If death came early, I wouldn’t meet it without regret.

I also tend to disagree with the whole “afterlife as a goal” mindset.  There is a purpose for this life, and there is something divine and holy in our struggle.  Christ himself said that eternity is “knowing God” (John 17:3).  Knowing God is a life we start now, not after we die.  I think it may be a disservice to throw away the value of this life and only think about the next.  Heaven may be a great a rest, but our work is here.

Technorati Tags: afterlife, heaven

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple… Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?… Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?” - Luke 14:27-28,31

There is a big difference between innocence and naivety.  Sadly, we tend to attribute virtue to both.  In fact, I am not sure there is much virtue in either.  While innocence can be the absence of evil, naivety is the void by which evil will inevitably fill a soul.  Jesus was an innocent, but certainly not naive.  Even more, Jesus warned us against naivety and taught us to prepare for suffering and hardship BEFORE beginning the tasks before us.

I have seen so many, myself included, who have set out to do some measure of good in the world out of a sense of injustice or righteous indignation only to have their efforts cause more harm than good.  We look at the failings of others, judge them harshly, and then set out to prove them corrupt while we are “holy”.  In the end, we become surprised by the burden of work, the depth of the darkness, and lack of return.  At this point the naive become jaded, cynical, and filled with self-pity.

Doing “God’s work” isn’t easy or fun and often harsh and difficult.  Those who do not count the cost of serving Christ are doomed from the beginning.   We are not called to work for worldly benefit or comfort.  We called to work because the work needs done.  The reward is that when one is able to throw themselves into the divine labor of charity they will find themselves working right along God.  It is for the intimacy of the Holy Spirit that we give without thought of return and work with care for fruition.

“He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, ‘Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.’” – Matt. 18:2-3

Whenever I find a verse in Scripture that doesn’t seem clear, I keep it top-of-mind. I can’t help it really. Matthew 18 has stuck in my head for years. Becoming like a child has so many possible meanings, and Jesus places such a high importance on being “childlike”, I was not content to settle with traditional answers. It wasn’t until recently, being a father and a teacher, that I have begun to understand this passage. The most valuable spiritual trait of a child is unknowing.

It is amazing how much adults think they know. We have the whole world figured out. As our excuse, we have to get up everyday and fulfill a litany of obligations. It would be hard to do this, day in and day out, if we didn’t place a certain level of important and permanence to our actions. In the end, however, it is all an illusion. Our view of reality is small and warped, and our actions are little more than barely conscious plankton riding an ocean wave. In the words of the Preacher, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity”.

Children know nothing, they are a blank slate. They look to the world, to others, and to God as ready receptacles of learning. They are seeking truth, not pausing for a second to assume they have already found it. Children place great trust in those who teach them. It is their greatest strength and greatest vulnerability. To take the instruction of another gives them power over you, a power which Christ demands we surrender to Him so that we may learn holiness.

Perhaps that is why adults stop learning, we don’t want to be vulnerable. We are afraid of being fooled or made fools of. Maybe that is why we are so hesitant to jump with both feet into a relationship with Christ, and instead wade our toes in the shallow pools of religious exhibition. We like the perception of control that comes from a limited material existence.

Unknowing is a common term in Christian Mysticism, but it took me a while to connect the dots to Matthew 18. The Cloud of Unknown by Unknown (most ironic author ever) is also well known staple of Christian Mysticism. It is a discipline the sages have taught and pleaded with us for years. We are so quick as adults to feel like we have an answer for everything. Not just as religious people, scientists, doctors, and philosophers have always been quick to claim to claim they have things “figured out”. (Remember “Humorism”?) It makes us feel safe to think the world is no bigger than we are.

Despite all the fear and uncertainty that comes from unknowing, there is one out-shining benefit… Discovery! I am jealous when I see my son’s eyes light up as he learns and discovers the wonders of the world around him. I envy the journey he is on. I realize how I could still be on that journey myself if I just let go of my own assumptions as well. The kingdom of heaven is eternal and infinite. So to live in it you must have a mind that is infinitely capable, the mind of a child.

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Related (and where I reused the photo from): Precious Childhood Memories

Technorati Tags: childlike, Christian Mysticism, like a child, unknowing

There is no greater virtue a person can have to foster spiritual growth than humility, and no greater poison than self-deprecation. It has been surprising to me how intertwined and confused these two very different concepts have become. As an almost humorous phenomenon, self-deprecation seems to have taken over from an “I am more humble than you are” contest in religious social-status struggles. Despite the cause, telling the difference between humility and self-deprecation is both a relief and a wake-up call to those striving toward holiness.

Self-Deprecation is a lie, manipulating both yourself and others.

There is a lot of “I” in self-deprecation. “I am a bad person”, “I am not worthy”, “I am not important”, “I am worthless”, etc. Ironically, those who think they may be practicing humility are very self-focused. An attitude of self-deprecation is manipulative, and is ultimately used as an excuse for avoiding responsibility. “I can’t do that, I am not talented enough, smart enough, experienced enough”… and so on. It can also become a way to defer responsibility to others under the guise of humility. “Oh, you should be in charge of that, you are much better than I am…”

Allowing the confusion between self-deprecation and humility to fester in a church or religious organization has it’s own painful consequences. Too often, people who show confidence and courage in their ministries are rebuked as being “arrogant” or “prideful”. Since self-deprecation is easier to impersonate outwardly than humility, people will use it as a way of “one-upping” others in political situations.

Pride is not the opposite of shame, but it’s source.

Using the word “pride” in a sermon is like using the word “Nazi”, everyone agrees it is bad and you can unify an audience quickly by speaking against it. However, the knee-jerk reaction people have to pride is shame. “If I don’t feel bad about myself, I must be prideful.” This attitude is all flavors of wrong.

The truth is, someone who is truly humble and has no pride, does not feel shame. To be truly humble is to have a clear view of our reality. To follow Christ, one accepts the duality of both being a sinner and the potential to be holy. How can someone who has already acknowledged their sin, and committed themselves to pursuing holiness, stumble into shame when their sin is revealed? We do not pursue holiness because we are worthy but because Christ has enabled us to do so, how can we then concern ourselves with our worth?

Those who have pride want others to see them better than they really are, and shame is experienced when our real selves are exposed.

True humility brings joy, liberation, and draws us closer to others.

“Truly, I say to you, unless you repent and become like a child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3-4

“Those who are indifferent to praise or blame have great tranquility of heart.” – Thomas a Kempis

Yes, we are all sinners, but that is whole point of Grace. If we were constantly tied to our past, what hope have we to grow? Parent and teachers want their children to grow, to learn from their mistakes, but most of all to move forward. What kind of child would come from a parent who constantly reminded them of past mistakes? All of us who love our children care little for their mistakes, but are passionate for their successes. God views us, His children, in much the same light.

So why then does Scripture speak so much about the importance of humility? Humility is important because it is all part of becoming “like a child”. We accept that we do not know everything, or much at all, so that we can be supple of mind and not ridged when life throws unexpected things our way. We accept that we are sinners and that we are forgiven so we are not crushed as our faults are exposed in our pursuit of holiness. We listen to others because we respect them.

The truly humble are unshakable. They cannot be shamed because they have no false self-images. They cannot be discouraged when they make mistakes because they expected them. They cannot be stagnant because they love instruction, and always know they need to learn. They cannot be taken advantage of because they have no ego to stroke and pay no heed to the insults or complements of others. The humble live only as seeing themselves before God, and no other opinion matters. They are never content to stay put but never frustrated with their progress.

The humble experience great joy because life is a challenge and they are no longer in their own way.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, humility, self-deprecation

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend a it. – John 1:5

and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness – Romans 2:19

All through Scripture we see the struggle between good and evil represented as light and darkness. This is not a mere poetic analogy but a profound declaration as to the very nature of good and evil. Just as darkness has no substance, nor mass, nor force, evil is also nothing more than a void. Just as darkness is nothing more than an absence of light, so is evil nothing more than an absence of good. It is not the task of darknesses to become light, light must fill the darkness. If we meditate on this reality, we realize our responsibility is great, and our perception of our world is in need of changing.

Evil Has No Responsibility to Become Good, Good Must Fill Evil

Darkness cannot become light, light must be produced to fill the darkness. So many Christians, who have grown up with loving homes, tend to judge the poor and lost as deserving of their status due to bad behavior. We don’t stop to think what our own behavior might suffer for lack of love, education, and guidance. When a soul is born into the world, it is empty, needing to be filled. When a soul grows up, without love, it is a void and a parasite. An empty soul wanders to fill itself with whatever it can, not even aware of what it is missing.

Forgiveness and Mercy Are Unconditional for a Reason

The lost often act out according to their status. They rob, they lie, they abuse. When you have never known someone you can trust, moral priorities tend to change. This was just as much the case in Jesus’s time as our own. It’s not like the poor Jesus talked about were all well behaved and good mannered individuals, and only the poor today are so ill-mannered.

Jesus used such strong words regarding forgiveness and charity, not because people deserve it, but because they NEED it. The lost, the poor, the criminal will stay in the dark until those of us, with a little light to offer, take the first steps. Without this understanding, all religion breaks down into uselessness.

Becoming More Than a 5-Watt Bulb

None of us alive have received our full measure of love in this life, it is our human condition. We have all been scarred, hurt, let down, and left wanting. Even the most fortunate of us are still a little empty or “dark” inside. So were is the hope? If we are left unfilled, how can we fill others without an abundance? So I say, isn’t this the whole point of Christianity?

Jesus Christ gave us very little religion, but what He did provide was entirely based around providing us a source of independent nourishment. Grace, charity, love, prayer, faith is all about filling our own darkness with light directly from the source. At some point in our lives, someone becomes Christ to us, shows us the source, and then become filled from it directly. This is salvation, to be free from reliance on man for our light. Those of us who have been redeemed now are under obligation to show this light to others, not that we can completely fill their darkness, but that we can prove the light exists by our actions and behavior so that others may have hope.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, darkness, good and evil, light

“Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” – Benjamin Franklin

We humans tend to live in extremes.  Most people who drink, drink to get drunk.  If not, it is because they don’t drink at all.  Most people who smoke, chain smoke packs of cigarettes a day.  The rest of us stare them down while exaggerating our coughs to show how disgusting they are.  We gorge ourselves on fatty foods, or obsessively count calories (or carbs).  We surround ourselves with sexually charged entertainment, or blush at statues in the local art gallery.  This is our nature, which is the whole reason temperance was once a virtue we strived for, because it is so contrary to our nature but oh-so good for us!

In all things in life that bring us pleasure, there is the possibility of also bringing us harm.  Everyone has heard the phrases “all things in moderation” or “too much of anything is a bad thing”.  It would seem that those who fear for their moral or physical health tend to therefore conclude, “if it could be bad for me, why do it at all?”, or worse, “if it can be bad for you at all, then it is bad, period.”

People usually laugh and shrug off the quote by Benjamin Franklin I included at the top of this article, and while it is obviously somewhat hyperbolical, I believe the sentiment is accurate.  Just about every pleasurable thing on this earth was meant, by God, to do just that – to bring us pleasure.  The only alternative is that God all these things on earth purely as temptation to torment us, which is not something I find reasonable.

But there is more to it than pleasure, I believe that just like work, God made play as something to be mastered, which brings me back to temperance.  Food is better for us when prepared with love and labor, the worst food we have is “fast food”.  Wine is better when created by artisans who have worked hard, and then let the wine age over time.  Cigars have been enjoyed for ages with little guilt, but it is cigarettes that are killing us.

When we seek to master our pleasures, they become even more beneficial to us.  When we seek to cheaply consume our pleasures, out of pure gluttony, they produce in us all kinds of illness and mental disturbances.  Recent medical science has shown us the drastic contrast as moderate drinking is so good for us, and heavy drinking is so harmful (just Google “Moderate alcohol intake”).

And who drinks “moderately”?… People who enjoy quality wines, good beers, and fine spirits.  No one buys Bud Light to “savor the taste”.  People who smoke less than once a week don’t smoke cigarettes (or at least not the kind you find as gas stations), and those who have truly healthy sex lives, aren’t to be found at your local strip club.

So would this have to do with Christian Mysticism?  Well, it is hard to find a more effective way to balance the spirit, but taming and mastering the appetites of the body.  Not to be sanctimonious, and often self-abusive, by pursuing some kind of unnatural abstinence from all pleasures, but to be in control.  Using the earth God gave to us as a tool, using what we have, and not being used by it.  For the man who has dominance over his “vices” is healthier than the man who is dominated by them, and happier than the one who hides in fear of them.  Maybe Adam Ant was right after all….

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving…” 1 Timothy 4:4

NOTE:  Image at the top from the window of “The Men’s Toy Shop” in Nashville, IN.  A wonderfully old-fashined small business run by great people, stop by if you can!

Technorati Tags: Abstinence, Christian Mysticism, Gluttony, Temperance

We are all born pagan. I realize how harsh that sounds, but just think about it. Idol worship and superstition come naturally to us. We quickly develop rituals to help our favorite sports teams have “good luck”. Gamblers blow on dice, lottery players have lucky numbers, and Friday the 13th still brings out caution in many (and maybe a rabbit’s foot or two). Even those of us enlightened “mono-theists” have our own methods of bargaining with “forces out of our control” to try to get what we want.

I see a lot of mutual frustration among well meaning pastors and active laity in their efforts to inspire and motivate their bothers and sisters toward a productive faith. I have thought much on the dilemma, on what it is which holds us back, and the best term I could come up with to describe it was “The God Bargain”. The sad truth is so many people approach Christianity as a method of appeasing God as opposed to actually just obeying God. Its a bargain, “God, I will do what you want if you help me *insert favor*”.

PERSONIFYING CHAOS

Many things in life are beyond our control. It would seem humanity as a whole has developed a habit of personifying everything we can’t directly manage. All pagan cultures throughout time have created gods for fertility, harvest, weather, hunting (ample game), love, and health… all the things we can’t directly control (or couldn’t until recently). Throughout the years of human history, man has taken everything out of his control, assigned it a god, and tried to gain that god’s favor. (Notice there are no ancient gods for “get your ass out of bed”, hard work, perseverance, charity, forgiveness, or rehab.)

Now that we live in a Judeo-Christian culture, we just take all those things out of our province and blame one God for them. Which leads me to ask this question: Aren’t we just being pagan if all we have done is consolidated our gods together but still think and behave the same? How have we changed if our prayers, rituals, and sacrifices are done in the hopes of getting good fortune from an appeased God?

IS GOOD LUCK DIVINE?

“that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.” Matthew 5:45

So the question is becomes, just how should we approach good luck/fortune or bad? Is good fortune a sign of God’s approval, and bad fortune a sign of God’s punishment? NO! Emphatically, I say it is not. Any kind of assumption regarding fortune and God creates a kind of insanity. Are we to question our purity when lightning strikes our home and destroys our DVD player? Are we to assume our sins have gone overlooked when we find a twenty dollar bill in our coat pocket left from last winter? Is our sports team more in favor with God the year they won, and offending Him the year they loose (in which we can only conclude that one sports team can appease God at a time)? To look for “omens of fortune” to interpret God’s Will drives us to paranoia.

Life is hard for everyone, period, and God does not show favoritism. Expecting life’s challenges to go away, or diminish just because we are on “God’s side” is foolish and arrogant. If one looks at Scripture we find just the opposite, Jesus warns us to expect life to actually get HARDER when we choose to follow Him. True Christian discipleship is not the way of safety and comfort, it is the Way of the Cross.

LIFE DOESN’T CHANGE, WE DO

So as the blog title says (look out! shameless self-promotion coming up), let’s bring this back to some practical Christian Mysticism (told ya!). We don’t follow Jesus Christ for some shallow hope in worldly blessings, we carry our Cross because we are convicted of our own need to change. Discipleship isn’t about DOING it is about BECOMING. We strive to become like Christ, but more accurately, we strive to become what Christ intended us to be.

The world around us changes; not because we have favor with God, but because when we seek the face of God we change and begin to effect the world. Life doesn’t get easier, we get stronger. Our fortunes don’t improve, they just become less relevant. If we truly believe God loves us, and we cannot earn or lose this love, then it is not God who changes His attitude toward us, we change our attitude toward God.

STOP BARGAINING

Everyone starts their spiritual and religious journeys with pagan/superstitious habits of some kind. It is just our nature, and it takes time to mature. I write this article in large part from self-reflection of my own habits. I often find myself loosing perspective and trying my own bargains. However, I see many people struggle because they bargain with God and use that as the basis for their faith. I see people live “moral” or religious lives in hopes of convincing God to give them something, just to become jaded and discouraged.

Bargaining with God cheapens faith and robs us of the true blessings God has for us. There is so much to learn, to discover, and experience in life. When we use our religion as a bargaining tool, we keep ourselves stuck in a worldly perspective. We may believe in a God, but we are keeping our hearts in material and shallow concerns. Besides, we don’t get any credit for “believing”:

“You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” James 2:19

GOD’S GRACE

“Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it might leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will rather boast most gladly of my weaknesses, in order that the power of Christ may dwell with me.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

To temper this article a bit, I want to end with God’s grace. Grace is something we all have access to, but is not to be confused with luck, fortune, or even blessings. Just like God’s love, we don’t earn God’s grace, it is given. God gives His grace so we can have room to grow and mature in Christ. If God did not give His grace, we would be crushed under the weight of our own sins and foolishness.

God gives grace to us generously, and all who trust in God enough to just go out into the world and live experience it. The grace we receive is sufficient for us to learn from our mistakes and have a chance to recover from them. God’s grace is sufficient for us to grow each day, not being dragged down by what we were before.

A FATHER, NOT A DEALER

God is our Father, not a tradesman. Does a good father demand actions from a child before offering his love (I said “good” father)? Does a good father wait for his child to grow up and prove himself before he takes the child into his home? So why do we think of God this way? Everything God has for us, He has already given, which means it is up to us to seek it, accept it, and live it.

Related Article: Our Abundant Common Grace

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, God bargain, God bargaining, God's Grace

Man wants to be free, but always looks for a king to rule him. A strange contraction in human nature. The truth is, when things are great and seem to be under our control, we just want to be left alone. We don’t want anyone to tell us what to do when we have what we want, and we gladly take credit for our own fortune. However, when things get bad, we cry for a savior and blame anyone but ourselves for the troubles we find ourselves in. (Hmm… I think I just defined both political ideologies) Everyone has varying degrees of each in their lives, but this article is about the latter: Our search for a messiah to save us from our troubles. The sad truth is, we had one, but we didn’t like what he had to offer.

There is another prevalent contradiction of human nature. We so readily look to the mystical, the divine, and the spiritual to solve our material, carnal, and temporal desires. God gave us freewill, and yet we take every opportunity to convince ourselves and others that we are helpless victims and without the power of choice. We blame society, circumstances, and other people for our lives and then look to someone or something to swoop in and save us from our persecution.

Jesus encountered these paradoxes frequently during His time in our reality. As people confessed Him to be the Messiah, they then turned to Him to solve the troubles and conflicts of their own world. While Jesus did many miracles of physical healing and material provision during his ministry, He stopped short of what people really wanted from Him… political and social conquest.

The Crucifixion was a bewilderment to the disciples. When Jesus tried to tell His disciples of His rapidly encroaching tribulation, Peter responded saying, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” As what was surely a shock to such a passionate expression of concern, Jesus responded, “Get behind me, Satan! you are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Why did Jesus react this way? It was because Peter, like many of his time, were looking at Jesus as a “material messiah”. Peter was looking for Jesus to free the Jews from Rome and establish a great earthly nation of which Jesus would reign over. Of course, this did not happen, nor was it supposed to. Instead, Jesus gave us something else… individual redemption and spiritual freedom.

It is not hard today to see that we are born as slaves to sin. Any Alcoholics Anonymous councilor, or rehab specialist, can tell you that man is often lacking “something” needed to take control of his own life. Jesus knew this, and offered man redemption through repentance. Through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and then later gift of the Holy Spirit, God gave us the chance and the power to became the individuals He created us to be in the first place.

Jesus came, and then left, and He left us with nothing more or less than what we needed to truly live. And truth be told, most of us hate HIm for it. We didn’t want “spiritual” redemption, we wanted physical redemption. We wanted someone to give us a steady income, a worry-free life, a safe home, and good health.  We didn’t want to have a path open to begin a relationship with God, we wanted path open to a new car (Ok, nerds… would ” new chariot” be more historically accurate for you?). Jesus and the disciples tell us to look at life’s sufferings as a challenge and gift unique to this life… but we would have preferred Jesus left the receipt so we could have exchanged it for a new expresso machine.

Now today, we still have our many problems and troubles, all of which we brought on ourselves with our own greed and selfishness. Instead of looking at our own failures, we look once again for a leader, a savior, a messiah to fix it all for us and make our lives better. Little do we realize the only way that will ever happen is if we do it ourselves. We must repent, face our sins, and seek forgiveness. Only then will we see clearly enough to fix our own mess.

Technorati Tags: Christian Mysticism, fake messiahs, Jesus Christ, material messiahs, political saviors

As a life-long C.S. Lewis fan, I always enjoy taking a minute and reflecting on the many contributions he made to Christian Mysticism.  I especially enjoy addressing the lessons inferred amidst his fictional writings.  One of my favorite mystical lessons, is the lesson of the wardrobe.  In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe C.S. Lewis teaches us a great lesson about seeking a relationship with the Living God… you can’t find God in the same place twice.

“I don’t think it will be any good trying to go back through the wardrobe door to get the coats.  You won’t get back to Narnia again by that route… Yes, of course you’ll get back to Narnia again someday… But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all.  It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it.”  – The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, the Professor talking to the children who just left Narnia.

Everyone who seeks after God, has encountered Him at some point in their lives.  There is always some point where God’s presence is so clear, that we ever wondered why we doubted.  But then the moment passes, and passes, and fades.  After a while we wonder if we experienced it at all.  In an existential panic, we try to recreate the experience, only doing more to prove to ourselves it never happened in the first place.

Let’s take the Professor’s advice here.  We should no go back and look for God where we previously encountered Him, rather we should move forward without looking at all.  Where would Moses have been had be returned to the burning bush for a fresh dose of prophetic inspiration, rather than moving forward with the task he had already been given?  Where would Paul have been traveling back to Damascus to look for a bright light?  Our encounters with the Divine are singularly unique, and it is our fault, not God’s, that we forget them so easily.

It is also part of how God encourages our continual growth and maturity.  If God stayed in the same place, so would we.  Rather, God reveals Himself at moments we need Him most, then moves on, hoping we will continue to seek Him.  As we move on, out of obedience, we find God without looking, and in a way we had never experienced before.

Technorati Tags: C.S. Lewis, Christian Mysticism, living God, Seeking God, The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe