This post... is the most intense post I've ever written, but... it is inspired both by what happened, and by a prayer I heard from Graham Cooke- several of the lines were taken directly from it, a prayer I've thought about occasionally since I heard it years ago. I hope this doesn't frighten anyone, but this is my heart and I think it can be very well backed by scripture- each and every line. It also is... a conversation, so God responds. Here goes nothing.
It all belongs to you.
1. My car belongs to you. God: So I could take your transportation away if I wanted to?
Yes. Yes you could.
2. My shelter belongs to you. God: So I could make you homeless if I wanted to?
Yes, you could.
3. My freedom belongs to you. God: So I could have you imprisoned if need be?
Yes... my freedom does belong to you completely, so you could.
4. My sanity belongs to you. God: So I could make you lose your mind?
Yes, my mental health is completely in your hands. It all belongs to you.
5. My money belongs to you. God: So I could make you broke, penniless and without any known way of paying your bills?
Yes. My money belongs to you. It all belongs to you Lord.
6.My life belongs to you. God: So... I could even lead you to your death, and you would allow that?
Yes. My life, and the length thereof, is utterly completely in your hands. You can kill me, if that is what you want.
I know this is intense, but before people attack this, I want to show the scriptures that talk about each of these:
1, 2, 5: Jesus's conversation with the rich young ruler. He demanded everything the man owned. Also, Jesus lived without transportation except by foot, and without a home.
3: Paul knew he would be imprisoned when he went to Rome. He went anyways.
4: King Nebuchadnezzar went insane, according to God's word, to the point where he was eating grass like an animal. While, admittedly, this was a negative consequence for his actions, it does lend credence to the possibility that God could make someone insane for his purposes, even someone who was following God. In my opinion, it isn't that out there- there are other examples of people's mental states being affected by God.
6: Jesus willing went to his death. It's also noteworthy that all of the apostles, save John, were executed, and Paul was punished by the Romans after he deliberately went to Jerusalem, knowing he was likely to be imprisoned because of that. He, too, was executed as well.
My point... if we are to follow Christ, we need to be prepared for the consequences. Jesus did not promise his followers easy, feel-good lives. To the contrary, he warned his followers that life will be full of struggles, but that God will be with us in the midst. We aren't allowed to hold tight to anything, for nothing really belongs to us anyways. It all belongs to God- it was never ours in the first place. We can't function right in the kingdom if we keep seeing ourselves as owners instead of stewards. It all belongs to God... because it always did in the first place.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Judging
This subject... is one that is near and dear to my heart. At this moment, I have a lot of anger, directed at people who judged me, anger I don't know what to do with... so I thought this subject warranted talking about.
Judging is hard to define, so I'll give an example. I was driving home from the chess tournament, and I saw a bumper sticker that basically said you can't be prochoice and also be a Christian. This really upset me- not because I consider myself prochoice (though my views on that subject are complicated or unclear) but simply because someone thinks they have the audacity to judge another person's faith based on their views on a subject Jesus didn't even talk about. We don't have that right. However, judging shows up in other forms as well. Nonchristians often have lifestyles that we would say are sinful. Does that give us the right to judge them for it? We don't know where they came from, or why they live the way they do. I'm not saying you have to agree with their actions, I'm saying that you shouldn't let your disagreement with the way they live interfer with being friends with them. The truth is, without Christ, people live in sin. Deal with it. Get over it. And stop judging nonbelievers as if they were Christians. Even Christians judge other Christians. We think we know why people do the things they do. We don't. We don't have the right to judge another believer in their weakness. If we've developed relationship with someone, we may earn the right to tell someone what we think they should do about something, but that right is earned, and shouldn't be presumed upon.
Basically... this post teaches how to be a "safe" person. Basically, I surround myself with them. I can tell a safe person from 50 feet. Lately, I wonder if nonchristians generally make better friends than Christians, because they don't judge you as much. Don't get me wrong- I have multiple Christian friends, and I'm glad they are in my life. However, I think Christians in general care more about what you do, or what you did, than how you feel, or what you are going through. The best cinematic example of what a relationship between a believer and a nonbeliever should look like, is in "The Bucket List." Someone finally showed how a Christian can make an impact, with very little "direct" evangelism. When you watch that movie, notice how Morgan Freeman's character doesn't pass judgement on Jack Nicholson's character. Because of this, he made a huge impact in the man's life. I think that is very realistic. Love takes time. Love is patient and kind- that means we shouldn't rush out and try to fix people. You can't love someone and try to fix them/treat them like a project at the same time. Either you love them, or they're a project, and there's no love in projects. No human being wants to be someone else's project. We must accept people where they are at, and love them where they are. If all my tombstone said was "Sean loved people as they were, and not as he wanted them to be." I would say my life was a success. Please... hear me out on this. Not judging people is a big deal, and the size of your impact and your ability to connect with hurting, wounded people is very much defined by how you look at them. We all need love. Nobody needs judgement. Nobody.
Judging is hard to define, so I'll give an example. I was driving home from the chess tournament, and I saw a bumper sticker that basically said you can't be prochoice and also be a Christian. This really upset me- not because I consider myself prochoice (though my views on that subject are complicated or unclear) but simply because someone thinks they have the audacity to judge another person's faith based on their views on a subject Jesus didn't even talk about. We don't have that right. However, judging shows up in other forms as well. Nonchristians often have lifestyles that we would say are sinful. Does that give us the right to judge them for it? We don't know where they came from, or why they live the way they do. I'm not saying you have to agree with their actions, I'm saying that you shouldn't let your disagreement with the way they live interfer with being friends with them. The truth is, without Christ, people live in sin. Deal with it. Get over it. And stop judging nonbelievers as if they were Christians. Even Christians judge other Christians. We think we know why people do the things they do. We don't. We don't have the right to judge another believer in their weakness. If we've developed relationship with someone, we may earn the right to tell someone what we think they should do about something, but that right is earned, and shouldn't be presumed upon.
Basically... this post teaches how to be a "safe" person. Basically, I surround myself with them. I can tell a safe person from 50 feet. Lately, I wonder if nonchristians generally make better friends than Christians, because they don't judge you as much. Don't get me wrong- I have multiple Christian friends, and I'm glad they are in my life. However, I think Christians in general care more about what you do, or what you did, than how you feel, or what you are going through. The best cinematic example of what a relationship between a believer and a nonbeliever should look like, is in "The Bucket List." Someone finally showed how a Christian can make an impact, with very little "direct" evangelism. When you watch that movie, notice how Morgan Freeman's character doesn't pass judgement on Jack Nicholson's character. Because of this, he made a huge impact in the man's life. I think that is very realistic. Love takes time. Love is patient and kind- that means we shouldn't rush out and try to fix people. You can't love someone and try to fix them/treat them like a project at the same time. Either you love them, or they're a project, and there's no love in projects. No human being wants to be someone else's project. We must accept people where they are at, and love them where they are. If all my tombstone said was "Sean loved people as they were, and not as he wanted them to be." I would say my life was a success. Please... hear me out on this. Not judging people is a big deal, and the size of your impact and your ability to connect with hurting, wounded people is very much defined by how you look at them. We all need love. Nobody needs judgement. Nobody.
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