While at work today, I became increasingly aware of human nature and the incredible selfishness of it at the core...mainly because of my own attitude and actions. God tells us to love others as much as we love ourselves (John 13:34), to look at others as more important than ourselves (Philippians 2:3). That's huge. Do you know how much we love ourselves? How much we gratify our own desires?
Drugs. Sex. Money. The general complaints of society today. It all stems from the love of self and looking out for good 'ol number 1. Do you think the BP execs were thinking of anything but themselves when they chose saving money over safety improvements that could've spared 11 lives and prevented the worst environmental crisis in U.S. history (USA Today)? Now, I'm not saying we should hang the guys because, well, I'm just as bad...You're just as bad. Whose to say one of us couldn't be getting that multi-million dollar severance package for those mistakes if in that position? Seriously. And that's just a sneak peek into the paper trail in the oil industry.
Growing up, parents pushed us to get a good education. Then use that education to get into a good college and earn a top-notch degree. The degree is supposed to beget a nice job where we work at schmoozing, deception, brown nosing, and false appearance--all to climb that ever growing ladder. For what? The Benjamin's. Isn't that how it works? As a result, we've created this hierarchy telling those at the top they can do as they please and those at the bottom that a closer eye will be kept on them because they'll likely screw up. It can be as small as the boss being able to get free food at the restaurant whenever he or she pleases but as soon as the minimum-wage employee takes a bite of free food, he or she no longer has a job. Wait, doesn't the boss make more money...Nevermind.
But see, this isn't so small. It's the same frame of thinking as the celebrity who gets 15 warnings for drunk driving when the impoverished man gets no warning and jail time for a year. We set values on the "top" dogs as exponentially higher than for those at the "bottom." Isn't it amazing that Christ says the first shall be last and the...well, you know ;) (Matthew 20:16)
Why? Why money, sex, and drugs as such large underlying issues? Self-gratification. Money can buy you things, respect, and fake love. Sex can relieve burning desires, the outermost layer of loneliness (only to usually deepen it), and fake love. Drugs can help you forget, temporarily alleviate pain, and provide a temporary escape. Isn't it fascinating that almost all people who reach the climax of these empires are left thinking, "Now what?"
Hmm.
Christ bought you from things, worldly respect, and fake love. Christ relieved you from your burning desires, all of your loneliness, and fake love. Christ helps your remember yet heal, eternally alleviate pain, and never allow you to return to it.
Love others as much as you love yourself. Think of others as more important than yourself. Wow. Imagine a world where the power of selfishness was transformed into the power of love. Maybe, just maybe, Jesus actually knew what He was talking about. Remember that the next time your tummy growls and you find yourself putting on your grumpy pants.
July 28, 2010
July 08, 2010
The Call to the Comfortable
The old-fashioned, stereotypical American dream went out of style but not before a new, more discrete dream took its place. Comfort.
Sure, the old dream is still alive and thriving for some, wanting fancier cars than the 2010 BMW they already have in 5 colors, but people get bored. After all, we like to be different and individualistic in an already fairly diverse society. The old dream will never truly die and likely will continue to exist, to an extent, in each of our hearts. Nonetheless, its replacement is much more dangerous, one the God Himself proclaims to detest. Comfort. Revelation 3:16
Get cozy and think about this plague for a minute. Or better yet, don't. Still think about it though. When did it first occur to us to ignore problems? When your brother bothered you and your mom told you to. So why did you carry that philosophy into adulthood? Same as me, it's easier to deal with, more comfortable.
When we're confronted with even a mere glimpse of pain in the world, aka the news, we complain. We complain that there should be less depressing news...but it is depressing. It's facts being given to us that we're only angry about because they bothered us. We don't like being bothered. Hmm, sure that's terrible that 500 people just got tortured and murdered in the Middle East, just don't bother me with that terrible information.
Comfort is the ultimate death. Possibly worse than cancer and definitely much slower in the consumption of its victim. We don't like boo boos, stench, hard math classes, less than cordial cherries for co-workers. What we do want to talk about is the beautiful weather, new clothes, favorite TV shows, and some "wonderful insight"...or of course complain about the terrible things that happen to us in life--you know, like the atrocity of paying 5 cents more at the pump than what the station down the road is charging. Meanwhile, our breath is wasted just as fast as the starving child in Haiti. Oops. Uncomfortable statement?
Am I condemning humanity? Of course not, not even Americans--and that's hard not to do. No, that wouldn't be fair since I'm just the same, of course, but more so because it is the way we were designed. God created us good and in His image to be relational and to love and be loved. We find peace and comfort in His arms, after all. It's warm there. Soft. Safe. Just like in our suburban home.
Hmm, but God tells us to fly out of comfort and safety in order to fulfill the destiny he set ahead. Deuteronomy 32: 11. Of course what goes on in this world is atrocious and we don't want to fill our minds with "negativity," we were never supposed to. We hate it. We weren't made for it. We oppose it. We're...offended. Now we're talking.
The only cure to comfort is the exact opposite, running into the pain. Pouring an entire bottle of alcohol onto that boo boo--not comfy but definitely healing. I've grown numb to the offense of those images, those stories, those "issues," those people--God's people. It's natural, it's a defense mechanism we've developed and originally had to shield us from the pain. I pray to God I let it die with that victimized woman who died of thirst. May I never resurrect it but replace it with the courage to fight. The courage to reverse my defense mechanism from comfort to courage. Courage isn't the absence of fear--it's the opposite. Courage is fear. Fear of being comfortable. Fear of oneself becoming too powerful. Fear of letting another image of God fall victim. "For God does not give us a spirit of timidity but of power, of love, and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
Now there's some comfort in courage--God won't spit me out!
Sure, the old dream is still alive and thriving for some, wanting fancier cars than the 2010 BMW they already have in 5 colors, but people get bored. After all, we like to be different and individualistic in an already fairly diverse society. The old dream will never truly die and likely will continue to exist, to an extent, in each of our hearts. Nonetheless, its replacement is much more dangerous, one the God Himself proclaims to detest. Comfort. Revelation 3:16
Get cozy and think about this plague for a minute. Or better yet, don't. Still think about it though. When did it first occur to us to ignore problems? When your brother bothered you and your mom told you to. So why did you carry that philosophy into adulthood? Same as me, it's easier to deal with, more comfortable.
When we're confronted with even a mere glimpse of pain in the world, aka the news, we complain. We complain that there should be less depressing news...but it is depressing. It's facts being given to us that we're only angry about because they bothered us. We don't like being bothered. Hmm, sure that's terrible that 500 people just got tortured and murdered in the Middle East, just don't bother me with that terrible information.
Comfort is the ultimate death. Possibly worse than cancer and definitely much slower in the consumption of its victim. We don't like boo boos, stench, hard math classes, less than cordial cherries for co-workers. What we do want to talk about is the beautiful weather, new clothes, favorite TV shows, and some "wonderful insight"...or of course complain about the terrible things that happen to us in life--you know, like the atrocity of paying 5 cents more at the pump than what the station down the road is charging. Meanwhile, our breath is wasted just as fast as the starving child in Haiti. Oops. Uncomfortable statement?
Am I condemning humanity? Of course not, not even Americans--and that's hard not to do. No, that wouldn't be fair since I'm just the same, of course, but more so because it is the way we were designed. God created us good and in His image to be relational and to love and be loved. We find peace and comfort in His arms, after all. It's warm there. Soft. Safe. Just like in our suburban home.
Hmm, but God tells us to fly out of comfort and safety in order to fulfill the destiny he set ahead. Deuteronomy 32: 11. Of course what goes on in this world is atrocious and we don't want to fill our minds with "negativity," we were never supposed to. We hate it. We weren't made for it. We oppose it. We're...offended. Now we're talking.
The only cure to comfort is the exact opposite, running into the pain. Pouring an entire bottle of alcohol onto that boo boo--not comfy but definitely healing. I've grown numb to the offense of those images, those stories, those "issues," those people--God's people. It's natural, it's a defense mechanism we've developed and originally had to shield us from the pain. I pray to God I let it die with that victimized woman who died of thirst. May I never resurrect it but replace it with the courage to fight. The courage to reverse my defense mechanism from comfort to courage. Courage isn't the absence of fear--it's the opposite. Courage is fear. Fear of being comfortable. Fear of oneself becoming too powerful. Fear of letting another image of God fall victim. "For God does not give us a spirit of timidity but of power, of love, and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7
Now there's some comfort in courage--God won't spit me out!
July 02, 2010
Reestablish Life
I've been on a bit of a reading binge as of late and only continued that today :) I just finished my most recent book, "This Present Darkness," and today I decided to start reading a much referred book called, "Irresistable Revolution." I had to work at both my job at the restaurant today and my internship but I was so enthralled by this author's message about true Christian discipleship that I ended my work day 130 pages in. I couldn't wait to blog about my thoughts during the day so I scribbled them down on a piece of paper I grabbed. Here were the thoughts God started formulating in my mind...
For the past few years I've wanted more...more out of this faith I committed to, more than this life I've been leading...more. I've been trying to find the cure to this taunting illness of chasing the temporary--temporary highs in seeing people accept Christ into their lives, temporary satisfaction in relinquishing my personal whatevers to help a friend in need, temporary devotion to "unconventionally" live for God.
Wait. Backup.
Unconventional living for God...that was the only method I tried that started to truly stir up my heart in more ways than I ever imagined. Who said Christianity and living for Christ was about reading a "sacred book?" That's nothing I want to be apart of. The truth is my faith was as stale as month old bread and I was thriving for more. I was tired of church on Sundays, Bible study on Wednesdays, and doing my best to be a good person who liked deep conversation. I knew there was more and I desparately needed it. Wait, that's all still the case.
Now I'm faced trying to decide what to do after I graduate. I've been battling my flesh in wanting to stick with the dream I once thought I was born with--the wonderful world of meteorology. Even though one part of me, the surface, desperately wanted to continue to cling to my dream, my inner-self was awakening--or the Spirit was awakening it rather. Still uncertain of what this meant, I searched and Googled different options in Chicago's inner-city. How could I be a more sincere follower of Christ than this religious propaganda I've been chasing? That I've been dooped into thinking was, well, it.
What will you do with your one and only life? A question that will plague my very soul until my dying breath evaporates into the air. A great one that I've been asked a few times by my good friend Claudia. I don't know what God will use of me but I know I will actually give Him the ability now that I've been awakened to new life. I don't want to feed the system, I want to be IN the system loving and serving! I want to be the hands and feet of Christ! I want to FINALLY experience what it is to die to myself and allow Christ to resurrect within me. I want to KNOW God and see His hand at work in a world of foolishness and craze. (1 John 4)
My eyes have finally been opened to the reality of the need to live, love, and serve alongside the dying and the hungry, the diseased and the dirt poor. Why do I complain of a headache when my fellow man is in SUCH despair? How dare I EVER cling to my "rights" when Christ demands it ALL? I want God to break me, rip me apart from myself and discard everything that is of me and NOT of Him. He calls for ALL of me. I have no rights for I died to them when I began this new life, and how dare I try to claim what is not mine.
You'll be a doormat. That's irrational. It makes me feel less.
Boo. What is foolish by this world's standards is wisdom to God. What is it to you if that homeless person you just gave 5 bucks spends it on a pack of cigs? That $5 NEVER belonged to you in the first place and the One it does belong to told you to give it to him. What more can we say and do than mere obedience? Mother Teresa said it absolutely best as she said, "God does not call me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful." That's only scratching the surface my friends. Why, if we as Christians claim to have the greatest hope there ever was, do we live the most fearful lives? As Rafiki said, "It is time."
For the past few years I've wanted more...more out of this faith I committed to, more than this life I've been leading...more. I've been trying to find the cure to this taunting illness of chasing the temporary--temporary highs in seeing people accept Christ into their lives, temporary satisfaction in relinquishing my personal whatevers to help a friend in need, temporary devotion to "unconventionally" live for God.
Wait. Backup.
Unconventional living for God...that was the only method I tried that started to truly stir up my heart in more ways than I ever imagined. Who said Christianity and living for Christ was about reading a "sacred book?" That's nothing I want to be apart of. The truth is my faith was as stale as month old bread and I was thriving for more. I was tired of church on Sundays, Bible study on Wednesdays, and doing my best to be a good person who liked deep conversation. I knew there was more and I desparately needed it. Wait, that's all still the case.
Now I'm faced trying to decide what to do after I graduate. I've been battling my flesh in wanting to stick with the dream I once thought I was born with--the wonderful world of meteorology. Even though one part of me, the surface, desperately wanted to continue to cling to my dream, my inner-self was awakening--or the Spirit was awakening it rather. Still uncertain of what this meant, I searched and Googled different options in Chicago's inner-city. How could I be a more sincere follower of Christ than this religious propaganda I've been chasing? That I've been dooped into thinking was, well, it.
What will you do with your one and only life? A question that will plague my very soul until my dying breath evaporates into the air. A great one that I've been asked a few times by my good friend Claudia. I don't know what God will use of me but I know I will actually give Him the ability now that I've been awakened to new life. I don't want to feed the system, I want to be IN the system loving and serving! I want to be the hands and feet of Christ! I want to FINALLY experience what it is to die to myself and allow Christ to resurrect within me. I want to KNOW God and see His hand at work in a world of foolishness and craze. (1 John 4)
My eyes have finally been opened to the reality of the need to live, love, and serve alongside the dying and the hungry, the diseased and the dirt poor. Why do I complain of a headache when my fellow man is in SUCH despair? How dare I EVER cling to my "rights" when Christ demands it ALL? I want God to break me, rip me apart from myself and discard everything that is of me and NOT of Him. He calls for ALL of me. I have no rights for I died to them when I began this new life, and how dare I try to claim what is not mine.
You'll be a doormat. That's irrational. It makes me feel less.
Boo. What is foolish by this world's standards is wisdom to God. What is it to you if that homeless person you just gave 5 bucks spends it on a pack of cigs? That $5 NEVER belonged to you in the first place and the One it does belong to told you to give it to him. What more can we say and do than mere obedience? Mother Teresa said it absolutely best as she said, "God does not call me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful." That's only scratching the surface my friends. Why, if we as Christians claim to have the greatest hope there ever was, do we live the most fearful lives? As Rafiki said, "It is time."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)