Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 110

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

Our friend, Steve Morrison of Healing for the Nations, opens one of the teaching sessions asking, "How many of you would like to have your sense of physical pain taken away"? Of course, after a bit of thought everyone realizes that our ability to feel pain is needed to keep us from greater harm or alert us to a condition that could be fatal. C. S. Lewis wrote that "pain is God speaking through a megaphone to a world that is not listening".

We are not easily reconciled to the fact that we will experience pain in this world...even profound pain...and everyone does, though we imagine that there are these "beautiful people" who do not. It isn't true, despite the images that the media and advertising industry throw our way. God's truth in scripture teaches us over and over that we will have our share of pain, but that he still is good and that he loves us more than we can imagine. He teaches us that there is meaning and purpose for the pains we experience as we live in a fallen world. Pain is productive, though it doesn't feel like it to us when we are going through it.

Somehow we need to grasp and internalize the reality of 2 Cor 4:17-18: "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen."

Notice the juxtapositions here: momentary...eternal; light...weight; affliction...glory. Then notice the word "produce". Finally notice that we become conscious of these very real connections of opposites only when we "look" at our situation from a particular perspective...looking with a set of eyes that sees into the invisible realm. This kind of sight is essential if we are going to move beyond being victims of life to being victors in life...without becoming obnoxiously triumphal! Pain is real. Pain is hard. Don't go looking for pain...it will find you on its own. But, pain itself is not our enemy.

I am convinced that displacing the inferior supreme goal of self-protection that gets lodged in our souls must be disrupted and displaced by the power of the Holy Spirit in order for us to be and progressively become our truest selves...the genuine persons that Jesus came to save and display to creation. This is a practical way to think of and apply our need for co-crucifixion and resurrection with Jesus. If we cooperate with this agenda of the heavenly Father for our lives, then we will be able to slough off our childish, sinful and non-integrous "strongholds" that we have patterned ourselves to hide behind. We will be able to forgive as we have been forgiven because we realize that another human being cannot thwart our goal of life...no matter what they have done or not done. (Larry Crabb expounds on this as it relates to marriage problems in his classic book, The Marriage Builder.) We will cast off our energy-draining false selves...all the lies and foolish inner vows; the overuse of our strengths; the silly ways we try to mimic others instead of being comfortable in our own skin.

As the Holy Spirit brings his timely and compassionate exposure of our childish ways of coping...especially through the Word of God and the people of God...the invisible walls (like a Star Trek force field) we've activated since our youth will gradually, and sometimes dramatically, dissolve. As we settle our controversy with our great and good Father in heaven regarding why he has given us such longings, allowed them to be thwarted, reinforced to us that only he can fully satisfy our desperate thirst, but that we will have to wait for their full satisfaction until a future time (though he strategically provides substantial tokens of the reality of this promise that makes living in sin a boring and unsatisfactory proposition)...new dimensions of our hearts will come alive to receive the Father's love, return this love back to him and then receive more of it again so that it can flow freely though us to other people of all kinds.

We will begin to "walk in love" and the guidance and faith we so often fret over to "get from God" will catch us up in its current. If we love, we know God and we do his highest will...it becomes naturally-supernatural.

Gal 5:5-7 "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?"

Friday, June 18, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 109

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

So, continuing on diagnosing the pattern of how we form deeper subterranean problems and a "false self" that is beset with negative strongholds....

Why is it that it is so difficult to displace the "clenched fist in our gut" of self-protection with the "golden goal" of "vulnerably trusting God" or "getting to know God better"? Is it not simply because God is the One who gave us the longings for intimacy and impact and then placed us in the environment of a broken world in which he knew that these longings would be significantly undermined and remain unsatisfied (though not fully so)? We have a subtle and profound controversy with God that is challenging to settle on a deep heart level. It's hard for many of us to admit, because it seems so irreligious. Yet, how can we realistically trust him on a gut level when we have doubts about his goodness? We instinctively don't trust anyone we don't believe is good. This was the original temptation offered by the serpent to Eve and Adam in the garden..."God is not good...he cannot be trusted...take your destiny into your own hands."

So we are in a bind that we desperately need to address. We must somehow become reconciled to the pain of the sufferings that God has, at least, allowed to come our way in the course of life. We must make peace with the reality that no human being on earth will meet our deepest need for intimacy...not the best parent, the closest friend or the most faithful mate. We must face the fact that we live in a world in which not everything is going well and nothing is going perfectly. And...that it never will until we are in the very presence of and face to face with Christ. We must learn to navigate in cultures in which there will always be obstacles that hinder us from freely making the impact we long to make and achieving the purposes we long to fulfill.

Yes, only God himself can possibly meet our deepest yearnings for intimacy and impact...and he will...but even then, he requires us to wait for another age for their full satisfaction. (Though surely, he does provide tokens and a down payment on their reality by "being with us" here and now by his Spirit. Moreover, he uses blessed people in this world as instruments of his love in our lives. He also showers us with many simple joys and blessings of life.) Self-protection seems reasonable, but tragically, it blocks us from receiving the generous love that God has to give us (and that he desires to flow through us to others) even in this fallen world. Experiencing and passing on his love is the very reason for our existence on the planet! It is the essence of the only thing that really matters in our lives. And...unfortunately or not...it is simply incompatible with the goal of self-protection!

Somehow we must discover that the inevitable pains and sufferings of living in this age have a redemptive purpose. This is what Jesus and the apostles say to us over and over again in the gospels and epistles in so many ways. Yes, yes, yes...God is good. Do you believe it...do I? Do I...really?

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Cor 4:16-17

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Life in this world can be extremely hard, but God is still good. (Thankfully, there is also much of God's beauty still to behold as it is reflected in this world...so we should drink it in whenever we can and wherever we discover it!) It's not the end of the story and the scriptures have been written to impart to us "knowledge", "patience" and "comfort", by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that we can "live in hope". This is what all those Bible stories point to...what all the letters instruct us about.

Over-zealous revivalists often lead us to think that an unprecedented move of God across the globe will negate and transcend our need for "low level" virtues like "patience" and "comfort" and "hope"...but they are badly mistaken and they always leave many well-intentioned believers disillusioned along the roadways of life after the human zeal subsides. But God is full of his own zeal and his intentions for our lives, both now and in the age to come, will not be deterred if we put our trust in him.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 108

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

We buy into various kinds of false images and false beliefs about reality because they offer us some kind of temporary comfort or distraction or protection from the pain and shame of past rejections and injustices that we have not found a way to resolve. The embedded goal of self-protection is what fuels the fires of our negative strongholds. There is a positive kind of stronghold referred to in scripture as well. Psalm 27:1 is just one example of many:

"The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?"

The Lord himself desires to become the one legitimate stronghold of our life. "Crabb-ian" thought would tell us that in order for this to happen, the illegitimate hidden/denied goal of self-protection must be displaced with "vulnerable trust in God". I believe that a deliberate and conscious exchange of a primary or supreme "goal" at the core of our being is the key to our freedom. This recommended new supreme goal of our life is thoroughly biblical. There are many ways to state this goal, but I believe it is the one "golden" goal that we all are designed to share in common.

Beyond this goal are many legitimate desires we may have in life and many prayers we are encouraged to pray that those desires might be satisfied; however, none of these noble desires should ever be elevated to the place in our hearts of a supreme goal. The reason it is vital that we do not confuse our desires with our goal is that human beings can thwart our desires, but no one can keep us from our goal if it is the proper one. Is there any rejection, injustice that can automatically keep us from "getting to know God better" or from "vulnerably trusting in God"? Such negative experiences should be thought of as "sufferings". When we give them to the Lord as an offering from a broken heart they become sanctified as "legitimate sufferings" or even "sufferings for the sake of Christ". Is not the scripture full of promises of how God can use "sufferings" to deepen our relationship with him? In fact, there are aspects of knowing God and identifying with him that can only be learned through pain.

Paul says it this way in Phil 3:10-11:

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 107

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

I like to refer to the sinfully self-protective strategies that we choose and then repress as "strongholds". In 2 Cor 10:3-5, the apostle Paul makes reference to this challenge and battle we all face:

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ...."

The locus of the fight to tear down the strongholds of human depravity begins with our own thoughts...our images of reality, beliefs, attitudes, perspectives and mind-sets. In the language of Romans 12...it has to do with the renewing of the mind...the practical way that we put off the old self (or false self) and put on the new self (or new creation).

Strongholds are things that block us from the "knowledge of God"...a kind of "knowledge" that is rooted in a first-hand experiential intimacy with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...relational knowledge, if you will. Strongholds hinder healthy interpersonal relationships with others and our self-awareness as well. I truly mean no disrespect, but, without substantial divine intervention, we all tend to slowly and progressively get "jerked into being jerks" by the evil one and our willful reactions to the pains of living in a fallen world in which our deepest longings are profoundly thwarted.

We may become religious jerks or irreligious jerks...either kind serves the enemy's broader schemes in our world. As Dr. Crabb would say, we are victims of sin, but we are also agents of sin. Our sinful strategies need to be graciously disrupted and displaced by the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit in the context of Christ's community. It can and does happen...it has happened throughout the centuries in the lives of ordinary folks like us. Strongholds are stubborn and deeply embedded, but also recall from the scripture above that the spiritual weapons at our disposal are mighty through God and, when rightly applied, strongholds are demolished.

Please hang with me here...I promise that I will come to the good news of how a more radical transformation into the image of Jesus Christ happens in us by bringing every errant thought captive to him, but I believe we need to ponder the anatomy and scope of our brokenness in order to be prepped to take in, cooperate with and forever appreciate the remedy!

Monday, June 14, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 106

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

The terrible pain of rejections and injustices combine and add shame to our situation. We even feel ashamed of our very longings for intimacy and impact that are at the core of our being and again, left to ourselves, we are driven to find a way to cope. Our strategies are erected upon a reactionary and firm commitment at our center to "self=protect". We aren't speaking here of a kind of reasonable self-defense from physical harm, but a putting up of "walls" that generally shut out and shut down our relational vulnerability. This kind of self-protection becomes the subterranean, and usually, subtle primary goal of our broken hearts. The scripture states in Proverbs that "there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death." To me, such self-protection seems to fit squarely into this warning.

On a surface level, we creatively make multiple choices, normally over the course of many years, that fit neatly with our now embedded goal of self-protection. We learn to make such decisions so swiftly and deftly that we lose touch with our hidden agenda that is moving us through life and relationships. We also lose touch with the very fact that we are making choices at all. We imagine that we are just "being ourselves"...though the joy of living ebbs out from us. (I am convinced at this stage of the process, the ancient enemies of God and the human soul...satan and his demonic host...are operating overtime "in cognito" to offer us false images of God, other people, our circumstances and ourselves. If we buy into these falsehoods, then the evil one's most basic work is accomplished, for he has received our personal support for his lies.)

In reaction to our profound pain (and our felt need for comfort of any kind), we form false images, we believe lies, we make unwise inner vows, we overuse our strengths, we transfer blame to undeserving people, we develop addictions, we mimic others and we employ any number of similar coping mechanisms. All of these things have a weird way of offering us a temporary comfort...this is why they are tempting to us. A particular "way of being" emerges and a "style of relating" ensues that is far from the genuine and whole person that God intends for us to be and become. Some would call this, and I believe there is merit to this, a "false self".

Of course, many people realize along the way that they need God to forgive them for their depravity...their sins of pride, lust, greed, hatred, selfishness and the like. And faithfully, God provides this forgiveness when we turn to Jesus Christ and believe in who he is and what he has done for us in his death and resurrection. Additionally, when the Holy Spirit enters our lives, he takes up his residence in our innermost being and imparts to us a new nature...a new heart...a new creation. This reality provides the new base line for us so that God and we can partner, through both crisis and process, to dislodge the sinful and hidden goal of self-protection and successfully put off the old nature...the false self...both it's way of being and it's style of relating.

Not a small battle is inaugurated in order for this to be realized! But, we are no longer alone in the fight and One who has already conquered all sin and death is our Bodyguard.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

The Romance of Romans-Part 105

Romans 15 cont'd

Even the most powerful man of all, Jesus Christ, didn't use his power to create for himself a pain-free and pleasure-filled earthly life. As scripture says, "I have personally identified with and embraced the rejection they have shown you O God." All the scriptures have been written to impart knowledge, patience and comfort to us so that we can live in hope- a confident expectation of a glorious future.

Comments:

Moving more deeply into the heart of understanding how we, as "fallen image bearers" (who possess both dignity and depravity) develop, face and surmount problems, we see that human beings and relations are like icebergs...what you see on the surface of the water is much smaller than the mass of what lies below. This can complicate our lives a bit! Furthermore, we do not become easily conscious (self-aware) of what moves us at the core of our beings. We must turn to the wisdom of scripture to help us pinpoint what goes on in the depths of the human soul. (How many of the Bible's narratives...and it's instructions...are recorded to achieve this very end!) And then...we must also rely on the Holy Spirit and the feedback of wise friends to make it more personal for our own selves.

Larry Crabb summarizes the essence of our nobility as the longing for intimacy and the longing for impact. From the very beginning of life we yearn to connect with and be loved by "another" and not be rejected. We also have a core desire to use our abilities to make an impact for good on the people and world around us. Dr. Crabb emphasizes that these desires, in their essence, should be affirmed, because they are aspects of the Imago Dei...the image of God...in the human being. They cannot actually be repented of and the attempt to do so wastes our energies and damages our humanity.

The Imago Dei in a human being...according to the good doctor...consists of our being, as God is, relational, rational, volitional and emotional. I imagine there are other classic aspects of the Imago Dei, but these certainly will do for a start. These things about us, also then, are to be acknowledged, affirmed, accepted and celebrated. To do less is an insult to our Creator.

So...our genuine problems do not lie with these two embedded longings. Rather, they develop from our profound reactions to how these longings become stymied and frustrated as we live and relate in this broken world. Instead of experiencing the kind of intimacy we have been designed for, we experience an insufficient love...and even outright rejection...from the people we look to for this intimacy. No one loves us the way we long to be loved. Instead of freely making the impact we long for, we experience injustices that block and hinder our freedom to use our talents. Some people, we expect will help pave the way for us to make our contribution, become envious of or threatened by our strengths, and intentionally undermine our efforts and/or discredit our motivations.

This situation, extended over the course of some years leaves us, when left to our own resources to cope with the reality, in a terrible and tragic pain at the center of our souls. It is our very human reactions to having this kind of pain in our deep hearts that then activate our own depravity. We have been victimized by others' sins of rejection and injustice and, out of our effort to "survive", we become agents of sin ourselves. This age is weighed down by a vicious cycle of human depravity...and the evil of it runs right through our own souls.

Yet still, there is hope for transformation....