So for a while I've been contemplating holiness. Mostly, how the western church has turned it into a list of "do nots" and sin management. However, in my contemplation I've come to what I feel is a better understanding of what it means to be holy.
The Father, Son, and Spirit were holy long before there was sin to be managed. Holiness is being set apart for a specific purpose. Something created for unique reasons. Well, I think it's rather obvious the Trinity's uniqueness and set apart for a purpose of being love and others centered. Creating our beautiful universe. There was no sin to be holy from. The real purpose in my thoughts here though is us. We are holy. We were made holy. You were born holy...set apart for a purpose. When you walk outside of your design your acting in unholiness not just the list of "do nots" people like to throw around. Holiness is being yourself. Being fully yourself in your God created uniqueness. Stop stressing about all the moral rules people like to jab with. Just be you.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Living right or righteous?
First of all...Happy Mother's Day to any moms who may read this today. It's your day and you deserve it. I never fully comprehended Mother's day until I got married and had kids. Maggie totally deserves to be celebrated for birthing and nurturing children on top of dealing with me everyday!
So I've been contemplating righteousness. One of my favorite scriptures growing up was 2 Cor. 5:21. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (ESV). The greatest tragedy of the first Adam was not his sin, but his loss of sight of where he stood in relationship to the Father. God's opinion hadn't changed toward them, but Adam and Eve were convinced it had. Sin didn't separate them, their momentary loss of sight caused them to think contrary thoughts of who they already were and contrary thoughts about their creator. They were already in His image and likeness but somehow they were convinced they HAD TO DO SOMETHING to be like him. Thus, in their own minds they concluded that they were different or separate from the creator and they wanted to be like him...so they ate the fruit and we all know the rest of the story. Regardless of what you believe about the reality of the Adam and Eve story this is true...humanity created it's own separation not God. So, the LAST Adam, Jesus came to help us realize we were righteous.
Somehow over the course of time, righteousness has become moral standards. If we do XYZ then we are righteous. Righteousness is right standing with God or more easily put...in right relationship or in good relationship. The morality comes with the righteousness not righteousness comes with morality. You see, the Trinity has always been righteous before there were ever "standards." Why? Because they've always been in good relationship with one another. We were created for right relationship and Jesus came to reveal their desire for relationship with us never stopped. We can't DO something to be "right" with God. Jesus did all of that work.
I grew up in the mountains of Virginia. I can remember sitting in churches hearing old country preachers talk or more so yell about "living right." Meaning: Do all right the things and God will be pleased enough to leave the door of heaven cracked open for you in case you died on your way home today. Most of Christianity has become more and more about living right and less and less about knowing Jesus. Let me give an example. When Maggie and I got married there are things about me that annoyed her that she didn't know would annoy her until we were living in the same house, sleeping in the same bed, using the same bathroom, every day of our lives. So we would talk thru her annoyances and come to terms with fixing whatever the problem was. I didn't have to prove I could put the toilet seat down before she married me. We got married...I learned to put the seat down. This is what Jesus has done for us. He without our permission repaired the breach. He has welcomed us into His life before we crossed all our t's and dotted all our i's. We must help people realize that Jesus' work on the cross included us back into the righteous relationship of the Trinity...back into the relationship we were never meant to live without. Within this relationship the moral code is love. We do not get to determine what needs to be changed in others nor the timeline. All we can do is love. Love will burn off the dross and refine us down to our truest identity. Beloved sons and daughters...the righteousness of God IN HIM!
So I've been contemplating righteousness. One of my favorite scriptures growing up was 2 Cor. 5:21. "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (ESV). The greatest tragedy of the first Adam was not his sin, but his loss of sight of where he stood in relationship to the Father. God's opinion hadn't changed toward them, but Adam and Eve were convinced it had. Sin didn't separate them, their momentary loss of sight caused them to think contrary thoughts of who they already were and contrary thoughts about their creator. They were already in His image and likeness but somehow they were convinced they HAD TO DO SOMETHING to be like him. Thus, in their own minds they concluded that they were different or separate from the creator and they wanted to be like him...so they ate the fruit and we all know the rest of the story. Regardless of what you believe about the reality of the Adam and Eve story this is true...humanity created it's own separation not God. So, the LAST Adam, Jesus came to help us realize we were righteous.
Somehow over the course of time, righteousness has become moral standards. If we do XYZ then we are righteous. Righteousness is right standing with God or more easily put...in right relationship or in good relationship. The morality comes with the righteousness not righteousness comes with morality. You see, the Trinity has always been righteous before there were ever "standards." Why? Because they've always been in good relationship with one another. We were created for right relationship and Jesus came to reveal their desire for relationship with us never stopped. We can't DO something to be "right" with God. Jesus did all of that work.
I grew up in the mountains of Virginia. I can remember sitting in churches hearing old country preachers talk or more so yell about "living right." Meaning: Do all right the things and God will be pleased enough to leave the door of heaven cracked open for you in case you died on your way home today. Most of Christianity has become more and more about living right and less and less about knowing Jesus. Let me give an example. When Maggie and I got married there are things about me that annoyed her that she didn't know would annoy her until we were living in the same house, sleeping in the same bed, using the same bathroom, every day of our lives. So we would talk thru her annoyances and come to terms with fixing whatever the problem was. I didn't have to prove I could put the toilet seat down before she married me. We got married...I learned to put the seat down. This is what Jesus has done for us. He without our permission repaired the breach. He has welcomed us into His life before we crossed all our t's and dotted all our i's. We must help people realize that Jesus' work on the cross included us back into the righteous relationship of the Trinity...back into the relationship we were never meant to live without. Within this relationship the moral code is love. We do not get to determine what needs to be changed in others nor the timeline. All we can do is love. Love will burn off the dross and refine us down to our truest identity. Beloved sons and daughters...the righteousness of God IN HIM!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Marco Polo
There was a time in my life when this is what my walk with God felt like. A mystical game of Marco Polo. I would seek, and search, or press in, all in the name of quiet time or devotional time. I would cry Marco with a drive to be at more prayer meetings, more bible studies, or any extra curricular "church" meeting I could attend. In this, I would wait for Him to say Polo either by another prophetic word or just a good ole fashion slobber knocker of a meeting! I think back to those times and honestly I just get frustrated. Did I really see God as playing this cosmic game with me? Did I really think jumping through all the hoops would help me find the current soap box God was standing on so I could stand with him and help him out?
I find it true that the way we see our Father is the way we will live our lives. What I mean is, if He's angry we'll either live rebelliously and ignore His existence or we'll run on the hamster wheel of good deeds, praying more, reading the bible more, fasting more, do more ministry, etc...in hopes that He's taken our efforts as an acceptable sacrifice and doesn't smite us. Since the dawn of time we've missed the mark of seeing Him how He truly is and seeing ourselves in the light of how He sees us. Anything about the Father that doesn't resemble Jesus can be, and in my case, will be ignored. Jesus came to reveal what God was really like, not what everyone had made him out to be. Jesus didn't come to change God's mind about us, He came to change our minds about God.
Take a look at this...In John 1 we find this incredible prologue that has so much deep and rich meaning that theologians are still mining it all out, but I'm not a theologian so I'll try to stay as simple as possible. "In the beginning was the Word (logos)..." stop right there. So many times we read that and do this equation: Word = Bible = Jesus...Jesus is the bible made flesh. I've actually heard preachers say to hug your bible if you want to be closer to Jesus. Um, I beg your pardon? Logos is so much more, it's such a more complex Greek word than just...word. Logos is logic of God, wisdom of God, it's the character and nature of God. It's His likeness...now that = Jesus. Now, finish the verse. The Logos was with God, the Logos is God, everything was created through the likeness, nature, character, and logic of God. Verse 14, the Logos became flesh and lived among us. The Logos became one of us to prove a point. God loved us so much he'd become one of us, and let us pour out our anger and darkness on Him just so that we could see real genuine forgiveness. Since Adam and Eve, humanity had been trying to get on God's good side. Jesus was the embodiment of God's good side. Jesus ate meals with the socially unacceptable. Jesus made more wine for a party that had drank all their own. Jesus walked around with people calling him rabbi, but was caught healing the sick and doing good on sabbath. He was seen talking to a woman at a well...a rabbi should not be talking to a woman. Jesus was revealing God's good side. Jesus was revealing God's VERY good side. Jesus was revealing God's judgements or decisions concerning his creation. "I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save, heal, protect, preserve, deliver it!" (John 3:17) His decision/judgement toward us was final. He includes all, loves all, forgives all.
He made His way inside our blindness to show us His true self. He delivered us through His death and re-birthed us through His resurrection. We're not in Kansas anymore Toto! We've been reborn into a kingdom that cannot be shaken. A kingdom in which the poorest get to eat at the same table as the richest. We are all sons and daughters. We can't run on the hamster wheel enough to get God's attention. We already have his attention. There's no cosmic Marco Polo. There's just eating and drinking with friends and knowing He's there with us. There's hearing your favorite song on the radio and realizing that He's inside us listening AND enjoying it too. He's the Father in story of the prodigal son. Excited to see that his sons and daughters are opening there eyes to realize they still belong to Him and coming home to a party in their honor. In your rebellion you're still a son/daughter. In all your striving to be perfect you're still a son/daughter. He won't let you live like a servant, He won't let you lie down in your shame, or continue hiding in your darkness like Adam and Eve. He's the light of ALL men. He's the light already inside you. He's cried Polo back to us from the very depths of our soul!
I find it true that the way we see our Father is the way we will live our lives. What I mean is, if He's angry we'll either live rebelliously and ignore His existence or we'll run on the hamster wheel of good deeds, praying more, reading the bible more, fasting more, do more ministry, etc...in hopes that He's taken our efforts as an acceptable sacrifice and doesn't smite us. Since the dawn of time we've missed the mark of seeing Him how He truly is and seeing ourselves in the light of how He sees us. Anything about the Father that doesn't resemble Jesus can be, and in my case, will be ignored. Jesus came to reveal what God was really like, not what everyone had made him out to be. Jesus didn't come to change God's mind about us, He came to change our minds about God.
Take a look at this...In John 1 we find this incredible prologue that has so much deep and rich meaning that theologians are still mining it all out, but I'm not a theologian so I'll try to stay as simple as possible. "In the beginning was the Word (logos)..." stop right there. So many times we read that and do this equation: Word = Bible = Jesus...Jesus is the bible made flesh. I've actually heard preachers say to hug your bible if you want to be closer to Jesus. Um, I beg your pardon? Logos is so much more, it's such a more complex Greek word than just...word. Logos is logic of God, wisdom of God, it's the character and nature of God. It's His likeness...now that = Jesus. Now, finish the verse. The Logos was with God, the Logos is God, everything was created through the likeness, nature, character, and logic of God. Verse 14, the Logos became flesh and lived among us. The Logos became one of us to prove a point. God loved us so much he'd become one of us, and let us pour out our anger and darkness on Him just so that we could see real genuine forgiveness. Since Adam and Eve, humanity had been trying to get on God's good side. Jesus was the embodiment of God's good side. Jesus ate meals with the socially unacceptable. Jesus made more wine for a party that had drank all their own. Jesus walked around with people calling him rabbi, but was caught healing the sick and doing good on sabbath. He was seen talking to a woman at a well...a rabbi should not be talking to a woman. Jesus was revealing God's good side. Jesus was revealing God's VERY good side. Jesus was revealing God's judgements or decisions concerning his creation. "I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save, heal, protect, preserve, deliver it!" (John 3:17) His decision/judgement toward us was final. He includes all, loves all, forgives all.
He made His way inside our blindness to show us His true self. He delivered us through His death and re-birthed us through His resurrection. We're not in Kansas anymore Toto! We've been reborn into a kingdom that cannot be shaken. A kingdom in which the poorest get to eat at the same table as the richest. We are all sons and daughters. We can't run on the hamster wheel enough to get God's attention. We already have his attention. There's no cosmic Marco Polo. There's just eating and drinking with friends and knowing He's there with us. There's hearing your favorite song on the radio and realizing that He's inside us listening AND enjoying it too. He's the Father in story of the prodigal son. Excited to see that his sons and daughters are opening there eyes to realize they still belong to Him and coming home to a party in their honor. In your rebellion you're still a son/daughter. In all your striving to be perfect you're still a son/daughter. He won't let you live like a servant, He won't let you lie down in your shame, or continue hiding in your darkness like Adam and Eve. He's the light of ALL men. He's the light already inside you. He's cried Polo back to us from the very depths of our soul!
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Cause I did...
The title to this blog is a phrase I used as a child anytime I was questioned for my actions. I'm not quite sure why I never bothered to explain myself when I had done something wrong or just out of the ordinary, but I didn't mind acknowledging the fact that I did indeed do it.
This is where I stand again today. Why did I start questioning things about God, church, faith, or religion? Cause I did....
Why do I question the way the world is seen through the stereotypical "christian" eye?
Why do I feel the need to be so controversial on what most call absolutes about God?
Cause I do...Cause I did...Cause I probably always will...
My faith is what has always kept me going in every situation of life. Jesus is truth with a pulse. That I don't question. On that topic I have resolve, but in most all other aspects of the world and life I will question the hell out of it...
If this upsets you, perhaps you should find a blog more suitable to your taste. However, if you would like the hear my thoughts on God and life...then buckle up, there's no turning back now. Oh, and when I get asked why I did this or why I said that, you'll already know my answer. Cause I did...
This is where I stand again today. Why did I start questioning things about God, church, faith, or religion? Cause I did....
Why do I question the way the world is seen through the stereotypical "christian" eye?
Why do I feel the need to be so controversial on what most call absolutes about God?
Cause I do...Cause I did...Cause I probably always will...
My faith is what has always kept me going in every situation of life. Jesus is truth with a pulse. That I don't question. On that topic I have resolve, but in most all other aspects of the world and life I will question the hell out of it...
If this upsets you, perhaps you should find a blog more suitable to your taste. However, if you would like the hear my thoughts on God and life...then buckle up, there's no turning back now. Oh, and when I get asked why I did this or why I said that, you'll already know my answer. Cause I did...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)