Individual Spirituality

 As often happens in my brain, a couple of things collided, forming a new thought. Well, new to me. I guess that what counts.

The first was a blog post from a college friend entitled Ocean of Prayer. I spend a lot of time in my own head. It never occurred to me that people might need structure to do that. The uniqueness even among people with so much in common astounds me. It comes as no surprise then that we all follow the same Christ in so many different ways. Of course there are different denominations. There are different people. All with different skills, needs, and preferences.

The second came from a book series I re-visited - the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. I just finished the fourth book which brought in a planet called Gaia. As I understand it, the term gaia refers to a universal consciousness. And in the book, this planet is "one" with its inhabitants, plants, rocks, etc.. The idea of individual becomes lost.

It has opened my eyes to the importance of the individual in the Bible. Of course you have the famous parable about the 1 lost sheep. Shepherd takes his flock back to the pen for the night. He counts them going in. He left with 100, only 99 made it back. Shepherd goes chasing after the 1 lost sheep. 

The shepherd doesn't abandon 99. He makes sure that those 99 are safe and sound first. Then he goes after the 1. It's not that 1 was more important. It's that all 100 were important - as individuals. It could have been any one of those sheep. And at different times, it probably was. It may be a convenient short cut to refer to them as flock. But that shepherd knew them as individuals. He cared for them as individuals.

Going back to the balance among motivations - wisdom, power, wealth, and esteem of others. We have a spiritual need to reshape things in our image. Our homes reflect our personality. Do you paint? Each work reflects something about you. These ramblings that I spew onto the Internet, they reflect something about me. The more I reflect God's image, the more these things take His shape also. And yet, it's never just Him. There is something unique in how I reflect God.

That's individuality. I propose that was God's intention all along. That we, as unique individuals, grow more like Him, but not the same as Him. We hold much in common, but in different ways. The Bible, the gospel grows individuals. 

Why is that so important?

Going Sideways

This past Sunday, we started a series on church polity. Fancy word for how churches may organize themselves structurally. This specific church calls itself elder led. The teacher explained it as both the elders (leadership) and congregation having authority. It's authority over different things.

In my head, this turned the organizational chart on its side.

        /-- Elders
Jesus -<
        \-- Congregation

Now I'm going to switch from saying authority to using the word responsibility. At their heart, these are the same thing. Responsibility is assigned sideways, not down (or up). Jesus said that all power in heaven and earth has been granted to Him. He shares it, sideways, with His joint heirs.

It occurs to me, that if God views His relationship with us that way, does He view other relationships the same way - sideways? We look at so many things as a hierarchy - nature (food chain), businesses, government, marriage, children. Someone is in charge. Someone is at the top. It's our natural point of view.

But what do these relationships look like on their side? Did God create animals and nature with a responsibility? A responsibility different from human beings? God's first instruction to Adam and Eve was to subdue nature. Not control nature, subdue it. Their charge was to direct nature as it carried out its responsibilities. Adam and Even did not give nature responsibility. They directed its actions as nature fulfilled its responsibilities.

How does that look in a family? Years ago, a professional producer gave a one day workshop for my church's worship team. He explained the different roles of the different band parts as a cake. The bass line was the cake. It created a structure. The melody was icing that went around the structure. Fast forward many years, and my friend says that she thinks of spirits as waveforms. This discussion of sideways relationships combines these two concepts.

God created the base wave form. Our obedience, or submission, allows us to add our own distinctive form on top of His base. God set the tone. We play off that. Couldn't this also apply to our own interpersonal relationships? When we submit, we allow the other person to set the tone. We play off of them. Obedience is not about control. It's about direction. Obedience isn't vertical. It's sideways.

Old Clay Pots

Have you ever told someone that they're worthless? Do you ever feel worthless? Has someone told you that you are worthless?  Were they wrong?

That probably feels awkward. You would usually expect some kind of encouragement. A soliloquy about how everyone matters to God. The truth is, they don't.

The Bible quite clearly divides humanity into two groups. And whatever labels you use, one group receives God's boundless grace while the other gets ignored. Well, the Bible uses language such as cast out, utter darkness, torment. In church tradition, we refer to this as Hell. What do you think this means?

It is God turning His back. Those in this condition are simply ignored. They are of such little consequence that God stops paying attention to them. At all. Isn't that worthless?

Somewhere in the Old Testament (Jeremiah or Isaiah?) is the illustration of a potter. A potter creates pots. The potter makes very ornate pots, putting them on display for sale. They bring much needed food, clothing, etc. to their creator - the potter. These pots have value to the potter. He will care for them. Protect them. They're not used for common, everyday tasks.

On the other hand, the potter has some pots that have defects. The potter created them with the intention to discard them because he needed that pot for another purpose. When it serves that purpose, the pot becomes worthless. Not even fit for a menial task like hauling water.

Which pot are you? I don't know. Neither do you. We can't see forever. God knows. The potter knows. And He sent the person Jesus Christ to gather His pots. When you feel worthless, is your first instinct to run to Jesus and ask?

Probably not. I go into my head. Self righteous feels good in that moment. Of course I'm not worthless, I say. But what good does that do? Can I will myself to live forever? Can I, merely by choosing, change the course of the world? Affect a single black hole wandering through the universe? Guide the sub-atomic particles hurtling through the vastness of the cosmos to their destinations and make them bond with other particles to form elements and worlds and stars? Nope. I can't even stop my hair from turning grey.

My own valuation of myself is completely meaningless. Your evaluation of me is completely meaningless. I'm pretty sure you can't do any of these things either. And even if all the billions and billions of people in the world join together, they can't do that either. The value that I ascribe just isn't that much.

The value Jesus gives, well that's astronomical. Power over life and death. He commanded the weather. Re-arranged matter (water into wine). Kicked immune systems into place (aka healed the sick). And raised Himself from the dead. This is value. His value of me, His opinion of me matters a lot.

If you are worthless to Him, aren't you truly worthless? I see this pattern that God doesn't do anything small. We live on a large world, in a huge solar system, on an even more impressive galaxy, inside an immeasurable universe. He created us forever - no end. Our movies only last 1 to two hours. His story goes on and on. Nothing He does is small.

The same goes for hope and despair. You can read this and be happy beyond measure because Jesus told you, tells you, that you belong to Him. You matter. He gives you value - and all that other stuff too. Or you can read this and go into despair. Only one person knows your place - Jesus.

So my point? Your hurt feelings do not determine right and wrong. I'm not dismissing your feelings. They are real. Relationships are important. And if a friend told me they felt this way, I would reach out with empathy and love. But, sadly, that's all I have to offer. Jesus has way more. So start there. Start with His truth, with Him.