Conscious and Purposeful Victim

Genesis 3:4-5
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Most of us recognize the setting this verse comes from. I believe we overlook the implication of the original sin it justifies in our every day life. If we try to simplify it into modern terms I believe we can use one word with universal application... Pride. The subtle implications of this one moment in time are the root of almost everything we experience today. Whether we admit it or not, this is the verse that describes that process by which each of us justifies everything we do.

Pause and reflect on that thought for a moment. Hold up each and every thought and action of your day. Is there anything in that day that is genuinely selfless? Or are you like me and if really honest can trace some level of personal gain in it all? I am certainly not pointing a finger here because I am as guilty as everyone else. I just want to pull back the curtain of hypocrisy that many Christians hide behind. The life that we are called to encompasses two extremes that seem to be mutually exclusive. In all things follow the example of Christ and hold yourself personally accountable to what is right and true as written in the Bible...AND...Treat others, regardless of there imperfections, as you would want to be treated.

What I see is a world where people trying to live up to the first example feel empowered to become God's Judge here on earth. That is wrong. I also see people who feel that treating other people well, the second example, makes them immune to the requirements of personal accountability within the first. What our enemy would love to happen, and seems to be very successful in bringing about, is for all of us to focus on those differences and wrestle with our own personal subjective truths.

It is not your job or mine to personally work to change others. We have this undeniably strong urge to enforce our interpretation of what is right (refer back to the above scripture here) and as such lose sight of what God wants us to do. If we closely follow Jesus example, we see a man who chose to focus solely on God's purpose. He was completely aware that his actions would cause his death. He did it anyway.

Pursue and love God. Do what the Bible says and love others as yourself. Do right even if it will cause you pain and maybe lead to failure, possibly death. From that type of life flows blessing. It is not a logical and mathematical progression but it does seem to work.

Psalms 1:1-3
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Opinion does not create fact

A preponderance of facts and public opinion seemingly pointing to a particular end does not create a fact any more than extreme personal faith can sway another only with words.

Less of me, more of You

A friend asked the question today; What would it be like if God answered the prayer "Lord, Empty me of myself and fill me with You". Many of us say these things but don't really stop to think what that would look like in the real world. Although it is a concept that will rest and grow within me for the next several days, here was my short answer...

"I would express love more freely, without reservations or expectations."

...and then I added...

I have an item that struck me earlier in the week... (or maybe it’s the same). Are we closer to God when things are going well, or when they are bad? How often do we make a Gratitude list, and how would that daily practice change our lives?

It is definitely something to think about.

Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

This song by Peter Gabriel was revealed to me in a moment of weakness. I had heard it for years, liked it for it's musical merit, but never really understood the value of the lyrics. Read just the words and their obscured meaning in light of your Christian conversion process and the deep feelings and questions you had to walk through. Review the workings of the Holy Spirit and how He communicates to us. Think about how your non-Christian friends didn't really understand the change that was in you. It may be that this was a message meant just for me, but I feel that once revealed the message can be applied to many of us.

Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
I just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

To keep in silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."
(Back home.)

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
They've come to take me home."


Many people believe that God can only be found on Sunday's, at church. God, revealed in the Holy Spirit is there beside you every moment of every day, whispering protective advice into your ear. The secret is in our ability to filter out the noise that the world blows into our life and listen. This is a song on a secular radio station that spoke to me when I needed to hear.

Not In My Back Yard- Christian Entitlement

An over simplified explanation of my walk with Christ would go something like this... As a child I was sent to Sunday school and came to know and love Jesus. At some point I began to feel that the adults around me were just using Him as a means to control young minds and actions, so I began to pull away. During my teen and young adult life I walked a sophomoric path deluding myself into thinking I was independant and wise beyond my years. As I grew into the responsibilities that came with growing into an adult I began to see that I did not know nearly as much as I had thought. I found that life under my control was an ever elusive target, fraught with stresses and fear. That is the point that my loving, patient wife reintroduced me to an old friend who had been awaiting my return.

It is through that grateful and traveled framework that I view life. Many might say that I am overly self critical, but it is with this hyper vigilant lense that I seek to view myself and others. At times I allow my arrogent ego to begin to believe it is controlling things. Luckily I have many failures along with the patient peace of God to remind me of my place in this world. It is just that type of control thinking that I am best able to view in others. Isn't it funny how the biggest shortcoming in our lives becomes the hammer with which we attack others?

I saw an example recently of piety that was close enough to give me pause. I write about it here because I see it might be a trap for us all if it isn't identified as incorrect. The basic idea was this; "You must be careful of who you share your blessings with because they may just be taking advantage of your generosity." While the examples given were on their own merit compelling, they were also self serving. I know in my own walk the most compelling testimonies were of people walking out their christianity in situations where they knew they were being taken advantage of, yet shared the love of Christ anyway. The danger in a gaurded heart is that it can become hard an unyielding. The supposed benefit is that you can control and shield your heart so as to not be hurt. From where I stand that vulnerability is exactly where Jesus calls us to. It is in that place where He can step in and teach us lessons that we would not have learned otherwise. In that place of fear we can experience the peace that a grace filled life holds. It is also in that seemingly unprotected act of obedience that we can be the best example of Christ. If it were not for those small examples of love that I have seen over my lifetime, I may not have re-entered into relationship with a loving and protective God.

If we do not share the love that we have been given we fall into a type of Christian entitlement thinking. "God loves me, I am thankful, shame on you for not being a Christian". Somehow I just don't see the example of Jesus in that type of thinking. On that day when you allow Christ to initially enter your life, the overriding thought and yearning in your heart should be grateful humility. The second should be "I must tell others of the Joy and Peace and Love I have been given". Those two thoughts should never be separated and that feeling should continue to grow. If it does not, then you have allowed selfishness to taint your walk. From someone who walked many years on the outside looking in... It shows, and today is the biggest reason people give when asked why they don't attend church.

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.” C.S. Lewis

A Study in Sad Contrast

My wife has an Uncle that lives in the mountains of North Georgia. Near his home is a small isolated junkyard with many old vehicles in various stages of decay, most with trees growing through the windows. Even as rusted and dying hulks you can still see the beauty of their design and elements of the glory they surely had in their day. Somehow it is hard to see an old car in the junkyard and not imagine what it's life must have been like. Who owned it? How long did it roam the roads, and where? What was the final nail in it's carburated coffin? Then, finally, how did it end up here... deep in the woods? Were these even woods back when it reached this final resting spot, or was this a field next to a home now long gone?

My children love to make up the stories and role play in their minds as if it was again that day and a cherished piece of the family has slowly rolled it's last. It is sad to see them go. I think that is one of the reasons old cars in great shape seem to universally bring happiness at car shows. Surely if this car can make it through there might even be hope for my longevity...

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?