Too many Christians don't understand the nature of their faith. We think we have "arrived" because of things we do or don't do. Our prayers are that of the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 "God, I thank you I am not like other people...."
Have we forgotten that we are all spiritual prostitutes, bought back with the blood of Christ? The origin of our hearts is a place of death and bondage and sin.
So, it rather surprises me when I see a fellow ex-soul-prostitute cast stones at the origin of things. I've been ruminating on this as a result of celebrating Easter. Rather, how some Christians refuse to celebrate the "pagan" holiday of Easter. As a Christian who follows the rhythms of the the Church Year, the season of Easter is the Pièce de résistance of the entire year. Without Easter we are still dead in our sins. But, we have been made alive with Christ! Easter carries the full weight of our faith.
This is why some Christians have decided to stop the "pagan" madness and only refer to Easter as Resurrection Sunday. That's OK. It's true. But, usually this includes a baning of Easter eggs and the Easter bunny and, well, the word Easter (I mean, even if your ailing grandmother wants to give your children a few Easter eggs to bring moments of joy to her waning life...get behind me, Satan!). I'm all for people practicing their faith based off of conviction from the Holy Spirit, however, these kinds of banings can be a slippery slope into a pit of hypocrisy and legalism.
If you read about the history of Easter you will, indeed, read about a pagan heritage. This will be true of Christmas as well. (It's true of you too...I'm just sayin'). Everyone should be free to make decisions that help them honor Christ with their lives. If they feel they will be led to think less of Christ on Easter (Ehem, Resurrection Sunday) because they held an Easter egg in their hand then...that's between them and the Lord. Those people may want to note that the Christmas tree also has pagan origins, oh, and eating ham on Easter, and also, sunrise services, um, also, the wedding ring. You'd be surprised how many things we Christians have usurped from others for the celebration and glory of God and His people!
Usually, decisions to ban "unclean things" are held (and brandished) with little grace and no chance for redemption. And, in my experience, they are accompanied by judgements that condemn other people, places, and things with "dirty" origins. They result in alienating people by way of pride, which is antithetical to the humble inclusion of Christ's resurrection.
Truthfully, it's easier to crusade for a purer Easter than it is to stare into the face of our own hypocrisy and sin. It's easier to show our "devotion" to Christ by abstaining from Easter eggs or secular music or movies than it is to examine how we treat our children or talk to our spouses or judge others in pride.
We serve a God who specializes in redeeming things. God took a murdering fugitive and used him to rescue His people. God accepted a prostitute into the very lineage of Jesus for her faithfulness. God took the idea of the city (which was created by the first murderer in the Bible as a direct rebellion against God's command to wander, and, which has a long history of rebellion) and has plans to ultimately redeem it as the eternal residence of His people. The entire Bible declares stories such as these.
Our God doesn't care much about the origin of things. If He did we'd all be screwed. What He cares about is how His mercy and grace can bring strength from weakness, holiness from paganism, life from death. And we are to follow our Savior, rushing grace and mercy to those in need, not through alienating legalism, but by waking up each morning and thanking God that the face you see in the mirror is no longer the face of a treacherous, pagan, soul-prostitute, but the redeemed child of God.
Let's instead be about redemption work! Let us as Christians (as Christians have already historically done) redeem Easter for Christ...Easter eggs, ham and sunrise services in celebration of the Lord and the family He has given us! We can include people in our family memories around Christmas trees, knowing our hearts are fully the Lord's. We can embrace stories like the Lord of the Rings (which for some holds taboo use of mysticism) for the aspects of the story that speak Biblical truth...devotion, sacrifice, loyal friendship, the triumph of good over evil. We can look into the eyes of someone the world has written off--thieves and murderers and drug dealers--and see future men and women of God!
When we really understand God's grace in our lives, everything we do begins to soften in light of it. Legalism lessens as the love of Christ flows out. True conviction (and the real Resurrection spirit) starts always with humility and ends in redemption!
Showing posts with label Pride. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pride. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Forgiveness
I am not quick to forgive. I have, what my husband calls a "justice mentality," and what I have often called my "Holy Spirit complex." I want right to be done, wrong to be vanquished and the truth to be proclaimed...and preferably in my favor.
In my mind there is a right and a wrong, a winner and a loser. And what has really driven me crazy in life is that I used to believe that whoever brings the most truth to the table "wins." A few more years into life, however, I know that whoever brings the most crazy "wins." That just doesn't seem right. Add it to the list of injustices in the world.
I've spent a lot of time trying to force people to see the truth...sometimes actual truth and sometimes my own version, I suppose. When they don't see it, it infuriates me. It is even worse when I am personally hurt and not just pissed off at a more general injustice.
So, it's ironic that today I'm leading a devotion for some of our World Impact volunteers about forgiveness. It covers the passage in Mark 2 where a paralytic is brought to Jesus by some crazy friends, who actually dig a hole in the roof of the building where Jesus is teaching and lower the paralyzed man down to Jesus for healing. I'd have liked to be in that room and seen the first clod of dirt hit the floor. People start looking at the ceiling in confusion as little by little more sunlight and dirt starts pouring into their eyes. And then, all of a sudden, a man appears with four eager faces hovering over his still body. But, then Jesus does something very odd (and to stand out as odd when there's suddenly a man hanging from the ceiling says something). As the man's air-borne pallet hits the floor, He tells him his sins are forgiven.
What a let down that must have been for the man, hoping and praying that his limbs would start to move! I mean, imagine it! You haven't walked in years, if ever, and you're waiting for some tingling sensation to start in your toes when, instead, you get your sins forgiven. I'd have been disappointed. You would have too, I think.
It's humbling, for an unforgiving person, to realize that in God's Kingdom forgiveness is of first importance. Jesus does heal the man physically, but only after the important healing has already taken place. His dancing legs were not what gave him his freedom that day. Jesus' forgiveness did that. So often I go to God and ask Him to be freed of an illness, or burden, or a hurtful or irritating person or situation, when what my heart is actually in need of is forgiveness...both to accept it and to be able to offer it. Forgiveness brings peace and action to a world hung up in injustice.
Still, my justice oriented mind has a hard time wrapping itself around forgiveness. I like there to be consequences when wrong is done. Preferably swift and painful. But then...there were consequences. Someone did pay the price. I may wish it was the blockhead who wounded and pissed me off, but instead it was a perfect, sinless Savior. And He paid for my sins too. "Big," "small," it doesn' matter. Jesus hung on that cross with the force of every single sin.
Crap. That kind of takes the wind out of my prideful sails. It certainly doesn't make it any easier to ask for and offer forgiveness, but it gives me the motivation to work on making forgiveness come first in my life...I have a long way to go.
In my mind there is a right and a wrong, a winner and a loser. And what has really driven me crazy in life is that I used to believe that whoever brings the most truth to the table "wins." A few more years into life, however, I know that whoever brings the most crazy "wins." That just doesn't seem right. Add it to the list of injustices in the world.
I've spent a lot of time trying to force people to see the truth...sometimes actual truth and sometimes my own version, I suppose. When they don't see it, it infuriates me. It is even worse when I am personally hurt and not just pissed off at a more general injustice.
So, it's ironic that today I'm leading a devotion for some of our World Impact volunteers about forgiveness. It covers the passage in Mark 2 where a paralytic is brought to Jesus by some crazy friends, who actually dig a hole in the roof of the building where Jesus is teaching and lower the paralyzed man down to Jesus for healing. I'd have liked to be in that room and seen the first clod of dirt hit the floor. People start looking at the ceiling in confusion as little by little more sunlight and dirt starts pouring into their eyes. And then, all of a sudden, a man appears with four eager faces hovering over his still body. But, then Jesus does something very odd (and to stand out as odd when there's suddenly a man hanging from the ceiling says something). As the man's air-borne pallet hits the floor, He tells him his sins are forgiven.
What a let down that must have been for the man, hoping and praying that his limbs would start to move! I mean, imagine it! You haven't walked in years, if ever, and you're waiting for some tingling sensation to start in your toes when, instead, you get your sins forgiven. I'd have been disappointed. You would have too, I think.
It's humbling, for an unforgiving person, to realize that in God's Kingdom forgiveness is of first importance. Jesus does heal the man physically, but only after the important healing has already taken place. His dancing legs were not what gave him his freedom that day. Jesus' forgiveness did that. So often I go to God and ask Him to be freed of an illness, or burden, or a hurtful or irritating person or situation, when what my heart is actually in need of is forgiveness...both to accept it and to be able to offer it. Forgiveness brings peace and action to a world hung up in injustice.
Still, my justice oriented mind has a hard time wrapping itself around forgiveness. I like there to be consequences when wrong is done. Preferably swift and painful. But then...there were consequences. Someone did pay the price. I may wish it was the blockhead who wounded and pissed me off, but instead it was a perfect, sinless Savior. And He paid for my sins too. "Big," "small," it doesn' matter. Jesus hung on that cross with the force of every single sin.
Crap. That kind of takes the wind out of my prideful sails. It certainly doesn't make it any easier to ask for and offer forgiveness, but it gives me the motivation to work on making forgiveness come first in my life...I have a long way to go.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Help, I've Been Cerebrally Assualted!
Have you ever left an encounter with someone and felt that your brain has taken a beating? I'm not talking about a healthy sparing match where each party leaves with satisfied bruising, this is more like being mentally mugged. It happens far too often; a chance encounter while shopping, a meeting, a conversation at a social event. One minute you feel all is right in the world, and the next you are cerebrally assaulted, someone's stupidity acting as a black hole and sucking all intelligent properties out of the conversation, gobbling up any intellectual contributions you offer and smothering them in nothingness.
It happens to me all the time. I am not naturally a patient person; my selfishness fights the Holy Spirit from infusing me with this quality on a regular basis. I find myself rolling my eyes, figuratively and literally, at all hours of the day. If only people weren't so stupid, life would be better, more tolerable.
My Dad often has told me, "Stupid people need love too." To which I respond, "Maybe. But not mine."
My natural tendency is to dismiss anything that isn't logical, intellectual, or constructive, and, honestly, the lack of those qualities equates a lack of value in my mind. It isn't right, but that's my first reaction. I spend a lot of energy trying to avoid these types of encounters, but with the world the way it is, there is no escape. Frustrating. But, I have come to the conclusion that there are only two postures I can take in these experiences...pride or humility.
Naturally, I defer to pride. I am prone to walk away feeling superior. This is, however, not the Christ-like approach. My usual response to a cerebral assault is to strike back, to put stupid in its rightful place, or to walk away aloof and dismissive. But, if I am to be more like Christ I have to learn to turn the other metaphorical brain-cheek. Thanks, may I hear another of your ideas please? And then try to listen without condescension.
It isn't just someone else's job to love stupid people. It's mine too. And, by loving them they become a little less stupid and a little more human...with flaws and failures and varying gifts just like me. This will, no doubt, be a life-long journey for me. Thankfully, our value to the Kingdom and the world is not based on our lack of intelligence or lack of affinity with people, but in a God, who possess those qualities infinitely greater than we ever could, who decided to love us anyway and breathe value into us through His Son.
Intelligence is important. Very important. You could argue that without it we all would die strange and humiliating deaths. But, humility, patience, love...these keep people like me out of prison (from homicidal impulses) and bring people into the Kingdom of God, and that's what life's all about. Well, maybe the prison thing is secondary, but you get my point.
It happens to me all the time. I am not naturally a patient person; my selfishness fights the Holy Spirit from infusing me with this quality on a regular basis. I find myself rolling my eyes, figuratively and literally, at all hours of the day. If only people weren't so stupid, life would be better, more tolerable.
My Dad often has told me, "Stupid people need love too." To which I respond, "Maybe. But not mine."
My natural tendency is to dismiss anything that isn't logical, intellectual, or constructive, and, honestly, the lack of those qualities equates a lack of value in my mind. It isn't right, but that's my first reaction. I spend a lot of energy trying to avoid these types of encounters, but with the world the way it is, there is no escape. Frustrating. But, I have come to the conclusion that there are only two postures I can take in these experiences...pride or humility.
Naturally, I defer to pride. I am prone to walk away feeling superior. This is, however, not the Christ-like approach. My usual response to a cerebral assault is to strike back, to put stupid in its rightful place, or to walk away aloof and dismissive. But, if I am to be more like Christ I have to learn to turn the other metaphorical brain-cheek. Thanks, may I hear another of your ideas please? And then try to listen without condescension.
It isn't just someone else's job to love stupid people. It's mine too. And, by loving them they become a little less stupid and a little more human...with flaws and failures and varying gifts just like me. This will, no doubt, be a life-long journey for me. Thankfully, our value to the Kingdom and the world is not based on our lack of intelligence or lack of affinity with people, but in a God, who possess those qualities infinitely greater than we ever could, who decided to love us anyway and breathe value into us through His Son.
Intelligence is important. Very important. You could argue that without it we all would die strange and humiliating deaths. But, humility, patience, love...these keep people like me out of prison (from homicidal impulses) and bring people into the Kingdom of God, and that's what life's all about. Well, maybe the prison thing is secondary, but you get my point.
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