Monday, March 19, 2012

Accepting Change - Redemption and Restoration

Accepting change is not trivial, sometimes even difficult. Yet Christians are by definition a changed people. We should be used to the idea of people being changed, being redeemed from their former lifestyle. Some Christians do well with this. Others, to be honest, not so well. Maybe this is what Jesus was referring to in the parable of the vineyard workers in Matthew 20:1-16. 
 The other, sometimes sadder, side of this has to do with Christian brothers and sisters who fall in some very visible "serious" way (as if every sin isn't serious!). It's an old saying that the church is the only army that shoots its own wounded. Obviously, there are sins that necessitate church discipline, and there are some that do not. When church discipline is necessary, the purpose should be to correct and provide a path of restoration. Sometimes it seems like some people see discipline as excising some sort of spiritual cancer! I'll say it again ... the purpose is not to get rid of the one who has "fallen", but to restore that person to fellowship with God and His people.
God is gracious. He didn't redeem His people on a, "I'm going to give you one more chance, but if you blow it, ZAP!" basis. He redeemed us because He loved us, and His love doesn't change or diminish every time we blow it. So ... since God loves us even when we blow it, how much more should we love our "fallen" brother or sister? And want to see them restored to fellowship with God and His people?!

Stuff, Money and Human Nature

There is an old joke about a law of physics that says that, "Stuff expands to fill available space." I think there is a corresponding law of economics that says that, "Expenses expand to expend available income." Or in the case of those unprepared and/or unable and/or unwilling to manage money (e.g. lottery winners, suddenly rich athletes or politicians), "expenses" will expand faster than will income. Politicians, I also think, present a special case. They will spend money multiple times, call a reduced rate of spending growth a cut in spending, and use one-time "windfalls" to start programs that will continue for years to come, long past the time when the one-time money is consumed.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

World Views Clash - Right and Wrong

Many modern political disputes come down to a collision of different world views. If one believes humans to be evolutionary accidents, the highest animal to have evolved so far, there is no basis moral absolutes, for saying, "This is right," or, "This is wrong," beyond a gun or a ballot box. Humans have no claim to be special, other than being the most advanced animal so far. Nor any basis for rights beyond a piece of paper that can be amended at will or tyrannically ignored. On the contrary, Evolution is a “might makes right” worldview. The Evolutionary imperative is survival of the fittest, and the fit demonstrate their fitness by doing whatever it takes to survive and reproduce (kill, steal, rape … or obey such “laws”, if that is what it takes to survive and reproduce).

If one believes, however, that humans and the universe are the creation of a Designer Who revealed some of His design principles so far as humans are concerned, a basis for right and wrong, for rights, is there. And Some One to whom one is ultimately answerable.

The Christian Balancing Act

Balance is something about which I've heard and thought quite a bit through the years. Early in my Christian walk I heard a teacher point out one such balance, between the Holy Spirit and the Word. He said that if one focused entirely on the Word (using one's intellect and ignoring the Holy Spirit) one would dry up. On the other hand, he said that if one focused entirely on the Holy Spirit (ignoring the Word), one would get weird. Without the Holy Spirit, one's intellect tends toward legalism, hair-splitting, brittleness and pride. The Holy Spirit helps one remember that God can't be squeezed into a box. Remembering how big God is and being dependent on the Holy Spirit to recognize truth and keep it balanced with love and in balance also keeps one humble. On the other hand, "relying on the Holy Spirit" for "truth" while ignoring the truth revealed in the Word ends up being an exercise in self-deception, where "truth" ends up being whatever feels right, sometimes with a pretextual veneer of a Scriptural justification.
Also fairly early in my walk with the Lord, I had two very different pastors. One had a very strong emphasis on what God wanted His children to become in maturity. The other had a similarly very strong emphasis on practical day to day Christian character and living. After being in those churches, each for quite a few months, I realized that this also was a sort of imbalance. The needed balance is to know both where God wants to take us and the practical daily things we need to learn and become to get there.
Another point of balance is among knowing, doing and being. It's like a 3-legged stool. If one leg is missing or short, you tip over. You have to know who you are in Christ to know what things are right and why to do those things. You have to do things God says are right, or your knowing and being have no real value (and may not be real at all). You have to be in relationship with God, or your knowledge and doing lose their fundamental motivation.
A balance that will be with and challenge every believer life-long is between our personal responsibility and God's "responsibility" to work in and through us. We cannot be passive in our personal and spiritual growth, thinking that God will do it all. Nor can we become and do all God wants us to be in just our own strength and ability. This sets up a continual tension, one which continually impacts everything we do.

Valuing People

Society values people by what they have and what they do to get what they have. Christ values us for who we are, and what we do is because of what He does in us. Who is the better teacher? And from Whom are we learning?