Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7-8
I've been thinking a bit lately about love, and what that looks like in our media driven, for-profit day and age. Culture tries to splotter love all over the place, and I think people get de-sensitized to what love really is, at its core.
First, remember that love is something we don't understand well as humans -- that's why it goes in the abstract noun category. But certainly, love is demonstrated or exemplified by certain acts. It's hard to identify love without some sort of concrete, physical, can-be-seen act.
Well, this verse tells us that love comes from God, and that God is love. Can we understand God? I don't think God is abstract, but He's too intense, too vast, too full to understand fully by us and our feeble minds, in my opinion. So if we can't understand God, we can't understand love.
Certainly, love was showcased by the concrete, physical in-the-flesh act of Jesus on the cross. It was a manifestation, or the playing out of love, God's love...but that still leaves us a little in the dark on an absolute definition of love.
There's something else unique that I'm figuring out about love. Acts of love are not earned nor deserved. They result from grace. This is true for my human relationships. The most memorable things I remember about acts of love on me or to me are not done to earn anything back from me -- there is a genuine heart to love me because of the person I just happen to be.
Appreciating someone for them just being them and the way they are. Love doesn't try and instruct or tell, it simply celebrates.
Jesus did the necessary thing to fully celebrate each and every one of His. And driving it was grace -- not anything that Jesus expected to earn or deserve back from the people He saved.
In light of this, I think it frees us up to love in our human relationships like He did -- with freedom, no fear of condemnation, not thinking we have or deserve something in return -- we can simply celebrate.
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
11.15.2009
9.08.2009
Christ's love without condition in spite of physical condition
It strikes me that so many people in our culture today love conditionally based on someone else's physical state or condition.
I admit that do this much more often than I'd like to admit. I engage people if they are like me, or clean enough, or pretty enough, or often of the same skin color.
I get impatient and judgemental if a person is fat or doesn't speak English fluently or smells awful.
It reveals the poor, but true, condition of my own heart.
How refreshing it is to look at Christ and His example! How he loved people with great compassion! Unconditional to their physical state or appearance.
In Matthew 8, Jesus heals a man of leprosy. Nobody approached lepers in Jesus' day. Not many do in today's day and age. Leprosy is an intense disease with outward disfigurement of the skin, possibly leaky skin ulcers, the strong smell deterring most people away...
A bleeding woman (who had been bleeding for 12 years) in Matthew 9 comes and touches Christ's cloak. She is immediately engaged by Christ. "Take heart daughter...your faith has healed you."
Most people who are randomly bleeding, and if I had known they had been like that for the previous twelve years, I would do my best to avoid them. Certainly not want to engage them. And yet Christ puts forth immediate compassion.
In John 11, we see Christ's power to defeat the worst physical condition of all: death. Yet, we know this physical condition does
"But Lord" said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." (11:39b). We know that Jesus is quite moved in this scene as He just wept. Not cried. Wept. (John 11:35)
In spite of the place stinking badly, in spite of a dead body, Jesus great compassion has the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus thanks His father for the power to do so, giving all honor and glory to the Creator of the universe, and then Lazarus walks out alive (John 11:44).
Christ loved unconditionally in spite of other's physical condition.
Someone's physical condition or state should not be a reason to withhold love. Whether someone stinks, is sweaty, is fat, is a different color, has corn rows, has creepy looking eyes...I don't think that is for me to judge and with hold a desire to serve and love that other person as Christ would have.
Yet it happens a lot in our modern day culture. When it does happen, those who may not have the most optimal or best physical state or appearance develop greater fears that they won't be loved for their physical condition. They may not want to love. They may fear being loved on condition.
The point is, it is a downward spiral. Instead of it getting started, it would be wise if I looked to Christ's example and sought to love others as He did, regardless of their physical state or condition.
I admit that do this much more often than I'd like to admit. I engage people if they are like me, or clean enough, or pretty enough, or often of the same skin color.
I get impatient and judgemental if a person is fat or doesn't speak English fluently or smells awful.
It reveals the poor, but true, condition of my own heart.
How refreshing it is to look at Christ and His example! How he loved people with great compassion! Unconditional to their physical state or appearance.
In Matthew 8, Jesus heals a man of leprosy. Nobody approached lepers in Jesus' day. Not many do in today's day and age. Leprosy is an intense disease with outward disfigurement of the skin, possibly leaky skin ulcers, the strong smell deterring most people away...
A bleeding woman (who had been bleeding for 12 years) in Matthew 9 comes and touches Christ's cloak. She is immediately engaged by Christ. "Take heart daughter...your faith has healed you."
Most people who are randomly bleeding, and if I had known they had been like that for the previous twelve years, I would do my best to avoid them. Certainly not want to engage them. And yet Christ puts forth immediate compassion.
In John 11, we see Christ's power to defeat the worst physical condition of all: death. Yet, we know this physical condition does
"But Lord" said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." (11:39b). We know that Jesus is quite moved in this scene as He just wept. Not cried. Wept. (John 11:35)
In spite of the place stinking badly, in spite of a dead body, Jesus great compassion has the power to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus thanks His father for the power to do so, giving all honor and glory to the Creator of the universe, and then Lazarus walks out alive (John 11:44).
Christ loved unconditionally in spite of other's physical condition.
Someone's physical condition or state should not be a reason to withhold love. Whether someone stinks, is sweaty, is fat, is a different color, has corn rows, has creepy looking eyes...I don't think that is for me to judge and with hold a desire to serve and love that other person as Christ would have.
Yet it happens a lot in our modern day culture. When it does happen, those who may not have the most optimal or best physical state or appearance develop greater fears that they won't be loved for their physical condition. They may not want to love. They may fear being loved on condition.
The point is, it is a downward spiral. Instead of it getting started, it would be wise if I looked to Christ's example and sought to love others as He did, regardless of their physical state or condition.
8.19.2009
celebrating what is right
"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
This I command you, that you love one another." (John 15:9-17 NASB)
Christ's love is the perfect love to which our hearts aspire. The perfect love in which our hearts, souls, and minds find perfect peace. Amidst the backdrop of this passage, I think I'm getting a deeper picture of Christ's love, and the joys as well as the limitations of a dating relationship.
Christ emphasizes that we humans love only because it's made possible through and by His love. "I have also loved you..." "just as I have loved you..." "You did not choose Me but I chose you..."
This passage to me makes it clear that we can only abide in any sort of love on this earth AFTER and dependent upon the love relationship with Christ.
Don't get me wrong. I personally have been really fortunate to progress into a deeper season of becoming greater friends with a really great girl. The jury is still out on if it's love or not, I can't say...but a lot of things seem to be clicking as right and honorable. It's an experience of thoughts, emotions, and events that is quite fun, exciting, and unique. Christ speaks, in this very passage, about how greater love is closely related to the idea of deep friendship. "No longer do I call you slaves...but I have called you friends..."
The earthly dating relationship never will, and never should surpass the primary love relationship with Christ. I don't think marriage should either. That sounds almost defeatist at first, definitely counter-cultural to not pour out everything into this other person, this great friend, and to put your primary hope in this other human.
That should never be the case and if I project that as a boyfriend or future husband, I am failing as a friend and a brother. Not to mention, I am selling short the love of Christ and cheapening it.
It needs to be remembered that both humans involved in that relationship have their own individual sin that they bring to the table. That fact will never allow the intimacy and a purity of love that can be experienced with Jesus, the holy and perfect One. Don't get me wrong, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends can have pretty awesome relationships that are fulfilling, honoring, and glorifying to the Lord. At their best, they can approach something less than the love of Christ. That's not a bad thing though, falling somewhat short of perfection can still be pretty darn good.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
This I command you, that you love one another." (John 15:9-17 NASB)
Christ's love is the perfect love to which our hearts aspire. The perfect love in which our hearts, souls, and minds find perfect peace. Amidst the backdrop of this passage, I think I'm getting a deeper picture of Christ's love, and the joys as well as the limitations of a dating relationship.
Christ emphasizes that we humans love only because it's made possible through and by His love. "I have also loved you..." "just as I have loved you..." "You did not choose Me but I chose you..."
This passage to me makes it clear that we can only abide in any sort of love on this earth AFTER and dependent upon the love relationship with Christ.
Don't get me wrong. I personally have been really fortunate to progress into a deeper season of becoming greater friends with a really great girl. The jury is still out on if it's love or not, I can't say...but a lot of things seem to be clicking as right and honorable. It's an experience of thoughts, emotions, and events that is quite fun, exciting, and unique. Christ speaks, in this very passage, about how greater love is closely related to the idea of deep friendship. "No longer do I call you slaves...but I have called you friends..."
The earthly dating relationship never will, and never should surpass the primary love relationship with Christ. I don't think marriage should either. That sounds almost defeatist at first, definitely counter-cultural to not pour out everything into this other person, this great friend, and to put your primary hope in this other human.
That should never be the case and if I project that as a boyfriend or future husband, I am failing as a friend and a brother. Not to mention, I am selling short the love of Christ and cheapening it.
It needs to be remembered that both humans involved in that relationship have their own individual sin that they bring to the table. That fact will never allow the intimacy and a purity of love that can be experienced with Jesus, the holy and perfect One. Don't get me wrong, husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends can have pretty awesome relationships that are fulfilling, honoring, and glorifying to the Lord. At their best, they can approach something less than the love of Christ. That's not a bad thing though, falling somewhat short of perfection can still be pretty darn good.
7.26.2009
who's first in a relationship?
In many ways, being in a very close relationship, such as marriage, there is a strong intimacy and love for that other person in the relationship.
That is to be celebrated. A relationship where people can trust each other to such levels of baring-their-soul intimacy is a great thing. The love and security in a relationship like that, I imagine is an awesome thing to experience (I'm not married so I can't fully back up this post with a real-life experience). A developed and close-knit love helps each individual stand together and comfort each other amidst the world of evil, hate, and disappointment that we live in.
I think though, even in Christ-centered marriages, the influence of culture sometimes takes this idea too far. **This is where I acknowledge I lack clarity of insight having never been married. It's easy for me to say that a husband and wife should put Christ first and foremost in their marriage. Living that is something else.
Regardless, I really think it's true. Well, consider, if the other person were to be the primary focus in a relationship, that's going to eventually lead to disappointment. The fact of the matter is, no matter how great the other person is, no matter how deep and bonded the love of the relationship is, the other person is a sinner. More importantly, and what is a bigger deal, is that you are a sinner (I am a sinner). There's something there that will never allow a human relationship of love to be as perfect and pure as Christ's love for each one of His children.
I was reading in Genesis, and never picked up on this before. Before the fall, Adam and Eve DID live in a perfect relationship with each other, and it was pure, as God's relationship was to them. They were naked and not ashamed...then the fall happened, and the resulting sin produced some consequences. God says "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children; Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
so #1, giving birth is now painful. Giving birth to a child is perhaps the deepest proof, or "sign" of love between a man and a woman. Even greater than that is that giving birth is deep proof of God's love for both parents, His own children. God gives forth this incredible, miraculous blessing. What was meant to be an act of love without fear and completely joyous has turned into something painful and full of anxiety.
and #2 "your desire will be for your husband..." this line was really insightful. Before the fall, what was pure, what was holy, what was perfect leads me to think was the opposite of what this consequence. Eve's desire WAS for God. Now that the fall has occurred, the woman will desire her husband...she will gravitate towards loving her man more than God.
As Christian believers who seek to walk according to God's truth and live in holiness, I think we need to realize this. In spite of pop media and our general culture all around us encouraging us as much as possible to make idols out of our husbands or wives, and essentially put them up on pedestals, we need to be prayerful about putting Christ first in our lives, and walk in THAT desire. In doing so, I think we end up honoring and loving the spouse in a pure way far far greater than the alternative way of trying to love the spouse as #1.
That is to be celebrated. A relationship where people can trust each other to such levels of baring-their-soul intimacy is a great thing. The love and security in a relationship like that, I imagine is an awesome thing to experience (I'm not married so I can't fully back up this post with a real-life experience). A developed and close-knit love helps each individual stand together and comfort each other amidst the world of evil, hate, and disappointment that we live in.
I think though, even in Christ-centered marriages, the influence of culture sometimes takes this idea too far. **This is where I acknowledge I lack clarity of insight having never been married. It's easy for me to say that a husband and wife should put Christ first and foremost in their marriage. Living that is something else.
Regardless, I really think it's true. Well, consider, if the other person were to be the primary focus in a relationship, that's going to eventually lead to disappointment. The fact of the matter is, no matter how great the other person is, no matter how deep and bonded the love of the relationship is, the other person is a sinner. More importantly, and what is a bigger deal, is that you are a sinner (I am a sinner). There's something there that will never allow a human relationship of love to be as perfect and pure as Christ's love for each one of His children.
I was reading in Genesis, and never picked up on this before. Before the fall, Adam and Eve DID live in a perfect relationship with each other, and it was pure, as God's relationship was to them. They were naked and not ashamed...then the fall happened, and the resulting sin produced some consequences. God says "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children; Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you." (Genesis 3:16)
so #1, giving birth is now painful. Giving birth to a child is perhaps the deepest proof, or "sign" of love between a man and a woman. Even greater than that is that giving birth is deep proof of God's love for both parents, His own children. God gives forth this incredible, miraculous blessing. What was meant to be an act of love without fear and completely joyous has turned into something painful and full of anxiety.
and #2 "your desire will be for your husband..." this line was really insightful. Before the fall, what was pure, what was holy, what was perfect leads me to think was the opposite of what this consequence. Eve's desire WAS for God. Now that the fall has occurred, the woman will desire her husband...she will gravitate towards loving her man more than God.
As Christian believers who seek to walk according to God's truth and live in holiness, I think we need to realize this. In spite of pop media and our general culture all around us encouraging us as much as possible to make idols out of our husbands or wives, and essentially put them up on pedestals, we need to be prayerful about putting Christ first in our lives, and walk in THAT desire. In doing so, I think we end up honoring and loving the spouse in a pure way far far greater than the alternative way of trying to love the spouse as #1.
5.27.2009
grace and our ability to love
So I've had this thought for about a week now:
The more we understand true grace found in Jesus, the more powerfully we are able to love. Agape love that Lewis points out.
I think this point is true in relationships between friends, and married couples as well. I've also been thinking about some of the saints that have walked before me in history and current ones. Some of the well-known ones, and some of the lesser known ones. People like Mother Teresa, William Carey, the Apostle Paul, John, Augustine...and some missionaries out there on the field today.
It seems like they each have a pretty deep understanding of what grace found in Christ really is, and what it means. In turn, that has motivated these individuals to selfless action in pursuit of God's glory.
I don't even know if it's proper to say, for these subsequent actions in following the understanding of grace, that it's a "response" to grace. When people respond to things, the action tends to be limited. They do enough for what merits a response, and usually not much more. In addition, "responding" to grace is very human-centric powered. The real love that comes from these devoted saints I find it very hard to believe was somehow man-made.
I think I'm still a long ways off from really getting it. I really think this is true though:
The more we understand true grace found in Jesus, the more powerfully we are able to love.
I really want to get it. I'm still a long ways off. I think, however, a deep understanding of Christ's grace that motivates action in love has a lot to do with submission and yielding. To the point that the "love actions" that result from a person end up becoming something like extensions of Jesus Himself, working in these people. So in fact, ironically, it isn't the people loving at all.
Again, it's Christ. Full circle. Grace. Our ability to love. A beginning and an end.
And He somehow thought and wanted to include us in the process...
The more we understand true grace found in Jesus, the more powerfully we are able to love. Agape love that Lewis points out.
I think this point is true in relationships between friends, and married couples as well. I've also been thinking about some of the saints that have walked before me in history and current ones. Some of the well-known ones, and some of the lesser known ones. People like Mother Teresa, William Carey, the Apostle Paul, John, Augustine...and some missionaries out there on the field today.
It seems like they each have a pretty deep understanding of what grace found in Christ really is, and what it means. In turn, that has motivated these individuals to selfless action in pursuit of God's glory.
I don't even know if it's proper to say, for these subsequent actions in following the understanding of grace, that it's a "response" to grace. When people respond to things, the action tends to be limited. They do enough for what merits a response, and usually not much more. In addition, "responding" to grace is very human-centric powered. The real love that comes from these devoted saints I find it very hard to believe was somehow man-made.
I think I'm still a long ways off from really getting it. I really think this is true though:
The more we understand true grace found in Jesus, the more powerfully we are able to love.
I really want to get it. I'm still a long ways off. I think, however, a deep understanding of Christ's grace that motivates action in love has a lot to do with submission and yielding. To the point that the "love actions" that result from a person end up becoming something like extensions of Jesus Himself, working in these people. So in fact, ironically, it isn't the people loving at all.
Again, it's Christ. Full circle. Grace. Our ability to love. A beginning and an end.
And He somehow thought and wanted to include us in the process...
4.20.2009
what are we building?
"Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like:
he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:46-49 NASB)
Well, I'm done. With year #1. I just finished half of the Master's degree I'm working to obtain. There is no wild exultation, leaping for joy, or party on the beach till the break of dawn or getting jiggy with it that I'll be doing to celebrate this fact.
I do my best to remind myself that this degree is really a house built on shifting sand. Yet, many of my actions and the time I spend does not reflect this very well. A degree, a credential to your name, is very much a world thing. I have not found anywhere in Scripture where it says, to be broken and receive endless, infinite, beautiful grace, you have to be a PhD in Brokeness, or have an M.Ed in Unworthiness.
I'm finishing up re-reading CS Lewis' The Four Loves. It has been a good reminder to question myself: well, what kinds of loves are you involved with and practicing? (it's related to this degree thing)
People all around me are broken. I'm broken. That's the state of our condition. When we practice Friendship love and Charity love, rather than practicing idol love of money or stature or recognition or __________(fill it in), we encourage each other, share in our brokeness, and help each other get rid of some of it.
And it works. These past few weeks, I've witnessed more and more of Community love and Friendship love. And let me tell you, those are the kinds of things that DO get me jazzed and make me want to dance around and party till the break of dawn.
That has been my big realization at the end of this semester. I'm spending far too much time loving myself and building this degree structure thing that will easily be blown away rather than loving my friends, strangers, and the community in which I am a part. There's something about Friendship and Charity love that I'm more confident about. Maybe its because Jesus modeled those loves often and very well.
yes, I agree that I'm in the world and I should properly use my talents, intelligence, and resource to further the Lord's Kingdom. I don't dispute that at all. But there's a fine slippery line between understanding that and the way in which one's actions take shape. I think I've been slipping too much.
I want to be sold out to AND for the Gospel. COMPLETELY. and that it would be my concern for all of my days.
he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." (Luke 6:46-49 NASB)
Well, I'm done. With year #1. I just finished half of the Master's degree I'm working to obtain. There is no wild exultation, leaping for joy, or party on the beach till the break of dawn or getting jiggy with it that I'll be doing to celebrate this fact.
I do my best to remind myself that this degree is really a house built on shifting sand. Yet, many of my actions and the time I spend does not reflect this very well. A degree, a credential to your name, is very much a world thing. I have not found anywhere in Scripture where it says, to be broken and receive endless, infinite, beautiful grace, you have to be a PhD in Brokeness, or have an M.Ed in Unworthiness.
I'm finishing up re-reading CS Lewis' The Four Loves. It has been a good reminder to question myself: well, what kinds of loves are you involved with and practicing? (it's related to this degree thing)
People all around me are broken. I'm broken. That's the state of our condition. When we practice Friendship love and Charity love, rather than practicing idol love of money or stature or recognition or __________(fill it in), we encourage each other, share in our brokeness, and help each other get rid of some of it.
And it works. These past few weeks, I've witnessed more and more of Community love and Friendship love. And let me tell you, those are the kinds of things that DO get me jazzed and make me want to dance around and party till the break of dawn.
That has been my big realization at the end of this semester. I'm spending far too much time loving myself and building this degree structure thing that will easily be blown away rather than loving my friends, strangers, and the community in which I am a part. There's something about Friendship and Charity love that I'm more confident about. Maybe its because Jesus modeled those loves often and very well.
yes, I agree that I'm in the world and I should properly use my talents, intelligence, and resource to further the Lord's Kingdom. I don't dispute that at all. But there's a fine slippery line between understanding that and the way in which one's actions take shape. I think I've been slipping too much.
I want to be sold out to AND for the Gospel. COMPLETELY. and that it would be my concern for all of my days.
3.31.2009
Thank You that You know better.
Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. (1 John 3:18-20 NASB)
Thank you Lord that You know my heart, its motivations and desires, better than me. When I think I know. Ha, what a fool. It is You who really knows. Hardly ever do I truly seek to serve without some sort of hidden self-motivation, whether I am consicous of it or not. Thank You that You know better and are infinitely greater than me.
Thank you Lord that You know my heart, its motivations and desires, better than me. When I think I know. Ha, what a fool. It is You who really knows. Hardly ever do I truly seek to serve without some sort of hidden self-motivation, whether I am consicous of it or not. Thank You that You know better and are infinitely greater than me.
3.09.2009
I dare you to measure...
This post is my inner nerdling side coming out, which is a sizeable portion...but...
I think humans have an utter fascination with quantifying things.
Was it just coincidence that the founders of the United States mandated an every 10 year census as an inherent part of the Constitution? The answer -- no. Those guys were quite smart, it wasn't an accident.
We try to count everything. Look at sports fans, their teams and joys are built around sports stats, how many points their team or favorite player is scoring...if you think about it, in every industry and area of life, there is an important emphasis placed on being able to quantify whatever it is that needs quantifying.
Some things I have my doubts that accurate quantifying is going on. Scientists and doctors think they know about 15% of all there is to know about the brain. With so much unknown, how do they even know the overall amount to determine that they already know 15%? It's probably more like 0.15%.
Concrete quantities, or even estimates (that might be inaccurate), provide a much deeper understanding of the world around us. I guess that's why the human race wants to quantify so much in life, they want to understand the world in which they live.
Paul writes
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV)
Paul gets human nature. He's saying, go ahead people! Try to understand the concrete amount of Christ's love like you want to quantify all things. Its almost as if Paul is getting at that we might actually be able to understand the quantity of Christ's grace. Then he immediately follows with:
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph. 3:20-21)
"immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..."
It's just going to be one of those things that we won't be able to quantify. Christ's love and His merciful grace is too great, too wide, too deep to count for us quantifiable-happy humans.
But go ahead, I dare you to really think about it and try to measure it.
I think humans have an utter fascination with quantifying things.
Was it just coincidence that the founders of the United States mandated an every 10 year census as an inherent part of the Constitution? The answer -- no. Those guys were quite smart, it wasn't an accident.
We try to count everything. Look at sports fans, their teams and joys are built around sports stats, how many points their team or favorite player is scoring...if you think about it, in every industry and area of life, there is an important emphasis placed on being able to quantify whatever it is that needs quantifying.
Some things I have my doubts that accurate quantifying is going on. Scientists and doctors think they know about 15% of all there is to know about the brain. With so much unknown, how do they even know the overall amount to determine that they already know 15%? It's probably more like 0.15%.
Concrete quantities, or even estimates (that might be inaccurate), provide a much deeper understanding of the world around us. I guess that's why the human race wants to quantify so much in life, they want to understand the world in which they live.
Paul writes
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV)
Paul gets human nature. He's saying, go ahead people! Try to understand the concrete amount of Christ's love like you want to quantify all things. Its almost as if Paul is getting at that we might actually be able to understand the quantity of Christ's grace. Then he immediately follows with:
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph. 3:20-21)
"immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..."
It's just going to be one of those things that we won't be able to quantify. Christ's love and His merciful grace is too great, too wide, too deep to count for us quantifiable-happy humans.
But go ahead, I dare you to really think about it and try to measure it.
2.24.2009
a good heart check
So last week, I started to see lots of fliers up for a documentary showing put on by the Gay and Lesbian group here at Vanderbilt. The documentary was "For the Bible Tells Me So" and looks at what the Bible says about homosexuality. The film showcases intense evangelists screaming at the top of their lungs and calling gay people "an abomination" and that they passionately deserve the wrath of hell for their homosexual sins. In the end, the documentary takes the view that the Bible permits homosexuality.
I believe firmly, and I think the evidence is overwhelming, that Scripture clearly states that homosexuality is a sin and is not part of what God would deem holy or righteous for His people.
Based on this belief, and the overwhelming sense that our culture continues to grow in the acceptance of homosexuality, I was gearing up for attending the showing, thinking of all sorts of intelligent arguments in my head that I could use to showcase that the Bible does not teach acceptance of homosexuality for the discussion time that would follow. I was firm in my belief that I would do this in a manner starkly different than the preachers shown on the film and the traditional behavior of the church -- loudly and angrily condemning homosexuality. I kept telling myself, and really believed, that I would really seek to be more like Jesus in trying to deliver all these good arguments that I had thought up in my head. In a gentle manner, not condemning.
Well, Thursday came around, and right before the showing was to begin, I decided not to go. I really felt convicted that I wasn't in the right Spirit. A heart check examination clearly revealed to me that it wasn't in a state to humbly love and serve. I was in a frame of mind to "intelligently argue"...which in the end is just like the angry yelling preachers condemning homosexuality.
I was motivated for God's righteousness for the wrong reasons. I wanted to use what I thought were good rhetorical skills and angles of argument to defeat this pervasive cultural belief.
Rather than being like Jesus, seeking to be humble, wanting to go with a Spirit of self-sacrificial love, I was proud and arrogant. Which is just like the rest of the world, and starkly different from Jesus and what He offered (and the way He offered it).
The Apostle James really gets at this in James 4:1-12. I was certainly "double-minded" and where he writes "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble," this was certainly true in this case.
While I still firmly believe that homosexuality is not part of how God wants His people to live, and while I passionately desire the righteousness of God to break down the chains of bondage in our present day society, it's not going to happen with proud, double-minded hearts that seek their own way and forget Christ's perfect example of love.
I believe firmly, and I think the evidence is overwhelming, that Scripture clearly states that homosexuality is a sin and is not part of what God would deem holy or righteous for His people.
Based on this belief, and the overwhelming sense that our culture continues to grow in the acceptance of homosexuality, I was gearing up for attending the showing, thinking of all sorts of intelligent arguments in my head that I could use to showcase that the Bible does not teach acceptance of homosexuality for the discussion time that would follow. I was firm in my belief that I would do this in a manner starkly different than the preachers shown on the film and the traditional behavior of the church -- loudly and angrily condemning homosexuality. I kept telling myself, and really believed, that I would really seek to be more like Jesus in trying to deliver all these good arguments that I had thought up in my head. In a gentle manner, not condemning.
Well, Thursday came around, and right before the showing was to begin, I decided not to go. I really felt convicted that I wasn't in the right Spirit. A heart check examination clearly revealed to me that it wasn't in a state to humbly love and serve. I was in a frame of mind to "intelligently argue"...which in the end is just like the angry yelling preachers condemning homosexuality.
I was motivated for God's righteousness for the wrong reasons. I wanted to use what I thought were good rhetorical skills and angles of argument to defeat this pervasive cultural belief.
Rather than being like Jesus, seeking to be humble, wanting to go with a Spirit of self-sacrificial love, I was proud and arrogant. Which is just like the rest of the world, and starkly different from Jesus and what He offered (and the way He offered it).
The Apostle James really gets at this in James 4:1-12. I was certainly "double-minded" and where he writes "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble," this was certainly true in this case.
While I still firmly believe that homosexuality is not part of how God wants His people to live, and while I passionately desire the righteousness of God to break down the chains of bondage in our present day society, it's not going to happen with proud, double-minded hearts that seek their own way and forget Christ's perfect example of love.
1.16.2009
atheist bus campaign in London
A group of atheists have banded together, raised some money, and have paid for advertisements on public buses in London encouraging people to deny the existence of God.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7813812.stm
Apparently, they cite Albert Einstein in one of their ads. Which is ironic, since he held that the existence of a personal God interacting in natural events could not be refuted. Einstein held a wonderment for the laws of nature, that had to have come from somewhere. Einstein was agnostic, not atheist.
Anyways, I think the real shame in this is to be found in the Christians who caused this group of people to go forward with this campaign. Apparently, "evangelical" advertisements encouraged viewers to go to a website, where they were then told "that those who rejected God were to face an eternity of torment in hell." That may be the case, but that judgement is for God to decide, not to be used as a threat passed on by those claiming to act in Christ's interests.
Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of love, and not fear.
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:16-18 NIV)
Using fear to encourage people to come to Christ is, I think, flat wrong, and quite opposite of Jesus' example.
If we, as Christ followers, desire to share the incredible joy and Peace that Jesus brings to a life, it will positively be accomplished through a spirit of love and actions of service. Not fear. Ugh!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7813812.stm
Apparently, they cite Albert Einstein in one of their ads. Which is ironic, since he held that the existence of a personal God interacting in natural events could not be refuted. Einstein held a wonderment for the laws of nature, that had to have come from somewhere. Einstein was agnostic, not atheist.
Anyways, I think the real shame in this is to be found in the Christians who caused this group of people to go forward with this campaign. Apparently, "evangelical" advertisements encouraged viewers to go to a website, where they were then told "that those who rejected God were to face an eternity of torment in hell." That may be the case, but that judgement is for God to decide, not to be used as a threat passed on by those claiming to act in Christ's interests.
Christ's kingdom is a kingdom of love, and not fear.
"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:16-18 NIV)
Using fear to encourage people to come to Christ is, I think, flat wrong, and quite opposite of Jesus' example.
If we, as Christ followers, desire to share the incredible joy and Peace that Jesus brings to a life, it will positively be accomplished through a spirit of love and actions of service. Not fear. Ugh!
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