"Disquieting Truth"

C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity observes,

“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end:  if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth—only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair.”

If you were to sum it up, then I suppose you would have to call genuine Christian truth, disquieting.  How can it be other when one seriously and honestly considers one’s life and then compares it to the genuine truths of the Divine?  Indeed, one cannot help but be disquieted.  For one to be otherwise is to be naïve or deluded.

Even to the one who thinks it possible to explain away much of the Scriptures, there still will remain much which challenges one’s life and thinking.  Two current examples will testify to and illustrate the point.

I know of a person who often refers to Jesus words, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.”  My suspicion is that the focus is upon the former part of the statement and not the second part, the command portion. 

How could one possibly “soft soap” a command not to sin anymore?  In that day and time the weight of the Old Testament Law rested upon the shoulders of all who would follow God.  Jesus’ words that He came to fulfill, not to abolish the Law apply here.  How impossible the task to not sin.  Of course then as now there were those who either redefined sin or look past the inconvenient truths of the Bible.  In doing those things they presume to make it possible to conform one’s life to the same.

The other example to consider is the use of the word “love.”  Over and over one hears that we must love one another.  To be sure one can find comfort in the notion of being loved.  Yet, if one takes time to read and ponder the Scripture’s description of love, and then put that description into practice it become quite another matter.

Thus I go back to say that true and genuine Christianity is disquieting as it should be for in the spiritual disciplines of life we are brought into contact with the One who is described as Truth and genuine truth is always disquieting to our fleshly nature and its insatiable demands. 

Those things that we read in the Scriptures, what we discover as we ponder the words of Scripture, what the Holy Spirit reveals to us in prayer, and what we hear from the pulpit should be disquieting.  Why?  C.S. Lewis points out that unless we believe we are sick we do not receive the advice of the physician.  If we do not see ourselves as not measuring up to Great Physician, we simply do not see ourselves as spiritually diseased and disquieted and thus heed the commands of the One who became flesh and who lived among us.  This is the great lie which has deceived man in general and many who claim Christ in particular.

The truth of the matter when compared to the eternal and immutable truths of the Bible, is that I am not okay, You are not okay!  The beauty of it all is that when the Christian knows this he is afforded the opportunity to take action but not just any action.  It is the action in which Christ's provision of strength to live according to His Words--Words of Truth is afforded to the believer.  And in those areas of which one is not aware?  This is where God's grace enters into the life of the beliver.

"Journeying Onward to Change by Faith or Sight"

Attempting to live out our faith in the strength of our own resources has the disadvantage of blocking our view of the spiritual.  How easy we find it to walk by sight (understanding, our own human enlightenment) and not by faith and yet Paul under the direction of the Holy Spirit challenges that notion when he writes the following.

2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight --NASU

 Most certainly this is but a small part of a greater thought.  However, as with many things in Christian faith, the small and simple are profound and broad in impact.  The point is that we, like those believers of that day  in the Church(s) in the City of Corinth along with Paul were challenged by God to walk not in their human understanding of this thing we call Christianity but by faith.

In comparison to faith, how easy it is to walk through life moving here and there based upon feelings.  In comparison to faith, and though more difficult than feelings, how easy it is to walk through life based upon what we know.  Or, again compared to faith, how difficult it is to live out life in the strength of one's will.  The degree to which we live out our lives based upon these things, is the degree to which living out lives out in faith pays the price.

In other words, when called upon to follow some course of action or another which makes no sense, and if we rely upon our understanding, our feelings, or our will to take action, it very often is at the expense of a decision made out of faith.  Walking by faith in the uncertainties of life is God's design for the one who would follow Him.

However, that is not God's plan for the Christian.  Remember that,

Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."

Though often quite difficult, it still remains the task of the Christian to step out in faith.  It seems then that the hope and conviction to which this verse refers is a much deeper hope and conviction than something one's conjures up out of one's will, belief, or feeling.  These are spirit level activities that come only as the Holy Spirit of God move within the human spirit and create these things in the face of what seems possible.

Finally, all live by faith of some sort.  The question to consider at this juncture is just what is worthy of your faith.  In particular one does well to not place his faith in those things that are temporary--things that will pass away.  For example, there are those who place their faith in governments, yet one does not look far to see that governmental power corrupts (e.g. the disparity between the benefits that the Congress has voted for themselves and what they have voted for the military, other government workers, etc.).

Then too consider the governments one finds across the world where corruption and graft are a way of life.  How deep the disappointment must be for those who place their trust in government.  However, there will come a day that there will be only one government--that presided over by the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Indeed His rule will be fair and just.

We also find people place their faith in movements such a the climate movement, environmental-green movement, equal rights movements, etc.  Though some of have produced change, such change is neither genuine nor is it deep.  There is one exception that is found throughout the history of the world.  It is spiritual revival.  Over and over, culture to culture, and people to people when the social movement is occasioned by spiritual revival (e.g. Billy Sunday, D.L Moody, Charles Spurgeon, etc) there is genuine deep and lasting changes.

Again it all comes back to the question of where I place my faith.  A faith that comes from hearing and that hearing which comes is in conformity to what God's Word says (Romans 10:17)

"Riverbanks in Our Lives"

What do you have when a river levee is breached?  A river run wild.

Think about life.  The riverbanks of character are what keeps one's life flowing in the right direction.  Failing to maintain those banks make great the possibility of ethical failure.  It is but a few decisions made without concern for character that will breach the levees of one life and it will run out of control.

Think about relationships.  The riverbanks of correct boundaries are what keeps one's relationships flowing in the right direction.  Failing to maintain those banks make great the possibility of destructive relationships.  How often an enabling person and/or an enabled person selfishly breach the bounds of propriety in relationships.

Think about society.  The riverbanks of Law are what keeps society flowing an orderly direction.  Failing to live within the Law brings about anarchy and rebellion.  A very chaotic culture results when the levees of Law are breached.

Think about faith.  The riverbanks of Scripture and doctrine are what keeps one's faith life flowing in the right direction.  Failing to maintain those banks make great the possibility of religious failure.  Extremes of faith and doctrine behaviors come when the levees of faith and doctrine are breached.

Think about the Holy Spirit.  The riverbanks of Scripture are what keeps the ministering work of the Holy Spirit flowing in the right direction.  Failing to maintain those banks make great the possibility of spiritual extremism.  Genuine fanaticism (not just spiritual expression based in one's personality type) comes when the levees of Scripture are breached in this area.

Thank about your life.  The riverbanks that have been listed along with others are what keep one's life manageable and moving in right and correct directions.  They are there to keep one's life from running out of control.  What do you have when any of these things are breeched?  A life run wild, spilling into other lives, running a muck, chasing errant ideas of faith, and/or following after spiritual extremes.

The more I think about it, the more I have come to realize that the only way to maintain the riverbanks of one's life is through balance.  Balancing one's life in faith and the operation of the Holy Spirit.  Balanced in relationships with God, others, and then one's self.  Balanced in life.

As someone, perhaps Abe Lincoln, once said, "It is the path of least resistance that causes men and rivers to run crooked."  So it is that it is the genuine levees of life that keep us from following that path of least resistance.  What is a life that has followed that path?  A life best described as chaotic!

"A New Year's Checklist"

In the beginning days of a new year it is important to think about where one has been and where one is going.  This is no more important than in the spiritual arenas of one's life.  Here is a little check list

MAN AS GOD ORIGINALLY CREATED HIM

Who am I?  You are one who was RIGHTLY created by God - Psalms 139:15-16

Who am I?  You were and are one who is REVERED by God - Lamentations 3:22-23

Who am I?  You were and are one who is REFRESHED by God - Isaiah 42:5

MAN WHO DISOBEYED GOD, SINNED, AND WAS SEPARATED FROM GOD

Who am I?  You were and are one who is RIPPED OFF by sin - Romans 5:12, 3:23

Who am I?  You are one who is RUINED by sin - Romans 6:23

MAN WHO COMES HUMBLY TO JESUS CHRIST

Who am I?  You are one who is to be REPENTANT for that sin - Luke 13:3, 5

Who am I?  You are one who is REDEEMED by Jesus - Romans 5:8

Who am I? You are one who is RESCUED by Jesus - Colossians 1:13

Who am I?  You are one who has been REPAIRED by Jesus  - 2 Corinthians 5:17

Who am I?  You are one who is RESTORED by God - Job 22:23

Who am I?  You are one who is REVERED by God - Romans 5:5

Who am I?  You are one who can be REPLENISHED by God - 2 Corinthians 1:3

Who am I?  You are one who is RESOURCED by God - Philippians 4:13