I've been thinking a lot about hell, forgiveness, fruit of the Spirit, and survival of the fittest. Sorry, these things come in a particular order in my brain. By the time I get to write them down, it's a bit jumbled.
Hanging on the cross, Jesus uttered some pretty famous words... Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. Let me ask you something - was Jesus forgiving all of their sin or a specific one? Remember, His death had been part of God's redemptive plan from the get go. Sin usually involves us distorting God's plan for our own self. Yet these men were fulfilling that plan. Was Jesus forgiving them because their sin accomplished God's end?
I hope this isn't merely academic. Jesus has chosen to accept the consequences of my sin. Of the sins for everyone that God's chosen. But not anyone else. I find this helps me question the nature of forgiveness.
In other passages, Jesus stated that He trusted the One who judges righteously - aka God. I take this as implying that forgiveness does not acquit one from judgement. My forgiveness relates solely to my relationship with another person. If I trust God's judgement, then I don't need to execute my judgement, right? So, is it an integral part of forgiveness to ask God to also acquit them from judgement?
Ready Player One
Somehow, I always end up thinking about the movie Ready Player One. MMORPGs exemplify survival of the fittest. Might makes right. The one with the gold makes the rules. This is what Paul meant when he said that the law only brings death.
Darwin saw survival of the fittest because it's true. That's the law of the flesh. It's selfish and destructive. But like Qui-gon Jinn points out in The Phantom Menace, there is always someone bigger and stronger. People who live by survival of the fittest will find themselves facing the ultimate power - God. What will they say when they stand in front of the Creator of the universe - the One who set atoms and quarks in motion, who commands the path of a black hole, and understands every thought they've ever had.
What will their strength buy them? All of their excuses evaporate. All of the justifications disappear as the full weight of guilt and shame comes crashing down. Could you really stand the sudden realization of everyone that you hurt, ever in your life? How your pride hurt your own grand children and great grand children? Every atom out of place because you failed will fall on your shoulders. Imagine God sitting there, totally still as you spit out every excuse you can possibly think of. And all He has to say - "but I'm still sending You to Hell".
A Very Different Judgement
Jesus offers us a very different scenario. I still see the same things. And all of that same guilt, because let's face it, I'm not perfect (quite an understatement, isn't it?). And it all disappears. Because Jesus accepted my guilt. I don't need to feel it anymore. So instead of facing God's judgement, I face Jesus' judgement.
Jesus doesn't judge for punishment. His judgement is reward. Jesus isn't seeking retribution against my sin, He is looking to share the great love that God feels towards Him. He is defining my place in His world. Even now, the thought jumps into my head "yeah, but He'll just make me a janitor because of everything I've done". That's not true.
Might someone be a janitor? Sure. And they'll be the janitor who learns how to use insects for cleaning up messes. Or studies different chemical solutions for recycling waste. My point is, there are no low positions in His world. Jesus knows the One who sees where all of this is going. And He is positioning us, me, in a way that gets us there. God creates. God brings life. And everything He asks of me will always create more life. There is no low position. And a billion years from now, it won't be the same place where I started.
God is love. Love brings life, joy, peace, kindness, faithfulness, and patience. As God pours His love into Jesus, Jesus pours it into us, and we pour it into the world around us. Survival of the fittest goes away. Survival is granted by God, not us. And as every person, animal, and microscopic particle follows His command, He creates something beautiful.
This is what Jesus offers. This is the world that I want to see. This is hope.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Saturday, November 10, 2018
She'll Rub Off on You
I really love it when I read something in a book and then come across a Bible verse that says the same thing, but in a way I hadn't thought about it before. This synchronicity God uses to teach me always leaves me awestruck.
I'm reading How to Hug a Porcupine, by Julie Ross, M.A.. In one chapter, she tells a story about this neighbor she knew growing up. He and his wife had no children of their own. And they were super friendly to the kids who lived around them. The man would take care of his yard. In particular, he enjoyed trimming the trees. She would see him stroke the leaves when he was done with a section, admiring their beauty. Every time, his wife would tell "be careful, don't fall off the ladder". She watched from inside nervous about him climbing around.
Over the years, the man stopped trimming the trees. The author saw a tree service come by and do the work. It was slow at first, then became more frequent. Many decades later, after his wife had died, she asked this man why he stopped. It was obvious how much he loved the trees. He explained that his wife's nervousness about climbing the ladder rubbed off on him. Her point to this story was that we "rub off" on our children as we raise them.
The verse was from Proverbs - as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another. I've often heard this presented as making someone better. A sharpened knife is way better than a dull one. This time I saw it in a different light. The author of Proverbs was making the same point as the other story - we rub off on each other.
This is the nature of relationships. Not strong enough. This is the purpose of relationships. Every relationship changes us. So how are you changing the people around you? Because you will rub off on them. And they on you.
Then, in a triple whammy, it hits me that this is what Jesus meant when He talked about fruit. In Matthew, Jesus explains that we can know His followers by their fruit. Good trees have good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit. I tend to think of fruit as the results of ones actions. Actions come from character. Character is built by relationships. Fruit really comes down to how we rub off on the people around us. Are they better because of our presence?
Sorry, I'm still fleshing this out in my brain. This chain of reasoning started with Dave Ramsey saying that personal finance is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. Turns out that 100% of behavior is character. And character comes from relationships. Your friends not only reflect who you are, they help make you who you are going to be.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" - also from Proverbs. This is what Jesus meant by good tree bears good fruit. God is huge. Bigger than anything we can imagine. I think of Douglas Adams' description of space in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Then double that. And you're still not even close to the size we're talking about here. If human relationships rub off on you, imagine what a relationship with God can do. We're talking about dropping the Pacific Ocean on a thimble.
Our problem is shame, guilt. God is sinless. As He rubs off on us, His attitude toward sin becomes our attitude. The problem is, I'm one of those sinners. And if I look at myself through His eyes, I could never stand the sight. I'm ashamed now, just about other people knowing. If I really, truly understood God's attitude, I wouldn't function. It's that bad.
And that is why Jesus is so important. Because of Him, I don't need to be ashamed. When God finally restores His relationship with me the way it was intended at the beginning, Jesus is the one who will keep God's perfection from crushing me under the weight of guilt and shame.
Okay, I strayed a little off topic. Think about the people in your life. How do they rub off on you? What seeds are they planting? Love, joy peace, faithfulness, patience, forgiveness, courage? Or is it fear, resentment, laziness, excuses, and rationalizations? This is their fruit. Is it a crop that the farmer is thrilled to have and brings him profit? Or is it a blight, suitable for the trash heap, not even good enough for the pigs? Which one am I?
I'm reading How to Hug a Porcupine, by Julie Ross, M.A.. In one chapter, she tells a story about this neighbor she knew growing up. He and his wife had no children of their own. And they were super friendly to the kids who lived around them. The man would take care of his yard. In particular, he enjoyed trimming the trees. She would see him stroke the leaves when he was done with a section, admiring their beauty. Every time, his wife would tell "be careful, don't fall off the ladder". She watched from inside nervous about him climbing around.
Over the years, the man stopped trimming the trees. The author saw a tree service come by and do the work. It was slow at first, then became more frequent. Many decades later, after his wife had died, she asked this man why he stopped. It was obvious how much he loved the trees. He explained that his wife's nervousness about climbing the ladder rubbed off on him. Her point to this story was that we "rub off" on our children as we raise them.
The verse was from Proverbs - as iron sharpens iron, so does one man sharpen another. I've often heard this presented as making someone better. A sharpened knife is way better than a dull one. This time I saw it in a different light. The author of Proverbs was making the same point as the other story - we rub off on each other.
This is the nature of relationships. Not strong enough. This is the purpose of relationships. Every relationship changes us. So how are you changing the people around you? Because you will rub off on them. And they on you.
Then, in a triple whammy, it hits me that this is what Jesus meant when He talked about fruit. In Matthew, Jesus explains that we can know His followers by their fruit. Good trees have good fruit. Bad trees produce bad fruit. I tend to think of fruit as the results of ones actions. Actions come from character. Character is built by relationships. Fruit really comes down to how we rub off on the people around us. Are they better because of our presence?
Sorry, I'm still fleshing this out in my brain. This chain of reasoning started with Dave Ramsey saying that personal finance is 20% knowledge and 80% behavior. Turns out that 100% of behavior is character. And character comes from relationships. Your friends not only reflect who you are, they help make you who you are going to be.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" - also from Proverbs. This is what Jesus meant by good tree bears good fruit. God is huge. Bigger than anything we can imagine. I think of Douglas Adams' description of space in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. Then double that. And you're still not even close to the size we're talking about here. If human relationships rub off on you, imagine what a relationship with God can do. We're talking about dropping the Pacific Ocean on a thimble.
Our problem is shame, guilt. God is sinless. As He rubs off on us, His attitude toward sin becomes our attitude. The problem is, I'm one of those sinners. And if I look at myself through His eyes, I could never stand the sight. I'm ashamed now, just about other people knowing. If I really, truly understood God's attitude, I wouldn't function. It's that bad.
And that is why Jesus is so important. Because of Him, I don't need to be ashamed. When God finally restores His relationship with me the way it was intended at the beginning, Jesus is the one who will keep God's perfection from crushing me under the weight of guilt and shame.
Okay, I strayed a little off topic. Think about the people in your life. How do they rub off on you? What seeds are they planting? Love, joy peace, faithfulness, patience, forgiveness, courage? Or is it fear, resentment, laziness, excuses, and rationalizations? This is their fruit. Is it a crop that the farmer is thrilled to have and brings him profit? Or is it a blight, suitable for the trash heap, not even good enough for the pigs? Which one am I?
Friday, November 2, 2018
A Little Time
This week's song has been Only Jesus, by Casting Crowns. There's a line that says I've only got one life to live. I usually feel like that's used to convey a sense of urgency. And I was thinking today that, yes, I only have one life. But it's eternal. So yes, one life. But boy, is it ever long!
What if one life means just my life? I only have my life to live. The song continues about making every second of our life point to Jesus. My weird brain prefers this second interpretation in light of that. I only have my life to live. And my life should reflect Him.
The other thing on my mind this week is the parable in Matthew 18:21-35. Have you ever felt like the ruler? You model, teach, and lead and it has no effect. If you've raised teenagers, you probably know what I'm talking about. At some point, is it the right thing to stop trying?
And somehow these two things led me to wonder about pre-destination. Pre-destination is the idea that God chose the people He would save. How does that reconcile with the fact that we also have a free will?
Time gets in the way again. I can't help but think of my life in terms of past, present, and future. Without time, I've already made the choice. Free will means that it is a choice. And God already sees it. He saw birth, choice, death, and everything after as one single moment. In a sense, I've lived my one life. I just don't know it all yet.
What if one life means just my life? I only have my life to live. The song continues about making every second of our life point to Jesus. My weird brain prefers this second interpretation in light of that. I only have my life to live. And my life should reflect Him.
The other thing on my mind this week is the parable in Matthew 18:21-35. Have you ever felt like the ruler? You model, teach, and lead and it has no effect. If you've raised teenagers, you probably know what I'm talking about. At some point, is it the right thing to stop trying?
And somehow these two things led me to wonder about pre-destination. Pre-destination is the idea that God chose the people He would save. How does that reconcile with the fact that we also have a free will?
Time gets in the way again. I can't help but think of my life in terms of past, present, and future. Without time, I've already made the choice. Free will means that it is a choice. And God already sees it. He saw birth, choice, death, and everything after as one single moment. In a sense, I've lived my one life. I just don't know it all yet.
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