Behavior and The Gospel

The evangelical church today is very concerned with behavior. The behavior of their children, themselves, and mostly everyone else, especially homosexuals. (Yes, I saw the Oprah interview with Ted Haggard… fascinating!!)

Our human behavior can be traced to the fact that we are human and our environment is filled with other humans. The connection between our humanity and God is not something we can fix. It’s up to Him. And He did something about it, don’t worry. He perfected us at the Cross. Are we then perfect? Yes, as far as our spiritual being is concerned we are perfect. I don't believe our humanity separates us from Him. Our mindsets may separate us more than anything. The teachings of religion separate us by telling us our humanity should be thus and so. So we tell each other it should be thus and so. We then make judgments upon judgments that cause people to hide their humanity (or not) and personal worth is lost. This is why we need the Gospel.

The Gospel, being mysterious and working through a power called love, will produce whatever salvation our soul requires. How love works is difficult to explain. If behaviors need changing, I think love can do that. This is how it has worked in me and how I've seen it work in those close to me. When we truly recognize that we are hurting ourselves or others through our actions, we can work at changing our behavior. If our behavior is not hurting anyone, what's the problem? God's not offended or shocked.

Scripture says that He would be "satisfied when He sees the suffering" of the sacrifice.

"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." Isaiah 53:11

God's not angry. He's not judging anymore. He's perfected us through Jesus. This is what the Gospel is... the good news. That's why Jesus told the disciples to "Go". This "good news" brings a salvation that produces a freedom which is inexplicable. Just don't go throwing in requirements to maintain it (church attendance, bible reading, etc.) The freedom then quickly fades. That has been my experience.

Following Truth to Freedom

This morning I noticed that Darin Hufford had a new post on his blog. It talks of friendship and how it works in the church (small "c"). When our family left organized religion several years ago, I was caught off-guard when people who I thought were friends in that particular church made no effort to contact us except for one or two who then made no follow-up calls. I understand a little better now why and how this happens. Darin's post confirms what I had reconciled in my heart to be true about leaving. There is no condemnation in my heart for the church people we left because it's a boat that I have floated in most of my life. You can read his post here.

Don’t Fear Questions

I saw this on one of the Yahoo lists that I read. It’s by Sister Joan Chittister, a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA. I've colored for emphasis the parts to which I can especially relate.

I DON'T FEAR QUESTIONS

As a young teenager, kneeling in a dark cathedral one night, with no illumination in the church but the sanctuary lamp, I had an experience of intense light. I was thirteen years old and totally convinced that, whatever it was and wherever it came from, the light was God. Perhaps it was a good janitor working late, or a bad switch that did not work at all, or a startling insight given to a young woman, given gratuitously. I did not know then and I do not know now. But I did know that the light was God and that God was light.

It has not always been easy—I went through a terrible period as a young sister—to the point that I thought I would have to leave religious life because I doubted the divinity of Jesus. Only when I realized that I did believe deeply and profoundly in God could I come to peace with the fact that faith in God would have to be enough. It was a dark, empty time. It threw me back on the barest of beliefs but the deepest of beliefs. I hung on in hope like a spider on a thread. But the thread was enough for me. As a result, my faith actually deepened over the years. The humanity of Jesus gave promise to my own. Jesus ceased to be distant and ethereal and “perfect.” Jesus let no system, no matter how revered, keep him from a relationship with God. And that union with God, I came to understand, was divine. Then I also understood that questions are of the essence in a mature faith.

I don’t fear the questions any more. I know that they are all part of the process of coming to union with God and refusing to make an idol of anything less. The point is that during that difficult time I didn’t try to force anything. I simply lived in the desert believing that whatever life I found there was life enough for me. I believed that God was in the darkness. It is all part of the purification process and should be revered. It takes away from us our paltry little definitions of God and brings us face-to-face with the Transcendent. It is not to be feared. It is simply to be experienced. Then, God begins to live in us without benefit of recipes and rituals, laws, and “answers”—of which there are, in the final analysis, none at all.

~Sister Joan Chittister

Break the Rules

Jim Palmer of Divine Nobodies posted at his blog several days ago a list of rules that he broke when he was in religion which he now is glad he broke. A few stood out to me that I'd like to comment on.

"Assume that everything you’ve been told or currently know is all there is to truth and anything refuting it must be wrong. In other words, you’ve arrived with virtually nothing left to learn except for trying harder with what you already know."

I believed this. It produced a life that became stale, mundane, and without vitality. Deep down inside I felt that what I had built regarding "belief" didn't work. The "abundant life" that was supposedly afforded to the believer was nowhere to be found. What I had been told over the course of many years turned out to be built on false assumptions. Anyone believing they have learned it all or have come close to that height is certainly one of the more self-righteous persons around. That was me. The extent of my knowledge I see today as small. There is so much more that I don’t understand, that I don‘t get. This fact is liberating.

"If you keep applying the same formula or beliefs and it doesn’t produce the result it promised, assume the problem is you."

I certainly believed that I was the problem. Weekly berating sessions by professional clergy wore me out. I felt so useless to God and believed I would never make the grade so I gave up trying. (My husband has the same testimony.) I became an unbeliever. It affected every part of my life. I was a regular attendee but I wasn't a believer. I couldn't relate to what the people up front were talking about. They were talking about something that didn‘t seem real to me. And I blamed myself for this failure to believe. I was somehow deficient. There was no option either. If I didn’t fall into the parameters presented, there had to be something wrong with me. I reject this today!

"Just accept at the outset that your humanity is your enemy."

This was easy. The do’s and don’ts of the elite in charge made it clear that if my life was not transforming into a more peaceful and righteous life, it was me (my flesh and humanity) that must be getting in the way. I reject this today!

"Equate God’s blessing with improved circumstances or existing in a constant state of 'good feelings'."

Again this one flows right out of the last one. Emotions of anger, anxiety, and fear, to name just a few, were not acceptable in my belief system. These would be labeled with a “lack of faith” thus putting the feeler into a lesser position with God. The polarity then would be that those who never displayed anger, anxiety, or fear, not to anyone from the church at least, were more righteous and better Christians all around. This resulted in me stuffing my feelings and becoming a good fake. I reject this today!

"Don’t ever let yourself fully give into love and freedom."

This one is an accumulation of all the others in my opinion. This one kept me from experiencing life with my God, my husband, and my family in the ways that the creation is designed to experience life here on planet earth. Love and freedom are what God is all about.

So what is different now? Well, the difference between then and now is revelation. I know this word can have negative connotations. I don’t mean it that way. It’s simple really. I see and believe now that Jesus and Father agreed to make redemption available to me before I had any say in the matter.

It never was about our doing good enough or being good enough to receive his gift of salvation. And there is nothing we can do to keep it. We never were and never will be good enough for God in and of ourselves. He made us righteous through Jesus. This is grace. I walk daily now believing that what I do or say will not distance me from Father. This is the gospel, the good news of Christ.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes...” Romans 1:16 NKJV

I threw it all away

I read this post tonight at the Free Believers Network. One of the paragraphs spoke so directly to the path I’ve been traversing.

"I visited an atheist's website the other day and was astounded by what I found. This guy believed exactly the way I did. He just got fed up with the god that Christianity had served him and he finally made the decision to throw it all away. I have found that for a Free Believer, the quickest way to recover from organized religious thinking is to become an atheist of sorts. You have to literally divorce your mind from the god you were raised with if you ever want to know the one true God. Most of us spend a lifetime trying to fix our broken image of Him, when in reality, we need to throw it all away and start from scratch."

I threw out my religion because it wasn't working. So much about it not only seemed fake and hyped, it also left me empty inside. My life received no fulfillment from religion. The system I participated in wasn’t producing what it promised. So I wiped the slate clean and started over. I opened the door to God inviting him to show me what was real and what wasn’t.

Over two years later, I have no regrets for taking the path I’ve taken. Life has returned to my soul. Emotion and hope have returned. I’m not an atheist, not by a long shot. My life is certainly different and definitely on more solid ground than ever. I recognize that I’m a spiritual being living a human life. The spiritual separate from the natural. I accept both but I don’t live trying to reconcile one with the other in this natural world.

My spiritual life is settled. It was settled 2,000 years ago with no help from me. The life I life in this world I live by the faith of Jesus.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

Let Your Heart Win

"Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts." II Corinthians 3:3

Many Parts

Several entries ago I wrote about my physical body situation. The medication is finally working better than it was before and our family doctor is now on the job trying to help me move into a more satisfactory functioning state. This has definitely affected my mental state for the better and all is not lost. It never was, of course, but perception is reality.

Paul wrote in I Corinthians 12:12-26, using his trademark comparison method of teaching, explaining how the physical body is similar to the function of the body of Christ… all parts being necessary… one part not being more important than another. The New Living translation puts it this way:

"12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”

22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.”

A micro-tear in my plantar fascia caused extreme pain in my left heel. This pain showed up when I first got up to walk or stand. Once I was up it didn’t hurt as much, but the longer I was up the more it hurt when I sat back down. This odd cycle affected my psyche to the point that activity was just not something I looked forward to. Resting the fascia helped but that affected my metabolic rate which in turn touched off other factors in my body. The doctors were called in to help arrest the situation. With the help of time the heel is getting better, and with medication I feel more stabilized in the rest of my body. We’re headed in the right direction, balancing activity with rest.

The seeming “less important part”, my heel, has proven its importance. I see how these verses work with the physical body. How do they work with the body of Christ?

No Such Thing

Here’s another song. This one is by John Mayer called No Such Thing. Here's the video. This song speaks to my finding out that much of Christianity teaches Law and Grace in the same breathe, thus making Grace of no effect (Romans 11:6). I know John Mayer didn’t mean it this way, but I put my own spin on most songs anyway. Isn’t that what they’re for? Grace is the most amazing discovery I’ve made in my life. If running through the halls of the church "screaming" the message of Grace in order to help free others, I might do it. It won't work that way though. Humans make it more difficult than that.

Welcome to the real world, she said to me
Condescendingly
Take a seat, take your life
Plot it out in black and white
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings
And the drama queens
I'd like to think the best of me
Is still hiding up my sleeve

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above

So the good boys and girls take the so called right track
Faded white hats
Grabbing credits and maybe transfers
They read all the books but they can't find the answers
And all of our parents
They're getting older
I wonder if they've wished for anything better
While in their memories
Tiny tragedies

They love to tell you
Stay inside the lines
But something's better
On the other side
I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you got to rise above

I am invincible
I am invincible
I am invincible
As long as I'm alive

I wanna run through the halls of my high school
I wanna scream at the
Top of my lungs
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world
Just a lie you've got to rise above
I just can't wait til my 10 year reunion
I'm gonna bust down the double doors
And when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for