The Best Victim of All

On the news this evening was a story about a near riot in Atlanta when almost 30,000 people showed up wanting to "apply" to the waiting list for government housing assistance. The next story was about a woman who was shot by an enraged motorist. I try not to watch the news much because I seem to be too empathetic or thin-skinned and allow my emotions free reign on my mood. These are just the latest in a growing string of stories that highlight the result of allowing ourselves to become role players at the extreme ends of the control spectrum.

It has become too painful to be a calm and responsible person. In fact most of the people who find themselves in that situation seem to be quickly deciding to run for one end of the continuum or the other. Some feel that the answer is to dominate and punish their way to the "TOP". While others feel that they have become "VICTIM"ized and use extreme amounts of effort to leverage their skills into justifying their inabilities. As a result, those who are genuinely needful or uniquely talented and successful find themselves crowded into groups full of claimants not worthy. Don't get me wrong, there are most definitely many that are victims... and they deserve all of the help we can give. There are also honorable and deserving people in positions of leadership.

The difference between authenticity and selfish insensitivity is the sort of altruism that can be found in the acts of Jesus in the New Testament. There can be no dispute of the leadership qualities he displayed while here on earth. For those who have chosen disbelief I challenge you to read the Gospel of Luke and it's biographical description of his life. (Let's be honest, can you really make an intellectually sound negative decision on faith without at least reading about Him?) The quiet grace that fills the pages depicts a very humble person, who at the same time claims to be God. The contradictions are extreme yet somehow easy to believe. How can the same man who says he is the creator of the universe bow down and clean the dirty feet of others... and kiss the cheek of the man who he knows has condemned him to death? Why would a person with omnipotent power allow himself to be crucified on the cross when with a word it could all be changed?

In these contradictions we see a model for how we are to act. If we find ourselves victims, love those who take advantage. If we are in a position of power, serve those around us. I have heard it said that the measure of a man should be taken by how he treats others who he could in no way benefit from. We seem to have lost our way. We claim superiority in our victimization and demand personal gain, now!! We force our way into undeserved dominant positions and beat down those who trouble us. We require constant attention and servitude from those around us because our society has deified "self" at the cost of our peace. If only we could find a way to somehow model the right behavior to a world bent on self-destruction in the name of progress and superiority.

But then again, that has already been done...hasn't it?

Grateful Prisoners

I was reading a book by Ted Dekker last night when I came across an interesting idea about society. The book is about a mass murderer that kidnaps a young girl. In her seemingly hopeless situation she considered that she might become a victim of Stockholm Syndrome. This syndrome is a condition in which a victim might over time become brainwashed into sympathizing with their captor despite all logical reasons to the contrary. In the context of the story the line of reasoning was apt. What caught my eye, and I would guess most people would just read over it, was one little sentence. One quote that had such weight and profundity that I had to stop and read it over and over...

"The world was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome".

As I walk through life I have wondered aloud, "What in the world were they thinking", so many times it has become almost a mantra. I see people all around making such obviously bad decisions that I am baffled. The worst part though is when anyone tries to intercede and offer better options. It seems that by placing myself in their world and trying to help I become demonized. Until I read those words by Ted Dekker I was perplexed. I knew that we live in a fallen world. I knew that our enemy had a stronghold on people. I even knew that my thinking was no longer mainstream... but I felt that if I could just shine a light onto the situation, people would be able to see and back away from that which was causing them harm. Now I see that really, their actions are a defense mechanism to insulate their psyche from the horror of what they knew as truth, but felt they could not attain... so they gave up.

I don't know the solution, but every day I will continue to try to figure it out. Maybe my logical mind has a part in God's plan. Maybe something I say to someone will be repeated somewhere else and have an impact there. Whatever it may be I just hope I never reach the point of giving up that I see in the eyes of many around me. May Gods Grace protect you and I and those that we love from this trap.

What defines you?

Whether you like it or not, you look in the mirror, that is your problem and that is your solution.
~ William E. Bailey

Who you are to the world is not the propaganda version your pride creates. You are also not the failure that fear tries to build in your mind. Life is about trying to find contentment and peace with the middle ground.
~ Brad

Proverbs 11:2 NIV
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

I struggle daily with both sides of pride. Although I feel I am strongly rooted in the understanding that God loves me and walks by my side at all times, I sometimes still find myself making forays into self pity or arrogance. Hopefully as I continue this journey of life my swings between these two extremes will become fewer and shorter. We all need to learn that focusing on a relationship with Christ should become the overreaching direction of all of our thoughts and actions. Once those things fall into place we will find that the influence that the world seeks to subdue us with will dissipate like a vapor in the gentle wind of His love. These two things should be the boundaries of the path you are on.

1. Others do not have the power to define who you are or determine your attitude.

2. You are not here to judge others, but to love to the best of your ability.

I have found that people seem to feel that they have the right to bend you to their expectations and hold their love hostage to your actions in compliance with that effort. I have found that same corruption in myself . Why is it that we need everyone to feel and think and act just like us in order to achieve happiness? I believe that great insight can be gained by understanding two inherent quialities of man... We each strive to be unique and independant while at the same time we want to be accepted and loved, feeling that we belong. This friction explains many of the stresses of life. It can be overcome with the peace that comes from an understanding of the love that God has for us all... if we will just allow it to permeate who we are, to ourselves and to the world.

Matthew 6:33 NIV
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Transforming Yet Limiting

There are things in our history that have been greatly transformational. Great leaps into growth that would not have occurred otherwise.Imagine humanity before language. While I am sure launguage did not drop into existence pre-formed and complete, the concept of language had a beginning. Language was quite robust before the concept of writing it down began to emerge. Look around at what we have become because of the universally agreed upon tenets of communication. We have taken many of these breakthroughs, some greater than others, and stacked them onto each other to create the diverse civilization we now participate in. Music is a form of emotional resonance that allows connections with others. Math is another form of language that has made our world infinately more explainable. As we combine these things we have been able to harness nature to our needs and then begin to stack those innovations up as well. Take the building block of electricity, then lighting, then computing and now the internet. People from anywhere in the world now have access to more knowledge than has ever existed. Computers can even add their algorithms together with others and calculate things that have been so complex we could not have even fathomed the concepts a few years ago.

I say all of this to propose that we sometimes we fall into the trap that assumes we know the answer to questions that still have many layers yet to uncover. Darwinism is an example of a society wide assumption, much like believing the world is flat, or drilling holes in the skull will release angry spirits, or bleeding will diminish the poisons from blood. Each of these things has some basis in fact and can be demonstrated by lining up supposedly intelligent logical arguments. That does not mean that we should rest there and call anyone who wants to continue to use speculative experimental reasoning to try to advance our knowledge, even if it goes in a direction contrary to what we might expect. Many molecular biologists who now have access to nano level models of DNA genetic sequencing have dramatically altered their views on evolution. It is looking more and more like, even at the smallest levels currently available to us, there just might be a designer. Darwin thought the cell was filled with plasma when he wrote his theory. Just because we were all taught it is "fact" while we were in school doesn't mean we need to ignorantly discriminate against those who still question it's validity. My grandparents lived in a world that accepted that black people were of an inferior race. My parents grew to accept that premise and unintentionally attempted to program me that way. Luckily there were people who worked hard to show that through Grace we should all accept each other as children of God.

I believe we will come to find that the teachings of Christ will be one of those transformational items that makes the world a better place. It has already created a world that values justice and personal worth over almost all other things. I believe that the act of faith in a God that is Omnipotent and Omnicient and Omnipresent yet personal is a step towards transforming us one at a time into beings of Grace. If we allow ourselves to accept without question or compromise all that the language of God in the Bible tells us to be, we will transform those around us and therefore the world to a higher level of love and acceptance. And even if we are greatly successful here on earth in transforming it into a kind of Kingdom of God, there will still be a limiting factor of our bodies and our minds... of time and space, that God already understands. When we die we move into a closer relationship with God where he will be able to transform us even more closely into what he has in mind for us. Eternal life, in the presence of God, with never ending love, Grace, harmony and understanding, such that could never be achieved here.

The Pride of the Party

We each go through life in some way trying to build an acceptable façade for the world that presents what we want others to think of us. Some people are frantically stacking up blocks to protect themselves while others are driving forward attempting to destroy the walls of everyone they meet. Most of us though play differing parts in this play depending on current proceedings in our existence.

I sometimes look at those traits we proactively try to bolster as honored guests at the table we are seating for life’s party. Imagine seats around a large table where you hope your invitees will be entertained and grow to love and respect you, their gracious host. Into the chairs not filled with your friends you arrange Friendliness and Joy. Tempering them, but not too seriously, enter Education and Responsibility; Next come Thankfulness and Grace, and so that no one thinks less of you a space is saved for Humility. As you weave your Talents into the guest list and arrange everyone into the perfect discussion group it seems that everything will work out splendidly. To your surprise an additional forte arrives that you really would rather not attend. But alas, it seems that Pride always shows up at the last moment to change things. Loudly he enters and announces to your newly seated guests what an enormous blessing he is bestowing on the group. So strident is his message that no one else is given much of a chance to speak. Your carefully arranged plan begins to fall away and the places you designed to give depth and character to the night are slowly replaced by empty seats. Your guests, who at first were quite impressed, are quickly becoming fidgety. Even when you finally gain control over Pride, it becomes apparent that the memory of Grace and Joy are but wisps in an uncomfortable silence. Education tries to intercede, but he now looks very similar to Pride, as do Responsibility and Friendliness. As you look into the faces of your invitees it seems they all are wearing expressions of Judgment, placed there by Pride while you weren’t paying attention.

The only way to keep Pride from ruining every get together you attempt is to be diligent in giving him no attention. It will take quite a while, and he will appear unexpectedly over and over again, but you must persist. His talent is not really a benefit. He will try to deceive you into calling him Confidence or Determination. Don’t be fooled. Talents are those things that you can use to build others up. At it’s root Pride is constantly trying to call attention, make itself important, and it normally does so by bringing others down. Don’t let this loud and overbearing houseguest ruin your life. Tell him to go visit someone else’s party.

Is Church Irrelevant

We are living in an "Entertain Me" world that has lost its way when it comes to what is important. Recently I was involved in a discussion as to whether the Christian Church had become irrelevant. I was really surprised at the number of people who quickly agreed that church did not always meet the needs of the general population. What struck me was the world view that has pervaded even this Sunday School class saying that the church must somehow always be non-invasive, all accepting and politically correct. While I agree we are called to love everyone, where they are, I must disagree that this should in some way override the tenants of Gods will for our lives.

As a Christian I cannot fully comprehend the price that was paid on my behalf on the cross. The God who created the entire universe and all time beginning to end from out of a void, chose to become a man so that I would know that he knew about life here on earth first hand. He withstood the horror of the crucifiction when he could have waved it away and ruled as king on earth in an instant. That God, Christ among us, deserves my devotion. I trust him to know more than me. I acknowledge that his plan is probably better than mine. (Probably here is used sarcastically) I must come to a place where the things and plans and worship of the world are of no consequense to me. Obedience to his will, written down for me in the Bible, is the sweet spot of life. If I try to make sense of it today it may not appear correct. When I look backwards over the glaring disparity between those times I was deferential and those times I was prideful... let's just say I am sad for what waywardness has done in my life.

Don't get me wrong, I love to be entertained. I even truly believe a church needs to be entertaining to draw people in. I just want to make sure that the church has a compelling program of growth; from entertaining to engaging to compelling to devotion to worship to service moving finally into grace. After all, Gods grace offers the peace we are seeking when we salve our conscience with entertainment anyway. Move away from the societal worship of insubordination and into a place of understanding that compliance with God's plan, sharing Grace with others, is what we really need anyway.

Challenges

There are two types of people, those that see problems as impassable roads and those that seek out the rough roads and relish in conquering them. Too often we focus on the pain of the burden instead of the joy of the journey. Without the challenge there would be no victory. Make your passage through life something to be proud of. Each step towards the summit should be savored, every battle celebrated and each day cherished.

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.

-- Robert Brault