Giving Away One's Word!

What does the giving of one’s word mean?

Without integrity of word and behavior it is impossible to check man’s descent into chaos.  This would be true of the individual as well as the culture!

At one time one’s word once given and due to a man’s character was as real as truth.  It was in that time that a man did not need to execute a contract because a man’s word meant something.  It was his sacred duty to keep his word and so “A man’s word was his bond.”  Said another way he held himself in the bonds of his word.  Such was so unless released by the other party.  It was an issue or personal ethics.

Often one carried out his word; it was viewed as his sacred duty because it spoke to his personal reputation and his honor.  Thus a man even at great personal cost, loss of material wealth, or even loss of his own life, could be counted upon to do what he said he would do and behave as he said he would behave. 

Sadly in today’s culture one is beyond naïve if he does business on a handshake.  Recently I was in a meeting in which it was decided that the group would purchase a series of products at an agreed upon price.  It was moved, seconded, and passed.  There was no contract only a verbal agreement that the product would be produced at a certain price point. 

The product arrived and then it was revealed to the group that there were additional “set up” charges.  It was moved, seconded, and passed that we pay the additional charges.  There were two dissenting “no” votes.  The reason I so voted was based solely on the fact that there had been an agreement and that the other party had made an agreement and then did not perform according to the agreement.

How one keeping his or her word has changed.  Today if one feels that he inconvenienced or feels that the costs involved are too unfair, such a person seeks to be divested of any responsibility to carry though with his commitments.  He may blame circumstances and comfortably believe he is absolved of such responsibility as his word has established however in making the decision and in giving himself such permission, he does incur another consequence that may ultimately be more costly and inconvenient.  Indeed it is a character issue!

The simple truth is that for one to act outside of his word gives practical expression to the moral fiber of his heart.  It very clearly suggests a life and belief system which is void of such things as trust, honor, honesty, respect for others, and personal integrity.  To gain such a reputation is a consequence and a cost much higher than any inconvenience or material loss that may accrue.

The business community is littered with failures neither because of quality nor craftsmanship but because a man would excuse himself from keeping his word.  Such a decision is not without consequence in one’s own life and in the lives of those he contacts.  We found such to be so in a home project—a kitchen remodel in which the cabinet installer just could not seem to keep his word.

Is it any wonder that we live in a culture that is unraveling?  Some years ago I formed a “handshake” agreement with a service manager to have certain work done on my car at a certain price.  All was well and good until I got the bill.  Later I found out that he did the same thing with others and that he was dismissed from the position by the owner.  The sad part is that someone else hired him in the same position and so he went on deceiving other unsuspecting customers. 

The question we all need to consider is this.  What does it mean when we give our word to another?  Is it a gift that can be counted upon or is it a gift that will be taken back?  Your trustworthiness is based or we might say finds its foundation in your answer!

THE DARKNESS OF BROKEN PLACES

This week I heard someone speak of a deep disappointment, a hurt, a broken place in his heart and how very deep that place had become.  You see deep places can come in an instant but they also can come as we freefall plunge ever deeper into the darkness—The Dark Night of the Soul.  It is as St John of the Cross (1542-1591) observed, it is the soul journeys deeper into the excruciating dark night that there can be hope—a hope for escape.  Such escape is in the divine union with the love of God. 

It was in that broken place that something wonderful happened.  It was there that God met him—not in some emotionally charged event, but quietly and deeply—in the deep places of his heart, God was there but then God was there before he arrived in his darkness and was there long after he left and before the next soul would descend into that depth of that darkness.

If you think about it, in each of our lives there are deep emotional hurts, places that are not just bruises, scrapes, or cuts but deep hurts that plunge into the very deepest places of our hearts and lives.  They plunge as a knife into the very center, the secret interior places of our lives, carving its way through our beliefs, suppositions, and confidences.  

It is not that such a knife cuts deeply and alone but with it comes ever more darkness into the mounting darkness.  It creates a hurt beyond words to describe or feeling to cry.  

Left unacknowledged and unchallenged these darkened hurts grow ever deeper.  Soon they are so deep into our hearts and lives that it is impossible for us to make our way out.  It is as though we are in the darkness of midnight seeking our way out of a maze of feelings and confusion.

To compound our hurt, for whatever reason they can go unacknowledged and thus avoided by ourselves and unrecognized by those closest to us.  They grow ever deeper—our hearts grow ever darker.  

Perhaps you can understand not from some distant place but from the journey within your own heart and life.  Perhaps you can understand that in the darkest of emotional nights, it is hard to believe that there can be light, much less that you will ever see the light.  Perhaps you can understand that it is in the dark night of the soul that lonesomeness and loneliness permeate and saturates and that with a snarling vengeance—the vengeance of a predictor upon a wounded sufferer.

Also know that the emotional crevices of our lives no matter how deep and how dark are, as noted, actually places where the Lord is seeking to be there.  No matter how deep the hurt, God’s love is ever deeper.    

Why is that love in the dark places?  It is and was there all along.  It is like an unseen friend, nearby but unseen.  It is now seen because it is in those places life as we know it is stripped away.  We then can face the harsh reality of our situation(s) and face the questions of “Without all the trappings, who am I?” and “What am I?”  

However, if we will stop for a moment and in that moment savor the taste of being stripped of ourselves there is something else we can find.  That something else is a sweet new reality—the sense of the reality of otherness.  It is in that otherness that we sense the presence of God.  It is then that there is a new opportunity for life, maybe not as it was before but life.  From the darkness of what was alive now comes new life—life in Christ.

Putting Psychological Bandages on Spiritual Hurts

Some will see the following as condemning, however it should be taken more in the spirit of a warning.

 

The services of Balaam were engaged to curse Israel as they are in the process of claiming the Land of Promise.  There is a fair amount of give and take and then we find Balaam’s word, actually a question, “Must I not be careful to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”  Note two things.  Balaam uses the relational, covenant name for God.  Thus but implication, He is not a distant, uncaring, and uninvolved God.  Then also and of course his message to include this question was found objectionable by those to whom he was speaking.  There was of course further discourse which we will consider in just a moment.

Then we travel the years of time and pages of the Scriptures into the life of the Apostle Paul and his letter to the Pastor Timothy.  He writes, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.”

We live in such a time and in this time there is extreme and eternal danger that is unseen by most.  It is the danger of living in a day when the world and its ways have impregnated what we call the “church.”   It is not just one congregation here or there but it is to be found in the many, many options out there which call to those who care to listen.  The call is not to salvation and godly living but to come and be completed, be fulfilled, be emotionally warmed, and so much more that can only be classed as therapeutic in tone and temporal in nature. 

What of the Scriptures?  The Scriptures that have for 6,000 years convicted men of sin and selfishness and pointed all who listen to their truths the way to relationship with God.  What of those Scriptures?  They are now employed in a pleasing, affirming, and devotional manner with the result that little changes.  The darkened heart, bruised by sin and selfishness, hears a message that puts emotional bandages on deeply spiritual hurts.

Of course predominately, the founding and developing of mental health is without a spiritual/religious component by those who opposed faith.  Thus though helpful on a mental-emotional level they often do not penetrate the darkened soul.  It only stands to reason then that such “ministry” as is being described has little lasting effect and in fact is not unlike what one might find in the psychology and therapy rich culture of our time. 

Certainly such “church” is comfortable and even comforting.  However such comfort simply means that the “truth” presented does not stress the attendee at his need points, those points of imperfection.  Thus spiritual needs go unidentified, unchallenged, and therefore there is no change—repentance is no longer stressed, holiness is relegated to the dustbin of the irrelevant doctrine, righteousness is now living in harmony with myself, and the list of difficulties these attitudes bring goes on and on—compounding one another!

Thus the “church” has lost its impact not just on those who attend but also upon the community in which it is situated. Note too this thought.  As what it means to be a part of “church” has changed, the name “Christian” has changed.  Even so hear the words of Balaam.  “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it:  Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” 

In these words that reflect the character and nature of God we find a certain consistency and changelessness.  Note too that the word has changed from Lord to God—the all powerful majestic name.  When we maintain that thought and reengage with the matter of the “church” we find a disturbing concern.  It the “church” has changed and God has not, so what is to become of the “church?” 

Time is the great test and if you will care to notice more than one “humanistic” centered congregation has gone out of business.  However, there are those who have not given in, those who are still the Church, those who still proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and who uphold the Lord’s standard.  Though not perfect, they continue to believe, teach, and minister to the deeper needs of man and do so in the truth.  They would tell you as I do in this writing that to suppose a different Gospel is to tempt the possibility of an eternity in outer darkness with all who have not come to a saving faith found only in Jesus Christ!

The Most Heinous Slavery Ever Known To Man

The most heinous slavery ever known to man is not the human trafficking of young girls, the enslavement of Christians by Muslims, the enslavement of Africans by Westerners, the enslavement of American Indians by those of other tribes, or any of a number of other periods when one peoples enslaved another people.  Read on and you will find out the enslavement that underlies all others and thus is the most heinous unknown to most men.

Perhaps you have notice that people will sacrifice much in order to achieve freedom and stability.  It may be in some kind of transaction, it might be in relationships, it could be in some emotional issue, it might be in a health issue, it could be in any of a number of other venues in life that people seek freedom and stability.  Some have even referred to it as closure.  This is such an important issue that many will even suffer the loss of materials goods, physical capability, position, etc. in order to find the peace of freedom and stability.

The reason may well be found in the word tension.  In fluid and changing situations there is a loss of control and an attendant loss of freedom and stability.  That need for stability creates a certain tension and often that tension is found to be difficult if not intolerable.   Of course knowing that to be so, there are those who for some pathologic reason or another, go about seeking to disrupt and control others by creating and fostering tensions in the various relationships venues of their lives.

Yet there can be a solution to the instability and tension and it is all found in two questions or conditions.  First is the question of the trustworthiness of the person with whom one is in relationship.  The second is in the type of relationship one has with that person.  Of course the most trustworthy relationship is a genuine relationship and such a relationship can be no more genuine than when it is with Jesus Christ as Lord.  Be aware that there are a number of facsimiles but only one genuine.

Then assuming it is a genuine relationship, the question then is what is the quality of that relationship?  For it to work properly, the relationship must be one of implicit trust. 

The epitome of a trust relationship is to give another complete control of one’s life, material goods, relationships, and even the internal faculties, to include beliefs, attitudes, and thought processes. 

 The only place that such a relationship can be found to be completely and totally trustworthy is in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is as the one who comes to Him humbles himself, surrenders to Him as Lord.  The actual word is for Lord in the Scriptures means master or one who has supreme or ultimate authority.  Now to name Jesus Christ as Master means to acknowledge Him as an owner and, well you guessed it that makes the genuine, real deal, follower of Jesus that which He owns.  Said another way the follower becomes His slave—the slave that He bought with the sacrifice of His own life.  Thus we have the reason for His sacrificial death on the Cross.

Is this a mystery or what?  Just to think that Jesus, who is described as God living among us in our humanity, gave His life in order to buy us back from our own enslavement to sinfulness and evil.  Such is beyond our compression.  Some would argue what me enslaved?  Yes, for our measure is against a culture that is enslaved and thus it is normal and therefore other than the condition is unknown to us.

So here is the genuine pathway through instability and tension.  It comes when we do not own ourselves but are owned by the benevolent Master—the one who cared so very much for each of us  with a genuine love--a selfless love that He left His place of royalty and came to earth, became a man, lived among people like us, and then gave His life to pay for our sins and failures.  In doing that He redeemed (bought back from slavery to sin) each who would name Him as Slave Master and commit to be His slave.

So what is the most heinous slavery?  It is the slavery that underlies all that is evil, all that we see that is wrong with culture, religion, relationships, etc.  This enslavement to sinfulness is indeed unknown to most for man is so surrounded by sinfulness that it is the norm, not the exception.  It is the slavery that enslaves those who have not found the freedom that is available to the one who has become a slave of Jesus Christ.

Go Ahead Disparage Christianity and the Church but first...

Go Ahead Disparage Christianity and the Church but first would you mind listing for me what organization or movement has accomplished...the freeing of slaves?  Even today there are people who at the threat of their own personal safety are doing what they can to stop human trafficking.

Maybe you know of and can list organizations or movements that have elevated women.  How many Muslim countries have women heads of state, in fact how many non-Christian countries have women heads of state?  One maybe two from time to time, but not many!  Or here is one, how many places other than in countries with Christian histories do we find women leading major corporations?

Oh, do not forget about the elevating of women in the family and in the society.  Does any other major religion require of the adhering husband to love and honor their wives?  Can you think of one?  How about Islam, does it demand of its children that they honor and obey their parents--no, no, no, not just young girls, no you male children that includes you obeying the mother.  Any takers on that one?

Where did the notion of hospice houses that led to hospitals and hostiles originate.  It was the tradition of Christians to take the aged, in-firmed, sick, mentally disturbed, other outcasts of society (including female babies who were left to die of the elements), and wayfaring travelers into their own homes and treat them and care for them as if they were family.  This care they provided even to pagans who opposed the Christian faith!  Then in 325 AD at the Council of Nicea the Pope required that every city that had a Cathedral also have a hospice for the reasons already listed.

How about education?  It was Christians who though persecuted for doing so educated the factory children of largely pagan Europe.  Oh and where did the Great Enlightenment (an oxymoron to be sure) begin?  On the foundations of those educated in Cathedral Schools and Universities which were originated to train men for Christian service.  World wide compare the number of people educated because of Christianity with the number educated by or for any other religion.  It is not uncommon to find people today who can recite the Qur'an but not read it.  It is not common today to find that to be so with the Bible.

Oh and then there are those who say such outlandish, even slanderous things such as, more people have died because of faith in general and Christianity in particular than for any other reason (they conveniently look past the USSR, China, and other communist countries that have slaughtered millions of people).  Or here is another, Northern Ireland Christians and Catholics.  How many died?  Now compare that to the number who died because Muslims cannot get along with their brother Muslims.

Go ahead tout the superiority of Buddhism, Shinto, Taoism, Hinduism, and the currently sacred, do not disparage Muslim religion. Go ahead and believe that all roads lead to god--they do but problem is it is not the god you think nor the God who is!  Go ahead and look past that last 2,000 years of Christian history and what responsible Christians and responsible groups of Christians have accomplished for one reason alone.  Certainly do not consider that many hundreds of thousands if not millions have left home and security and have gone and in going suffered greatly at the hands of these other faith groups and other godless people.  Don't forget to disparage those who packed all of their worldly goods in their casket and then sailed for foreign lands knowing that they would never to return to their homeland and even be buried on foreign shores.  Call them misguided since they went not because they were trying to earn their way into paradise--eternal bliss or believed in some kind of Karma experience.  No, not at all, not in a million years! They did not do these things because they feared the wrathful vengeance of a vengeful God (sorry Muslims).  They did these things because they wanted to obey the Holy Scriptures and in doing so please only one person--their Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  Problem is that if you are not in the same relationship with Him you will never understand them nor will you understand Him.

Even many of those who went on the Crusades, though mistaken in what they did, did so for no other reason than to seek to please their Lord, Jesus Christ.  So while you are busy being critical of Christianity and its adherents, seeking to dig up dirt on them, just remember that you would not be enjoying the blessings you do if it was not for them and the sacrifices they made to lay the groundwork that they did.

You remember that the next time you have a sick kid in the ER, or you help in your child's classroom, or you stop at a hotel in your travels, or you give blood at the Red Cross, or someone you know benefits from going to AA, or...

Spiritual Renewal--Stemming the Descent into the Abyss of Chaos

Ever wonder why life can become increasing chaotic and characterized by statements such as, “Things just are not going all that well,” or maybe some variation of same.  The simple yet profound answer is that without Someone to stem our descent, we all will descend into the abyss of chaos.  Descend deep enough and the chances for escape are slim at best.

As discussed in previous postings, man left alone to his own ends without something to stop this descent will continue ever downward.  It may not be obvious to the outsider but deep within it will be so and eventually that which is deep within will become the obvious on the outside.  It is so because that which floods the heart will eventually be reflected in and if not stopped then flood the life.

Said another way when man is left devoid of the that which comes from a saving faith in Jesus Christ, Christian fellowship, prayer, studying and living out the Christian Scriptures, and the practice other Christian disciplines, one's life will unravel as it travels the descending road toward deeper chaos.  The problem is that most may avoid facing this descent because of the busyness of life.  However, in the quiet moments before slipping into the oblivion of sleep, God gives to us those fleeting moments in which we come face to face with our true selves and understand such to be so.

How does one respond?  If the physical descent into chaos caused physical pain, we most often will seek some kind of relief.  If it interferes with some physical function or another we seek therapeutic intervention of some kind.  The same would be true of mental confusion, emotional upset, relational challenges, and other symptoms of this descent not just toward but deeper into chaos—the abyss of chaos.

In pondering these things know that there is another area—a deeper area that underlies all others.  Though it is deeper it may present symptoms that manifest in the previously mentioned areas and thus be glossed over.  It is the descent of one's spirit into spiritual chaos and eventually spiritual hopelessness.  We without saving faith are spiritually broken and too boot, we live in a world of spiritually broken people.  So to excuse one’s self because I am no worse than my neighbor is to suggest that it is okay for me to have some physical malady, say cancer because it is not unlike or maybe even less severe than my neighbors.

Said another way, what most people do is to view their chaotic condition by comparing with others who are in the same condition.  Per chance they do recognize a problem their tendency is to check their descent by seeking answers from among others who are just as spiritually broken and descending into the same abyss of chaos. 
About now some are “shouting” that there must be a better way and there is!  It came 2,000 years ago the God-man Jesus came and lived among the chaos of this world among a people who rejected him (see you are not alone) in order to show that there was a way of healing and health--spiritual health.   The only known way to “check” the descent is spiritual renewal and that is only as a repentance based faith in Jesus Christ is established and made a priority in one’s life.

Yet mankind in general and most people in particular continue to suffer the ravages of sin.  No matter how the sin issue is explained away or avoided, it still remains an issue that requires a genuine spiritual answer.  You cannot drug it out, shop it away, avoid it with obsessive-compulsive behavior, drowned it out with activity, overshadow it with church, or satisfy the need with some kind of pseudo-spiritual activity (e.g. eastern religion, yoga, etc.).

What is the answer?  What is required to stem this descent into chaos, spiritual and otherwise?  It is as already noted, found in establishing and maintaining a growing relationship with Him who is able to put all things right--even those things internal to the individual.  When one comes to faith in Jesus Christ, it is incumbent upon that person to set aside time and dedicating that time to Jesus Christ, removing the distractions of life, quiet one's heart to hear the Lord, choosing to be humble and gentle in those moments, and listening intently for the voice of the Lord in the Scriptures and in the deeper places of the heart.

In the course of doing those things we can hear from God, sense conviction for our sinful attitudes which have led then to sinful behaviors, confess those things to the One who knows all, seek His forgiveness through the cross of the Lord, Jesus Christ and in doing so push gently but ever deeper into relationship with the One who gave his all that we might have His all.

Please join with me in this Lenten Season and pursue a deeper walk with the Lord.  Remember when we draw near to the Lord, it is not He who moves but we who move our lives ever closer to that which lights our way to Him.

Genuine Service? Oh Really!

Man's needs provide the opportunity for service and care.  The question arises then on what level do we provide that care? 

Prominent in the arena of social problems such as poverty, discrimination, fractured families, substance abuse, community problems, crime, and so many others are those who seek to provide answers.  Some through some government program or another.  There are those who believe their political party can "fix" these issues.  Some invest their hope and trust in a politician.  Oh, do not forget the community activists who think by marshaling people to some cause or another they can create change--generally they tend to produce more rebellion than results.

Time is the test of change and I am willing to wager that if you study the history of the above mentioned movements over the long-haul not much is different.  However, there is a much more successful "program."  It has been termed variously over the years--renewal, revival, repentance, etc.  It is so because it goes to the central core of the issues listed above, man's heart.

Any of a number of faith based change agents could be cited.  One example is the Teen Challenge Drug Program. Another is the Catholic Charity Hospitals.  How about those with Christians beginnings that though wandering still do lasting work in the lives of those they serve.  The Young Mens Christian Association (YMCA) and the Red Cross are but two of the many.

The point is that it is coming to a personal faith that changes one on the inside is the kind of change that makes a person different, such changes his family, such changes the neighborhood, such changes the community.  Go ahead and seek change--maybe you will succeed but if you leave God out of change, it will not long endure not will it change people in such a way so that the change remains over the long term.

As one goes about serving others in the various venues of life, unless one goes beyond simply meeting the symptoms which are the manifestation of the basic needs, there is no end to the meeting of the symptoms.  One must come a point at which one deals with the deeper issues that caused the symptoms.  As they say, to do otherwise is to “…put Band-Aids on cancer….”

One must have at least a moral framework for change but that is not enough.  If such change does not alter the religious-ethical framework of others, such change will be temporary.  The problem is that without such change on the part of the caregiver, there is little from which to lastingly serve others.  To have change other than mentioned is to do less than serve others.